Alice Paul: Equality for Women

by Christine A. Lunardini

Alice Equality for Women shows the dominant and unwavering role Paul played in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, granting the vote to American women. The dramatic details of Paul's imprisonment and solitary confinement, hunger strike, and force-feeding at the hands of the U.S. government illustrate her fierce devotion to the cause she spent her life promoting. Placed in the context of the first half of the twentieth century, Paul's story also touches on issues of progressivism and labor reform, race and class, World War I patriotism and America's emerging role as a global power, women's activism in the political sphere, and the global struggle for women's rights.About the Lives of American Women Selected and edited by renowned women's historian Carol Berkin, these brief biographies are designed for use in undergraduate courses. Rather than a comprehensive approach, each biography focuses instead on a particular aspect of a women's life that is emblematic of her time, or which made her a pivotal figure in the era. The emphasis is on a -good read, - featuring accessible writing and compelling narratives, without sacrificing sound scholarship and academic integrity. Primary sources at the end of each biography reveal the subject's perspective in her own words. Study questions and an annotated bibliography support the student reader.

Genres: Feminism, Biography

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kathleen Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. It keeps you on your toes as it does a great job of using primary source data and quotes as well as explaining the complex and driven the life of Alice Paul, while also introducing readers to other key players in both the suffrage and ERA movements!! It was wonderful to read about so many of my heroes in American history!!

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Paul's achievements are so compelling and she is such a fascinating person. But since she was intensely private, rarely claimed the spotlight for herself, and revealed few personal details to the public, historians have a notoriously difficult time telling her story. Lunardini has tackled the challenge with flair -- she especially deserves credit for putting Paul's suffrage work in the context of her broader life's work, including her creation of the ERA and the very different reactions her leadership style had in different eras. But I still came away feeling like I wasn't sure I knew Alice Paul. You get very few details about her personal life. Where did she live during the years and years of suffrage work? I get the sense that she didn't draw a salary -- but was she supporting herself through fundraising for her work or did her family support her? And most especially, what exactly made her so good a leader? Lunardini tells us she was single-minded, determined, charismatic, politically savvy but other than the politically savvy bit, we mostly are told she is these things rather than seeing evidence and exploring examples of it. It took me much longer than I'd expected to finish this book, which surprised me.

[David McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generously I give it a 4. Most of it was a 5, but it was seriously deficient on one very important topic. The writing and info were fine in most of the book, but the author was amazingly unaware that Paul and the other suffragists had to fight like hell to get the final state needed, Tennessee, across the finish line. There is just one sentence, showing no grasp of the struggle or Alice Paul's strong role in it. That coverage would merit a 2, at best. I have to wonder about the accuracy of the whole book given the seriousness of this error.