Urge Senate to Recognize Suffragist Alice Paul with a Congressional Gold Medal
The House of Representatives has voted to recognize Alice Paul with the Congressional Gold Medal. Now it’s time for the Senate to do the same!
“Alice Paul was a crusader who fought to turn the ideal of American democracy into a reality. The country that we know today was shaped by her courage, wisdom and foresight, and her influence is palpable to this day. The Congressional Gold Medal is but a mere token of gratitude for her legacy of groundbreaking change in our nation and the impact her fight had on democracies around the world.”
–Sen. Robert Menendez [NJ]
On May 15, 2008 the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the Alice Paul Women’s Suffrage Congressional Gold Medal Act, H.R. 406. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), commemorates Alice Paul’s role in the women’s suffrage movement and salutes her leadership in advancing equal rights for women.
Out of hundreds of recipients, only a dozen or so Congressional Gold Medal awardees have been women - among them several former First Ladies and several women leaders from other nations. Alice Paul should be on that list, and we ask for your help to recognize this champion of suffrage and women’s rights.
The issue of a Congressional Gold Medal recognizing Alice Paul has moved to the Senate, and the Senators from Alice Paul’s home state have introduced the Senate counterpart. Sponsored by Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, both Democrats from New Jersey, S.826 can come to the Senate floor only if we get enough bipartisan sponsors.
Alice Paul is best known for her dedication to the suffrage movement in the early 1900’s, and “Iron Jawed Angels,” an HBO movie starring Hilary Swank, brought her story to life for a new generation. Yet there is so much more. In 1912 she chaired the congressional committee of the National American Suffrage Association, where she organized a thousand-strong march in Washington D.C. the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913 to show support for an amendment giving women the right to vote. At the time, Wilson did not support women’s suffrage.
In 1913, Alice Paul formed the more progressive Congressional Union for Women Suffrage, later known as the National Women’s Party. For years Paul aggressively promoted women’s voting rights and picketed the White House before and during World War I to show the irony of fighting for democracy overseas while denying half the people (women) in the United States democracy at home.
After helping to win ratification of the 19th Amendment and seeing women get the vote in 1920, Paul continued to campaign for women’s equality in the United States and abroad. In 1923 she wrote the original language of the Equal Rights Amendment and tirelessly fought for the establishment of equal rights for women in the U.S. Constitution until her death in 1977.
This honor is long overdue, and Congress should immediately recognize Alice Paul’s important contributions to women and the world. Ask your Senators to celebrate Alice Paul’s lifetime of dedication to equality and women’s rights by honoring her with a Congressional Gold Medal. Because the Senate bill has only three sponsors, we need to make sure that EVERY Senator hears from us as soon as possible!
