Alice Paul dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights as a suffragist in the early twentieth century. Born on January 11, 1885, Paul was raised in a family who advocated for equal rights and education. After earning degrees from Swarthmore and the University of Pennsylvania, she studied abroad in England where she joined the British Suffragist movement, known for its militant and defiant protest tactics. Upon returning to America, Paul and a friend joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association, before breaking away and forming the more radical National Woman’s Party. A few months later, she organized the first Women’s March in DC and protested for women’s right to vote. After picketing in front of the White House, Paul was among the protesters who were harassed, then arrested and jailed- where she continued her protest in a hunger strike. Her actions strengthened their cause, giving the women’s suffrage political recognition, resulting in then-President Wilson announcing his support of the suffrage amendment. Passed by Congress in June 1919, the nineteenth amendment granting women the right to vote became law on August 18, 1920. Paul dedicated her entire life to equal rights for women, penning the original version of the Equal Rights Amendment and fighting for gender equality in the United Nations. Paul died July 9, 1977, in Moorestown, N.J.
To learn more about Alice Paul, visit:
https://www.alicepaul.org/who-was-alice-paul/
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/alice-paul
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-alice-paul/