Mary Astell
English feminist writer (1666-1731)
Alice Paul
American suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
Alice Paul was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist who played a key role in securing the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. She endured police brutality and imprisonment for her activism, and later led the National Woman’s Party in their fight for the Equal Rights Amendment.
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About the Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paulwas an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Paul initiated, and along with Lucy Burns and others, strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels, which were part of the successful campaign that resulted in the amendment’s passage in August 1920.
Paul often suffered police brutality and other physical abuse for her activism, always responding with nonviolence and courage. She was jailed under terrible conditions in 1917 for participating in a Silent Sentinels protest in front of the White House, as she had been several times during earlier efforts to secure the vote for women in the United Kingdom.
After 1920, Paul spent a half-century as leader of the National Woman’s Party, which fought for the Equal Rights Amendment, written by Paul and Crystal Eastman, to secure constitutional equality for women. She won a major permanent success with the inclusion of women as a group protected against discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Frequently Asked Questions
Alice Paul was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist who was one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote.
Alice Paul initiated and strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels, which were part of the successful campaign that resulted in the Nineteenth Amendment’s passage in 1920.
Alice Paul always responded to police brutality and other physical abuse with nonviolence and courage, even when she was jailed under terrible conditions in 1917 for participating in a Silent Sentinels protest in front of the White House.
After 1920, Alice Paul spent a half-century as leader of the National Woman’s Party, which fought for the Equal Rights Amendment to secure constitutional equality for women. She also won a major permanent success with the inclusion of women as a group protected against discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Alice Paul’s key achievements include her pivotal role in securing the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote, and her leadership in the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment to secure constitutional equality for women.
12 Quotes by Alice Paul
- 1.
I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 2.
It occurred to me that I just didn’t see how I could go ahead and continue to eat meat. It just seemed so… cannibalistic to me. And so, I’m a vegetarian, and I have been ever since.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 3.
Food simply isn’t important to me.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 4.
There will never be a new world order until women are a part of it.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 5.
Too many terms corrupts politicians so they only want to be reelected.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 6.
We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 7.
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 PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 8.
The Woman’s Party is made up of women of all races, creeds and nationalities who are united on the one program of working to raise the status of women.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 9.
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 PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 10.
Mr. President how long must women wait to get their liberty? Let us have the rights we deserve.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 11.
When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)
- 12.
It is better, as far as getting the vote is concerned, I believe, to have a small, united group than an immense debating society.
Alice PaulAmerican suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885-1977)