1. Radical Suffragette American Hero
Alice Paul
Radical Suffragette
American Hero

2. Suffrage: Right to Vote
Throughout American history the right to vote has been seen as a crucial element to citizenship
Voting is the way individuals have a say in how our government is run and the decisions made
The struggle for each generation of Americans has been to redefine the meaning of citizenship and extending its most cherished right- the vote

3. Alice Paul: Giving a Voice to Women
Among the many heroes of the women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul was both controversial and effective
Understanding her life can help us better understand the last phase of the women’s suffrage movement, which began in the earliest days of the U.S.

4. Paul Family
Alice Paul, born 1885, was the eldest child of William and Tacie Paul
Her family was fairly wealthy and lived on a “gentlemen’s farm”
Growing up, she was influenced by the Quaker religious teachings including equality of the sexes, hard work, and perseverance
Alice Paul (age 6) and her brother Billy (age 4)

5. Alice Paul on Perseverance
"When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row. "                                     -Alice Paul recalling the advice of her mother

6. Quaker Values of Equality
"When the Quakers were founded...one of their principles was and is equality of the sexes. So I never had any other idea...the principle was always there."
Alice Paul recalling the influence of Quaker beliefs
There were a disproportionate number of Quaker women involved in the suffrage movement including Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott

7. Education
Alice graduated at the top of her class in Moorestown, NJ in 1901
She graduated from the co-ed Swarthmore College with a degree in Biology
She played tennis, field hockey and basketball
Alice was involved in student government and was chosen as commencement speaker
Alice Paul (seated on chair to the right) with Swarthmore sorority.

8. Continuing Education
Alice Paul was inspired by some of the leading female academics of the time who taught at Swarthmore College
She went on to earn a Master’s degree in sociology in 1907 and a Ph. D in economics in 1912, both from the University of Pennsylvania
She would continue her studies, eventually earning three separate law degrees as well

9. Militant Suffrage Movement in England
Alice went to England in 1907 to study social work
She met Christabel Pankhurst, daughter of the most radical suffragette in England, Emmeline Pankhurst
The Pankhurst women believed in radical methods, such as heckling, window breaking, and other acts of civil disobedience
They hoped their notoriety from arrests would achieve change faster than traditional suffrage protests including prayers and petitions
Their slogan was “Deeds not words”

10. Civil Disobedience

11. Alice Paul Becomes Militant
Alice joined the Pankhurst women in their protests
According to her own count, she broke 48 windows while in England
She was arrested and protested by hunger strikes
She and other women, were brutally force-fed while in prison

12. Return to America In 1910, Alice Paul returned to the United States
She brought the English civil disobedience tactics to the suffrage movement in America
:  "The militant policy is bringing success the agitation has brought England out of her lethargy, and women of England are now talking of the time when they will vote, instead of the time when their children would vote, as was the custom a year or two back." 
Alice Paul 1910

13. Paul and the NAWSA
Paul quickly joined the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
She was put in charge of bringing attention to the idea of a federal suffrage amendment
She organized a massive march of women in Washington, D.C. to occur during Woodrow Wilson’s inaguration
The march turned ugly as the women were first verbally, then physically, attacked while police did nothing
This march brought more attention to the suffrage movement in the U.S.

14. Women’s Suffrage Parade Washington, D.C. March 3, 1913
Womens suffrage parade in Washington DC

15. Suffrage Parade

16. Break From NAWSA
Paul differed with the NAWSW in two key areas: state or national suffrage campaigns and the question of Woodrow Wilson as an ally or enemy
Alice Paul wanted to put all efforts toward a national amendment to give women the right to vote
She also wanted to hold Wilson responsible for the lack of suffrage for women and to put pressure on him
By 1916, Alice Paul and others cut ties with the NAWSA and formed the National Women’s Party (NWP)

17. Silent Sentinels Paul’s NWP was more radical
They began to picket the White House with anti-Wilson signs
At first they were ignored
After U.S. entrance into WWI in 1917, Paul and the other women were seen as “un-patriotic”
They began to be arrested and harassed

18. “This world crisis came about without women having anything to do with it. If the women of the world had not been excluded from world affairs, things today might have been different. “
Alice Paul on suffrage and WWI

19. Brutal Treatment of Suffragists
Alice Paul and other arrested suffragettes were put into prison, and some were sent to insane asylums
They were kept in unsanitary, harsh conditions
When Paul and others went on hunger strikes, they were brutally force-fed
News of this treatment gained more support for the women’s suffrage movement and embarrassed President Wilson
The suffragettes were released by late 1917

20. Force feeding of Alice Paul from the 2004 movie, Iron Jawed Angels

21. Victory: The 19th Amendment
Wilson now supported women’s suffrage as a “wartime measure”
By 1919, both the House and Senate had passed the amendment
On August 26th, 1920, the 19th Amendment had been ratified, giving women the right to vote

22. Alice Paul Keeps Fighting
Alice Paul introduced a new amendment giving total equality to women in 1923
This eventually became known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
ERA was nearly ratified in 1982, failed by 3 states, but continues to be supported today
Alice Paul also fought for women’s rights internationally and to end sexual discrimination in the U.S.
Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977

23. "I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction
"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 1972
Alice Paul, 1965