Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights

December 12, 2016
Born in 1885, 65 years after Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul may be a lesser-known warrior for women’s suffrage but, as Kops unequivocally reveals in this thorough biography, she was no less passionate or determined. After recapping Paul’s Quaker childhood in New Jersey and her college years at Swarthmore, Kops (The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919) steps up the pace as she follows Paul to London. There the gutsy Paul studied social activism, joined the ranks of protesting suffragettes, and was jailed for the first of many times. Her zeal for women’s voting rights ignited after she settled in Washington, D.C., where the suffrage campaign “was Alice Paul’s life” and “she fired on all four cylinders.” The author convincingly recreates charged episodes as Paul and her colleagues picketed Woodrow Wilson’s White House and endured unlawful arrests, sentences in jails and workhouses, and hunger strikes—all building to the eventual passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Archival photos and quotes culled from Paul’s correspondence, her contemporaries’ observations, and the press further illuminate the life of this indefatigable crusader. Ages 11–up. Agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary.

January 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Born in 1885 to a Quaker family in Moorestown, NJ, Alice Paul was a lively and inquisitive child who loved to read and learn. She completed her undergraduate education at Swarthmore College and then traveled to England, where she became involved in social work and helped at the College Settlement, a community center. Paul also took part in the women's suffrage movement, which ultimately became her life's work. Returning to the United States in 1910, Paul became a leading spokesperson and organizer. Working tirelessly for the cause, she was often arrested and sent to jail for leading marches and for picketing the White House. Staging hunger strikes while in jail, Paul was force-fed by her jailers. She never gave up the fight and urged President Woodrow Wilson to support the 19th Amendment. After its ratification, Paul devoted the remainder of her life to fighting for an equal rights amendment that she wrote. The author makes excellent use of Paul's letters and journals to re-create her life for a high school audience. VERDICT A welcome addition for collections seeking titles on the women's suffrage movement.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly at Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, Mount Carmel

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2016
Alice Paul lacks the name recognition of fellow suffragists Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but this lucid, inspiring portrait reveals her noteworthy contributions to women's rights. Paul absorbed the principle of gender equality during her Quaker childhood. While pursuing graduate studies in England, Paul joined the Women's Social and Political Union, a militant suffrage group. Arrested repeatedly during demonstrations, Paul was treated brutally while serving three jail terms. After returning to the United States, Paul participated in National American Woman Suffrage Association rallies. She reignited the somnolent suffrage movement, creating provocative banners and organizing dramatic events, such as a 1913 protest march in Washington, which drew thousands of marchers from around the country. Disagreement over strategies and methods led Paul to break with NAWSA and formethe National Woman's Party in 1916, which she led for 50 years. Following ratification of the 19th Amendment, Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment, which would make unconstitutional all laws discriminating against women. Kops' engaging narrative is as insightful about the history of the fight for women's rights as it is about Paul's many remarkable achievements. She makes liberal use of primary-source material, giving Paul and her contemporaries voice and including plentiful photographs to accompany her account. A rich, fascinating, and inspiring account of a tireless champion for women's rights. (photos, source notes, bibliography) (Biography. 11-18)

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Starred review from February 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* You might say that American Alice Paul (18851977) was born a feminist. Raised in the Quaker tradition, which from its outset embraced gender equality, she was further radicalized as a sociology doctoral candidate in England when she first heard suffragist Christabel Pankhurst address a hostile crowd. I want to throw in all the strength I can give to help, Paul determined. That she did in a pitched battle spanning six decades, from the struggle to pass the Nineteenth Amendment through the Second Wave attempt to append the still unrealized Equal Rights Amendment. Paul and her cohorts came up with ingenious means of infiltrating the bastions of power: in London, she and an ally disguised themselves as cleaning women in order to disrupt a guildhall banquet with shouts of Votes for women! The gambit occasioned her first imprisonment, leading to a hunger strike and forced feedinga horrendous procedure rendered here factually and without sensationalism. Her health compromised by three such ordeals, Paul soldiered on, creatively. Young activists could learn a lot from this clear, engaging biography, which makes excellent use of primary sources and contains a number of black-and-white photographs. An extensive bibliography provides further resources for students interested in digging up more on the secret of Paul's success: keep changing the delivery method while holding fast to the message.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)