Alice Paul

Alice Paul

(b. 1885, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey; d. 1977, Moorestown, New Jersey)

Alice Paul, a suffragist in the early 20th century, dedicated her life's work toward women's equality. She's renowned for partaking in the Women Suffrage Movement in the 1900s and the ratification of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Alice is also known for her unique protesting tactics which included picketing the White House and going on hunger strikes. She learned these tactics from the British women's suffrage movement.

Alice Stokes Paul was born on January 11, 1885, to Tacie Perry Paul and William Mickle Paul. Alice graduated from Swarthmore College in 1905 with a biology degree in which the school was co-founded by her great-grandfather. Alice enrolled to the New York School of Philanthropy and received her Masters of Arts Degree in 1907 in sociology and then moved to London to finish her studies. While in London, between 1906 to 1909, she joined the British suffrage movement and were enlisted in the Women's Social and Political Union which was a militant women’s activist group founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst.

After returning from England, Alice joined the National American Women Suffrage Association, founded by Susan B. Anthony. In January of 1917, Alice and the 1,000 members of the National Women's Party started the picketing the White House. These members were known as the "Silent Sentinels" who stood outside the gate of the White House for 18 months, holding signs saying "Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"

Alice dedicated her life to protesting for women's equality and their right to vote, even after the 19th amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. She continued to fight for women's rights and even demanded an Equal Rights Amendment, which never was ratified. She died in 1977 due to a stroke at the age of 92.

Alice Paul at the Dinner Party:

If I chose a guest to invite to The Dinner Party 2018, I would invite Alice Paul. Alice was a suffragist in the early 20th century. She was involved in the ratification of the 19th amendment that granted women the right to vote. Alice joined several groups advocating for women’s suffrage, including the Women’s Social and Political Union in England with Emmeline Pankhurst in 1908. And in 1910, she moved back to the United States and joined the National American Women’s Suffrage Association led by Susan B. Anthony. In 1913 Alice formed a suffrage party called the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage later renamed to the National Women’s Party, with Lucy Barnes.

Alice was a prominent figure and leader in the women’s suffrage movement, organizing parades and leading protest. She was the chair for the National American Women’s Suffrage Association and a leader of the suffrage movement. One of her biggest parades was on March 3, 1913, in Washington D.C. with approximately 8,000 women marching on Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol Building to the White House. They were carrying signs and banners advocating for women’s suffrage. The parade was for the newly-elect President Woodrow Wilson to … for women’s right to vote.

Alice was sent to prison several times for multiple accounts and even imprisoned too! However, that didn’t stop her. This was one of many of the hardships that Alice endured. One time when the National Women’s Party were picketing the White House, a mob of male pedestrians started to disturb traffic and attack and harassed the suffragists in which the suffragists were sent to Occoquan Workhouse. In protest, Alice refused to eat and went on a hunger strike. Doctors tried to force feed her, they even threatened to send her to an insane asylum, and eventually, the press and media got a hold of the treatment. The public soon found out about it, which gained more support for women’s suffrage.

Her place setting description:

For Alice Paul's plate, I decided to paint one-third of the plate purple and another third gold with the center being white. I wanted the plate to look like the women's suffrage flag to represent Alice Paul and all her contributions toward the ratification of the 19th amendment. The gold to represents her passion and success, the white to express her intelligence, and the purple to represents her ambitious spirit and devotion to women's equality.

For the runner, I decided to border it with put headlines from newspaper articles officially allowing women to vote. In the center is Alice Paul's name which was ironed on with black bars behind it to represent her time spent in jail. The numbers 19 and 1920 is painted on to symbolize the 19th amendment being ratified in the year 1920.