Life Story: Alice Paul (1885-1977)

Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. She was the oldest of four children. Her father, William Mickel Paul I, was a Quaker and a wealthy businessman. Her mother, Tacie Perry Paul, was an active suffragist and member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Alice’s family was wealthy, but in keeping with their religious beliefs they lived on a family farm. Alice and her siblings were expected to help with daily chores and take part in acts of charity to support their community. 

The equality of the sexes is one of the core beliefs of the Quaker faith, and William and Tacie made sure all their children were raised to believe that women should have the same opportunities as men. As a child, Alice attended a Quaker school that reinforced this message, and her mother brought her to women’s suffrage meetings. When she was old enough, Alice enrolled at Swarthmore College, a co-ed school founded by her grandfather to provide higher education opportunities to women. Alice took classes with some of the most important women scholars of the day. When she graduated, she spent a year studying social work at the New York School of Philanthropy but decided that direct political action was necessary to make real change in the world. She pursued a master’s degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania before travelling to England in 1907 to continue her education.

Alice lived in England for three years and became deeply involved in the suffrage movement there. Suffrage activism in England was more radical and militant than in the US, and Alice came to believe that the shocking and sometimes violent tactics of English suffragists were the only way to get attention for the cause. She spoke out at mass protests and trespassed in government buildings, all to raise awareness for the cause. For English suffragists, getting arrested was viewed as a victory because it gained public sympathy. Alice was arrested seven times and imprisoned three. Even in prison, she continued her protests, refusing to wear prison uniforms and going on hunger strikes if her demands were not met. Her every act and punishment were covered in the press, gaining ever more attention for the cause. 

In 1910 Alice returned to the US to recover from her latest imprisonment. She enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania and joined NAWSA, hoping to bring the English style of suffrage activism to the US. Alice’s activities in England had been covered in the US press, and she was already considered a star of the movement. In 1913 she was invited to speak at the NAWSA annual conference with Lucy Burns, another American suffragist famous for her work in England. The two asked NAWSA to stop wasting time trying to win the vote state by state and focus solely on achieving a constitutional amendment. NAWSA dismissed their ideas as foolish but appointed them to lead the new Washington, D.C. chapter of the organization.

Alice and Lucy were convinced that a federal suffrage amendment was the only way all women in the US would be granted the right to vote, so they staged the largest suffrage march ever held to draw attention to their demands. On March 3, 1913, 8,000 women travelled to Washington, D.C. to participate, and about 500,000 spectators watched. The march was heavily covered by the press and brought new prominence to the fight for a suffrage amendment, but it was not without controversy. Alice tried to segregate Black suffragists to appease racist white suffragists. The Black suffragists refused to comply, but her attempt left a stain on an otherwise monumental event and highlighted the rampant racism that plagued the suffrage movement.

Alice and Lucy held their march the day before Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration, hoping the massive demonstration would force him to propose a women’s suffrage amendment. Unfortunately, President Wilson remained silent on the subject, and Alice needed to continue the fight. Eager to stage more direct actions, Alice and Lucy left NAWSA and founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. In 1916 they founded a new national organization called the National Woman’s Party (NWP) to draw attention to President Wilson’s refusal to support an amendment during his election campaign. 

In 1917 Alice returned to the tactics she had learned in England. She staged daily pickets outside the White House. The participants did not chant or march. They simply stood quietly, holding signs shaming President Wilson for not proposing a suffrage amendment. The press nicknamed the picketers “The Silent Sentinels” and covered their protests nationwide. When the US entered World War I most suffragists, including NAWSA, put aside their suffrage campaign to support the war effort. But not Alice. Public opinion turned against The Silent Sentinels. They were viewed as disloyal and threatened with violence and arrest, but they did not budge.

Within a few short weeks 168 picketers were arrested for disloyalty. Alice was sentenced to seven months in prison. She once again turned to the tactics she’d learned from the English suffragists. She demanded to be treated as political prisoner, and when her demand was ignored, she went on hunger strike. Other suffragists followed her lead. Prison guards force-fed the women to keep them alive, and the process was violent and extremely painful. Eventually the guards transferred Alice to a psychiatric ward, claiming she was insane. When the papers broke the story of how the suffragists were being treated in prison, public opinion swung around. Facing increasing pressure from the general public, President Wilson released Alice from prison in November 1917. The release of Alice and the other suffragists was met with public celebration. 

President Wilson declared support for a suffrage amendment at the end of 1917. For two years he worked with Congress to secure the necessary votes to pass the amendment. In 1919 Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment, ending voting discrimination on the basis of sex. It was ratified by the states after a final national campaign in 1920.

Alice celebrated the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, but she knew the real work of women’s equality was just beginning. In 1920 she wrote an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that would completely outlaw discrimination based on sex and began to campaign for its passage. It was first introduced in 1923, revised in 1943, and passed Congress in 1972. The ERA finally achieved enough state support to be ratified on January 27, 2020. But opponents challenged the ratification, declaring that the process had timed out. The US courts have yet to decide the issue. To this day, there is no amendment outlawing discrimination based on sex in the US. 

Alice continued to work towards full social, political, and economic equality for women for the remainder of her life. Alice died at the age of ninety-two on July 9, 1977.

• constitutional amendment: A formal change or addition to the US Constitution.
• Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): An amendment to the US Constitution that would guarantee equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex.
• hunger strike:  Refusing to eat. 
• National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA): Founded in 1890, this organization was the largest women’s suffrage organization in the US and instrumental in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. 
• Nineteenth Amendment: The constitutional amendment that declared the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of sex; it was ratified in 1920.
• picket: A person or group of people standing outside a place of work or other venue, protesting something.
• Quaker: A person who belongs to the Religious Society of friends, a Christian religion that sees all people as equals because all possess a divine “inner light.” Quakers do not believe in social hierarchies and value living simply.
• ratification: The action of signing or giving formal consent to a law, making it officially valid.
• psychiatric ward: Area of a prison reserved for people suffering from psychological disorders. 
• social work: Work aimed at improving the lives of people.
• suffrage: The right of voting; in this era, suffrage often referred specifically to women’s suffrage, or the right of women to vote.
• suffragist: A person who campaigned to win women the right to vote.