Welcome to the world of Miss Alice Paul
I have spent a lifetime studying Miss Alice Paul. She has been my North Star in countless ways. To her feminism was a full-time vocation and nothing diminished her devotion. She lived within the etiquettes of Quakerism while applying the most radical ideas and groundbreaking public behavior. Under Alice's direction, ladies wore their hats with boots buttoned while burning the speeches of the President at the White House fence. Her social propriety was always evident while creating a major revolution.
Years tick on and my interest in Miss Paul has expanded, my investigations deepened and my passion to share my understanding of her is overwhelming. One day Alice Paul will be recognized as the first American to use Nonviolent Direct Action, Civil Disobedience and political protest within a political movement and I hope I will be one of the instruments of that righteous occasion. As we see thousands of people at the White House fence, it was Alice Paul who set this lineage in motion; relentlessly confronting the President and Congress at their very door.
We need to acknowledge her. We need to insist that history honor her. We need her point of view. We need her inspiration. We need to see her as the radical lifelong committed activist that she was. It is my hope to lift her off the pages of academic and history books, scrape off the disturbing fiction slathered on her and offer you the Alice I know, love and hold as my dearest most inspiring political activist. She is human, flawed, funny and "pure feminist." I hope you will join with me in lifting her to the rightful moniker of The American Feminist Gandhi and more.
My current deep dive into her life began in earnest December 2012 when Purdue University invited me give the keynote address at their Centennial March commemorating the Suffrage March of 1913. That unfolded into a program, "Miss Paul ~ The Heart of an Activist." It featured the intersection of Miss Paul’s life and the extraordinary relevance to our lives as modern day activists. Each time I presented it, the content and relevance bloomed.
Sharing stories, activist lessons and insights about Alice Paul presents unexpected obstacles. When I began, I had no idea how many times her legacy was redacted, fictionalized, and trivialized. I spent hours and hours on phone calls with people who knew her and digging into newspapers. In fact, I even found her passport on Ancestry dot com. But the real treasure trove began as word got out that I was curious and respectful of the facts. People who knew her began contacting me. People sent me letters, photos and documents. I would get phone calls from grade school students to PhD candidates who had gotten my number from someone and somehow I would know what they were looking for.
Mostly interestingly, I saw Alice's rigid, demanding, almost dark side and I knew that I truly loved her. No matter how calculating, no matter how seemingly cold, I loved her. It only begged the question, would she love me? I hope so as it would the best confirmation that I understand her. I think she would appreciate that my love for equality, my unrelenting mad passion for equality is something we share. It is something in which we found both loneliness and camaraderie. And I do love hats.
PRODUCTION NOTES
This is a dynamic environment. Additions happen often. Changes happen as information is collected. Edits are gratefully considered. The intention is to keep this robust, growing, and current. If you have something you would like to submit, please email it and you will hear from us.
PHOTO ALBUMS
You can see that the photo albums are not done. They will never be done. As information is obtained or new photos discovered, the albums will grow and the captions will filled in.
