hosler-alicepaul

Alice Paul

1. My name is Alice Stokes Paul. I was born on January 11, 1885 in Mount Laurel Township New Jerrsy. My Parents were a Quaker family and raised me like a Quaker too. I heard all the things about women's rights. I learned them all from my family and friends. Women did have some equal power with men. For example, some legal, professional, and educational equalities. But women still worked hard in factories and textiles with low pay and little advancement. Advancement means inheritance. It was like women had no respect at all!

2. After I finished college, I decided to fight for women's rights and went to England. I worked for the British suffrage movement. Suffrage means the right to vote. I planed parades to the cause, but most of the time I did, me and some of the other suffragists were arrested. In 1910 I returned to America and worked for a federal amendment to the U.S. A constitution that would give women suffrage. All what I learned in England, I tried in America. I first started a parade in Washington D.C. Women and men joined me with purple, white and gold banners, and signs. Later on I started the National Woman's party. We had one plank - votes for woman.

3. I never stopped my work for women rights. In 1917, me and other people stood in front of the white house with banners and picket signs and said nothing all day. It was called the "silent sentinels." Many people coming to see the president saw the signs and would criticize us. For six months we stood there until the police arrested almost 200 women, including me, for blocking traffic. We spent all of summer and fall in jail. The National Woman's party convinced the president and women were now aloud to vote. We were given this right on August 20, 1920. But voting rights was just the first step. I would work for the rest of my life for women to have equal rights.