Alice Paul

Written by Clara Robinson

 

Alice Paul was born on January 11th, 1885 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey to a deeply religious Quaker family. Gender equality was a central belief of their religion and thus a social norm amongst Quakers. Alice graduated at the top of her class in high school, and then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Swarthmore College in 1905. An exceptional scholar, Alice completed several graduate degrees. While continuing her graduate studies in England, Alice became involved with the British women’s suffrage movement that was led by Emaline and Christabel Pankhurst. Their movement utilized militant tactics such as breaking windows and heckling. Alice, and numerous other women who engaged in these measures, were repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. While in prison, they would begin hunger strikes and refuse to eat, which usually resulted in being force fed. 
 

In 1910, Alice Paul returned to America and joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Although NAWSA was targeting state delegations, Alice wanted to redirect the movement to focus on a constitutional amendment. Alice and her colleague Lucy Burns organized an extensive parade in Washington D.C. for thousands of women on March 3rd, 1913. Dressed in a Greek attire, Inez Milholland, who was a well known and respected activist, led this march on a white horse. Those who participated in this suffrage parade were heckled and beaten while police watched from the sidelines. 
 

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns broke away from NAWSA in 1916 and formed the National Women’s Party (NWP). In 1917, members of the NWP began their civil disobedience tactic of silently protesting outside of the White House. These women became known as the ‘Silent Sentinels.’ The NWP continued to picket the White House even after the U.S. entered World War I, which raised controversy. Although these protests were legal, police began arresting the Silent Sentinels under the charge of ‘obstructing traffic.’ Alice and the suffragists demanded to be treated as political prisoners, and when this request was ignored, they began a hunger strike. The women were brutally force fed, beaten, and held in unsanitary conditions in prison. As news about the treatment in prison reached the public, people were horrified and demanded the women be released. 
 

By the end of 1917, the U.S. government voted to pass the 19th Amendment to grant women the right to vote. The amendment needed a 3/4ths vote in order to pass, and received exactly that. The NWP, finally having achieved their goal, celebrated this victory by sewing a star for each ratification onto their Silent Sentinel banners. However, Alice Paul did not feel that the fight for equality was over. In 1923, after earning three law degrees, she wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, which has yet to be ratified. Alice extended her efforts to women across the world and founded the World Women’s Party, followed by the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 1945. 

 

Alice Paul died at age 92 on July 9th, 1977 in Moorestown, New Jersey, and she was buried in a Quaker cemetery in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. The Alice Paul Institute (API), now known as the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice, was founded in 1985 to honor her lifelong fight for equality and lasting impact years later. Alice Paul will forever be remembered for her extraordinary achievements as a feminist, suffragist, and political strategist. 

Bibliography

 

“About Alice Paul – Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice.” Accessed October 2, 2024. 
          https://www.alicepaul.org/about-alice-paul/.

 

“Alice Paul - Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (U.S. National Park
          Service).” https://www.nps.gov/bepa/learn/alice-paul.htm

 

Fritz, Jan Marie. "Alice Stokes Paul (1885-1977)." Clinical Sociology Review 18, no. 1 (2023). Gale Academic OneFile https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A761299068/AONE?u=mlin_oweb&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=db00bc85

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