Women You May Not Know

Alice Paul, raised in a Quaker family that valued gender equality, was deeply influenced by her upbringing. In 1907, while studying in England, she joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), participating in suffrage activism, hunger strikes, and public speeches, often facing arrest. 

Returning to the U.S. in 1910, she continued her fight for women’s suffrage and became a key figure in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Paul organized massive suffrage demonstrations, including the iconic 1913 parade at Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. In 1917, she led the first peaceful picketing of the White House, resulting in the arrest of over 500 women, including herself. Her hunger strike while imprisoned gained widespread attention. After years of relentless activism, the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, giving women the right to vote. Paul continued advocating for women’s rights, authoring the Equal Rights Amendment and fighting for gender equality in global and national policies. Despite her significant achievements, she became frustrated with later feminist movements, particularly opposing the association of the ERA with abortion telling a friend, “Abortion is the ultimate in the exploitation of women,” and asked, “How can we help and protect women by killing them as babies?”.

By Bella Fechter and Serrin M. Foster