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continued
Quaker Education
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Raised in an area founded by her Quaker ancestors, Alice and her family
remained devoted observers of the faith. As Hicksite Friends, the Paul family adhered to Quaker traditions
of simplicity and plain speech (replacing you
and yours with "thee" and "thy" when talking with other Quakers).
Alice attended a Hicksite school in Moorestown, New Jersey, and graduated first in her class in 1901.
Hicksite Friends endorsed the concept of gender
equality as a central tenet of their religion and a societal norm of Quaker
life. As Paul noted years later, "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." Growing up among Quakers, who believed men and women
were equal,
meant Alice's childhood environment was something of an anomaly for the time period. This
upbringing undoubtedly accounts for the many Quaker
suffragists including Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott, both whom Paul admired
and considered role-models. Alice's faith not only established the foundation
for her belief in equality but also provided a rich legacy of activism and service to country. |
Alice Paul
(seated on chair to the right) with Swarthmore sorority. |
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"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-interview, 1974 |
Alice’s relationship to Swarthmore College
began long before she entered as a student in 1901. Her
grandfather, Judge William Parry, was one of the founders of the
co-educational school in 1864. He believed in the idea that men
and women should receive an equal, Quaker-inspired education and
he sent his youngest and only daughter Tacie to Swarthmore in
1878.
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Unfortunately, Tacie Parry had to drop out in
1881, one year short of graduation, when she married William
Paul (married women were not allowed to attend school. Tacie
promised that her children would attend Swarthmore for at least
one year to experience the value of a Quaker education. Though
each of her four children took classes at the college, it was
her eldest daughter Alice who stayed for four years graduating
with a degree in Biology. At Swarthmore, Alice was taught by
some of the leading female academics of the day, including
mathematics professor Susan Cunningham, who was one of the first
women to be admitted to the American Mathematics Associate.
Cunningham, was noted on campus for her admonition, “Use thy
gumption”. These words may have emboldened Paul when she
picketed the White House and went on hunger strike. While in
college, she used her "gumption” to participate in a variety of
sports including field hockey, tennis and basketball.
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Alice
Paul's Educational Achievements
B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College, 1905
M.A. in Sociology from University of Pennsylvania, 1907
Ph.D. in Economics from University of Pennsylvania, 1912
LL.B. from Washington College of Law, 1922
LL.M. from American University, 1927
D.C.L. from American University, 1928
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She was a member of the Executive Board of
Student Government, was named Ivy Poetess and served as a
commencement speaker. Alice’s father, William Paul (who died
unexpectedly during her second year at Swarthmore), once said of his
eldest daughter, “Well, when there is a job to be done, I bank on
Alice”. He spoke these words while Paul was still in college and
they provide a hint to Paul's character even before the age of 21.
In the college's yearbook, Halcyon, she was dubbed, “An open-hearted maiden, true and
pure”. When this open hearted, open minded student graduated from Swarthmore in
1905, she may not have known what lay ahead, but she did expect to make a
contribution to society.
Militant Suffragettes
(Paul in England)
Though Alice's upbringing was steeped in
suffrage ideals, it was during her stay in England that she was transformed from
a reserved Quaker girl into a militant suffragist. After working in the
settlement movement in New York, Paul left for Birmingham, England, in 1907 to
study social work at the Woodbrooke Settlement. One day, she passed a
crowd jeering a female speaker and stopped to observe the chaos. The woman, who
had been speaking about women's suffrage, was jeered so loudly she couldn't be
heard and was forced from the stage by an unruly crowd. Alice introduced herself
to the speaker, who turned out to be Christabel Pankhurst, daughter of England’s
most radical suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst. The Pankhurst women (mother and
two daughters) were leaders of a militant faction of suffragettes whose motto
was "Deeds not words." Believing that prayer, petitions, and patience was not
enough to successfully enfranchise women, the Pankhursts engaged in direct and
visible measures, such as heckling, window smashing, and rock throwing, to raise
public aware about the suffrage issue. Their notoriety gained them front-page
coverage on many London newspapers, where they were seen being carried away in
handcuffs by the police. The Pankhursts also devised a political strategy to
hold the party in power responsible, regardless of affiliation, for women's
secondary status. Paul joined their movement, personally breaking more than
forty-eight windows (according to one interview) and was arrested and imprisoned
on several occasions. The suffragettes, including Alice, protested their
confinement with hunger strikes, for which they were forcibly fed in a brutal
fashion. During these dark days of imprisonment, Paul took strength from a
quotation she often saw etched into the prison walls by her compatriots:
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." This sentiment, first expressed by
Thomas Jefferson, and later adopted by Susan B. Anthony, now inspired a new
generation of revolutionaries in their quest for liberty. Paul noted the impact
of the Pankhursts on the suffrage debate, rousing many in the country to their
cause. Upon her return to America in 1910, she said: "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."
Paul believed that English suffragettes had found the path to victory that
continued to elude American suffragists.
Paul Meets NAWSA and the
President
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Alice Paul,
c. 1910 |
Paul returned
to her home country in 1910 imbued with the radicalism of the English suffrage
movement and a determination to reshape and re-energize the American campaign
for women’s enfranchisement. While a student at the University of Pennsylvania,
she joined the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
She was quickly appointed as head of the Congressional Committee in charge of
working for a federal suffrage amendment, a secondary goal to the NAWSA
leadership. In 1912, Alice Paul and two friends, Lucy Burns and Crystal Eastman,
headed to Washington, D.C. to organize for suffrage. With little funding but in
true Pankhurst style, Paul and Burns organized a publicity event to gain maximum
national attention; an elaborate and massive parade by women to march up
Pennsylvania Avenue and coincide with Woodrow Wilson's presidential
inauguration. The parade began on March 3, 1913, with the beautiful lawyer,
activist, and socialite Inez Milholland, leading the procession, dressed in
Greek robes and astride a white horse. The scene turned ugly, however, when
scores of male onlookers attacked the suffragists, first with insults and
obscenities, and then with physical violence, while the police stood by and
watched. The following day, Alice's group of suffragists made headlines across
the nation and suffrage became a popular topic of discussion among politicians
and the general public alike.
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