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33 2 From Charity Organization to Militant Protest Alice Paul’s Rise to Prominence, 1885–1920 Like Ethel Smith, Alice Paul rose to prominence as a defender of women’s rights in the workplace. She too believed that men and women were entitled to equal compensation and opportunity, and that discriminatory practices should be abolished . Though both women shared the same political and economic concerns, their organizational af¤liations and approach to achieving their goals differed dramatically . The similarities in their personal politics could not be bridged due in part to their different class backgrounds and choice of organizational af¤liations. Paul initially attempted to ¤t into the culturally ascribed roles for a woman of her class, however, she eventually rebelled against such strictures and launched a political career that directly challenged mainstream depictions of women as weak and dependent. Based on her wealth, intelligence, and tenacity, she had every reason to believe that she could make a difference in changing how women were perceived in politics, law, and culture. By age twenty-eight, she had secured a place in the history of American women, but that history is complex and has never been explored in its entirety. Born in January 1885, Paul was steeped in the economic and religious stability of the Quaker enclave of Moorestown, New Jersey. As a product of the village’s most upstanding and af¶uent family, she lived a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle that for the time being remained far removed from the vicissitudes of urban strife. Her father, William Mickle Paul (1850–1902), owned several successful businesses and worked as President of the Burlington County Trust Company and Vice President of the Moorestown National Bank.1 Looking back on her childhood, Paul had very little to say about her father, who by all accounts was stern and detached from his family. He died of pneumonia on April 26, 1902, leaving his wife, Tacie Parry Paul (1859–1930), and their four children a sizable inheritance.2 In contrast to her father’s demeanor, Paul’s mother was a kind and gentle woman remembered for her independent personality and keen intelligence. She also was a product of a very political family who instilled in Tacie an active social conscience, a quality no doubt she passed on to her daughter. As a descendant of her mother’s distinguished name, it was predetermined that Paul would continue the family tradition and attend Swarthmore, a Quaker college that her grandfather, William Parry (1817–1888), had co-founded with Lucretia Mott.3 At Swarthmore, she established close relations with her classmates, engaging in risky escapades such as making fudge in her dorm room with a gaslight and sneaking away from campus after curfew to explore the town. Such antics 34 Alice Paul’s Rise to Prominence must have been all the more exciting for Paul, in light of her strict upbringing. Raised in the Hicksite Quaker sect, she adhered to the traditional doctrine of the inner light, striving to set a good example for others according to her own conscience . She was taught to live a simple life and to build an unshakable commitment to hard work and her community. Her father upheld these principles to their highest standards, forbidding music in the house and other forms of unnecessary frivolity. Though Swarthmore was governed by an abundance of rules, college life provided the opportunity for Paul to revel in singing and dancing, practicing football cheers, laughing, and exploring the mysteries of dating.4 She enjoyed her two years at Swarthmore to the fullest, with the exception of emotionally coming to terms with losing her father, a process that was no doubt traumatic whether she was close to him or not. Paul pro¤ted from the ¤nest education available in the early twentieth century , for a man or a woman. In 1905, after completing her B.A. at Swarthmore, she engaged in educational pursuits that exposed her to the most prominent intellectuals in the developing ¤elds of sociology and social work. First she decided to accept the College Settlement Association Scholarship and attend the New York School of Philanthropy. Founded in 1898, the School of Philanthropy, now the Columbia School of Social Work, helped bolster social work to the level of a professional science, and it became the ¤rst American educational institution to provide the systematic training of social workers. During her year-long tenure at the School of Philanthropy, she was exposed to two methods of assisting the urban...

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