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Phil Abruzzi
Phil in 1919
Philippa "Phil" Abruzzi
Portrayed by Angela Sarafyan
Episode Torn
Status Deceased

Philippa "Phil" Abruzzi was a housemaid employed by Ambrose and Elizabeth Stone in 1919. She and the Stones' daughter, Francis Stone, would eventually become involved in the women's suffrage movement.

History

Phil was also a close friend to Francis, something uncommon at the time for women of different classes. Francis had taught her how to read and Phil's seven year old daughter Audrey Abruzzi called Francis "Aunt Frannie".

Phil's marriage was not a happy one, however. Her husband was a violent man who beat her on numerous occasions, including once after catching her reading a pamphlet on votes for women. After Francis learned of this, the two imagined how things could change if women could vote. Two resolved to attend one of the meetings at the home of Alice B. Harris, the local chapter president of the Women's Suffrage Association.

When they arrived, Alice was discussing how to influence undecided members of the Pennsylvania legislature to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving votes to women. Alice asked Francis what she thought and Francis started to open up, when Elizabeth showed up and interrupted the meeting. She and her husband were vehemently opposed to the suffragettes as the women's movement supported Prohibition which was a threat to Ambrose's brewing business. Elizabeth insisted that Francis and Phil leave at once, threatening to fire Phil when Francis objected.

Phil's association with the suffragettes would come to a quick end after this. Her husband threatened to divorce her and take her to court. Juries were all male at the time and when they heard Phil was a suffragette, she would lose her daughter. With no other choice, Phil told the Stones what she knew. Francis, Alice, and the other suffragettes were arrested on trumped up charges soon after.

After Ambrose bailed Francis out, an angry Francis confronted Phil about her friend's betrayal. Phil explained why she had done what she'd done and the two reconciled. Francis resolved to go back to the jail and get Alice and the others released, but she never got the chance. Shortly thereafter, Francis was killed in a fall from the second story of the house. Her killer's identity would remain a mystery.

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified and women gained the right to vote. As the Stones had feared, Prohibition laws were passed not long after, and the Stones' brewing business was ruined. Phil and the rest of the servant had to be laid off.

Decades later, in 2007, Francis' great-great-niece Emma Stone convinced Detective Lilly Rush to reopen Francis case, after discovering a letter from Francis to Phil about their "secret passion" regarding the suffragette movement. Phil had long since passed away by this point, but her daughter Audrey was still living and told the detectives what she knew about her mother and Francis, eventually giving them the clue to solve Francis' murder.

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