Basic Information
Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. She lived for 92 years and experienced a lot throughout her life. From the moment of Paul’s first arrest in England for advocating for women’s rights while attending college, she knew that activism was her purpose. This initial exposure was paramount to Paul’s future. She would later become chair of the Congressional Committee for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in the United States and eventually created the National Women’s Party (NWP) as her ideas and vision developed. Paul’s largest contribution was that of reinstating hope for the women’s suffrage movement after the death of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Paul continued their important work by devoting her time to achieving the federal amendment of a women’s right to vote.
Background Information
Paul grew up in an upper-middle class Quaker family. Her family stuck to traditional Quaker values, such as dressing plainly and having no music in the house (Adams and Keene, 2008, p 2). Paul was close with her family and was raised in an environment that promoted gender equality. She had younger siblings and her parents expected her to lead by example. Paul did well in being an example for her siblings: “Alice easily adapted to this position of responsibility. She strove to shine in her parents’ eyes—and succeeded in doing so” (Lunardini, 2013, p 3). Pauls’ growing up in a gender equal atmosphere contributed to her unquestionable belief in women’s equality.
Paul became a well-educated young woman who majored in Biology in a Quaker college; attended a fellowship at the College Settlement Association of America in New York City; enrolled in Columbia University to study social work, followed by attending University of Pennsylvania to study political science, sociology, and economics, earning her master’s degree. Eventually, Paul went on to earn her doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Paul wanted to further her knowledge of Quaker approaches to the arena of social activism (Adams and Keen, 2008, p 7) so she attended University of Birmingham to do so and, finally, found herself attending the School of Economics in London in 1908 and 1909. This final educational journey led her to her passion. It was in a foreign country where Paul was first introduced to activism.
Contributions to the First Wave
Throughout her academic experiences as a young, female student, Paul struggled to find her purpose. She was interested in pursuing education and social work but found these professions trivial; she felt like she wasn’t making a difference in fixing the underlying problems of poverty (Lunardini, 2013, p 12). Continuing to search for her purpose, she attended a rally led by Christabel Pankhurst in London at the University of Birmingham. Being present for the rally on the topic of women and voting, Paul watched a struggling Pankhurst finish her speech all the while men shouted at her. Quickly, Paul became exposed to the lack of respect and equality of women. She was instantly inspired by “the fervor and commitment of the British suffragettes and by their aggressive advocacy tactics and methods” (Hawranick, et al., 2008, p. 193). This exposure contributed largely to future decisions made by Paul that impacted the movement.
Paul found herself in the weeds of the women’s suffrage movement beginning in 1910, when she attended a national NAWSA convention in Washington back in the United States. Paul eventually met a young Lucy Burns who spoke with Paul at later outings on women’s suffrage. Eventually, Paul became a well-known suffragist in America who devised a plan with her close friend, Burns. They recognized their plan to be different from the previous state-by-state approach: “Their main strategy was to hold the party in power responsible for the fate of a federal woman suffrage amendment” (Lunardini, 2013, p 37). Tension rose within the NAWSA as Paul and Burns sought more aggressive approaches of activism. With their newfound recognition that the movement needed to be pursued at the national level, Paul and Burns clashed with the NAWSA and eventually left. They went on to create the NWP which focused solely on the federal amendment and took on nonviolent and visible methods. In the following years, Paul would organize a suffrage parade that grabbed the attention of President Woodrow Wilson; launch a campaign against Democrats; and push hard for the suffrage movement to become a national issue. This last contribution would be the most significant of Paul’s. She understood that the route to a federal amendment was through the creation of national attention on the topic.
Paul’s story does not end with creating the NWP and campaigning against Democrats—she continued to push for the federal amendment, fighting exhaustion. An important part of Paul’s work included her realization that she needed to enter the criminal justice system to display the seriousness of women’s inequality and the significance of the movement. Finding herself in jail and prison in 1917, she utilized tactics such as hunger strikes as a form of protest when they were not granted political prisoner status. Eventually, Paul was admitted to a psychopathic ward (mental ward) where her efforts, and the efforts of her fellow suffragists did not slow down. Eventually, Paul saw the federal amendment pass in 1920, but her efforts for equality did not stop there. Paul went on to earn a law degree and continued her work in the NWP.
Paul is often forgotten in the discussion of the first wave. Important figures such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony are without a doubt influential activists in the women’s suffrage movement, but it is with the important work of Paul that helped see the federal amendment pass. Paul took a national stance on the women’s suffrage movement, directly calling out the Democratic Party and putting immense pressure on President Woodrow Wilson. Paul essentially introduced to the movement new methods of activism that showed to be very successful, such as bringing the movement to the national level.
Well, these are all very wonderful ideals, but couldn’t you extend them to women?
~ Alice Paul (Adams and Keene, 2008, p 12)
Analysis and Conclusion
One of Paul’s strengths is certainly that of her academic background, which provided her several opportunities to travel and learn about social work and activism. She became a well-rounded activist in this regard. Many people find their true passion and purpose in life while attending college, and Paul was no exception. The timeframe Paul entered the women’s suffrage movement worked to her benefit; she bypassed pivotal moments in history such as abolition, reconstruction, and the polarizing 15thAmendment, which positioned many suffragists against each other. Paul became an activist when the women’s suffrage movement was becoming stale. Her ideological worldview, that of Quakerism, contributed largely to her success in the movement. She constantly sought ways to further her testimony throughout her academic experiences and into her professional work.
In summary, Paul played a role in the movement that often goes overlooked. Her work in activism, addressing a federal amendment at the national level, using non-verbal rhetoric in London, and pressuring politicians by putting the responsibility of women’s suffrage on the Democratic Party, significantly aided in the success of the 19thAmendment. Paul was exceptionally educated and intellectually ahead of her time. She was interested in careers in teaching and social work but felt in her heart that she had a higher calling. She eagerly sought work that expanded her testimony, helping to “alter the social and political status of women” (Adams and Keene, 2008, p 20). Paul’s accomplishments should no longer go unrecognized or overshadowed by the work of Stanton and Anthony. The history of women’s suffrage in the 19thand 20thcentury includes Paul and her unique intellect. She, too, was an important figure who attributed to the success of the 19thAmendment.
References
Adams, K.H., & Keene, M. L. (2008). Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Alice Paul. (n.d.). Library of Congress Photo, Print, Drawing Division, Retrieved June 4, 2019, from https://www.loc.gov/item/2004670382/ Retrieved May 3, 2019 from
Hawranick, S., Doris, J., & Daugherty, R. (2008). Alice Paul: Activist, Advocate, and One of Ours. Affilia, 23(2), 190-196. Retrieved from https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.1177%2F0886109908314332
Lunardini, C. (2013). Alice Paul: Equality for Women. C. Berkin (Ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.