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Alice Paul - Leader of the radical wing of the Women's Suffrage Movement
Alice Paul was the leader of the most radical and militant wing of the Women’s Suffrage movement and was instrumental in securing Women’s Right to Vote in the U.S. The 19th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1919, and ratified by the states in 1920. Alice continued with her activism after securing the right to vote. In 1923, she authored another Constitutional Amendment, The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and spent the next 49 years working hard to get it passed through Congress, which it did in 1972.
Born on January 11, 1885, in Mt. Laurel Township, NJ (a suburb east of Philadelphia, PA), Alice Paul went on to be one of the founding members of the National Woman’s Party (NWP). With her Hicksite Quaker background guiding her beliefs around equality between men and women, Alice dedicated her entire life to women’s equality. |
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“I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.” – Alice Paul, 1974
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Alice Paul sewing a star onto a suffrage flag. Each star represented a State that ratified the 19th Amendment. photo credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [reproduction number, e.g., [LC-F82-1234]
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As a child, she would go with her mother to National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) meetings and eventually joined the NAWSA while she was in college. In 1907, two years after she graduated with a degree in Biology from Swarthmore College, Alice went to study social work at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, England. There she met Emmeline Pankhurst founder of the Women's Social and Political Union. Emmeline and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia were known as England’s most radical suffragettes. Alice learned a lot about their tactics and took their motto “Deeds Not Words” to heart and brought a new sense of activism back to the U.S.
Alice returned to the U.S. in 1910, and in 1912, earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, after which she joined the NAWSA and quickly took on a leadership role. As part of her Congressional Committee work for the NASWA, Alice organized a publicity stunt in order to bring national attention to the cause. On March 3, 1913, to coincide with President Woodrow Wilson’s first inauguration, Alice organized a 'parade of women' that marched up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Taking advantage of the crowds and the press who had gathered to watch the inauguration, Alice’s efforts stole the spotlight and the headlines.
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Silent Sentinels. photo credit: Terence V. Powderly / Public domain
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Alice’s tactics and actions became too extreme for NAWSA, so in 1916, Alice severed ties with NAWSA and founded the National Women’s Party (NWP) in order to pursue her revolutionary strategies. She organized thousands of “Silent Sentinels” to picket President Wilson in the White House. By the time the U.S. entered the First World War in November 1917, patience for the Sentinels had worn thin. They were arrested on false charges and imprisoned. Taking the lead from the Pankhurts, the suffragettes considered themselves political prisoners and staged multiple hunger strikes. By 1918, President Wilson eventually bowed to public and political pressure, released Alice and the suffragettes, and changed his position to support the Women’s Right to Vote Amendment.
In 1920, through Alice’s grit and tenacity The Women’s Right to Vote Amendment passed the House and Senate and was ratified by the required three-quarters of the states.
On August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification, allowing women to vote in U.S. elections. August 26th is celebrated as Women’s Equality Day.
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The day after the police announce that future pickets would be given limit of 6 mos. in prison, Alice Paul led picket line with a banner reading "The time has come to conquer or submit for there is but one choice - we have made it." photo credit: Library of Congress / Public domain/ Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. (Photographer)
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Alice Paul passed away on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92. It would take another 43 years for the ERA to be ratified by the required number of states. On January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, however there was a 7-year limit placed on the amendment when it originally passed Congress and so it did not automatically become an amendment.
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After Tennessee became the 36th State to ratify the Amendment, Alice Paul unfurled the ratification flag from the balcony of the National Woman's Party headquarters with all 36 stars attached. photo credit: Library of Congress / Public domain / National Photo Co., Washington, D.C. (Photographer)
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If your travels take you near Philadelphia, PA or Washington, D.C., be sure to check out:
Paulsdale, (in Mt. Laurel Township, NJ) Alice Paul’s birthplace and family farm, is a National Historic Landmark and part of the New Jersey Historic Trust. It was purchased in 1990, by The Alice Paul Institute (API) and now serves as API’s center for celebrating women’s history and leadership.
Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, (in Washington, D.C.) home to the National Women’s Party for 90 years, the 220 year old, Federal style house is open to the public and tells the story of Women’s Right to Vote in the U.S.
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