It\u2019s women\u2019s history month, and I have thought long and hard about how I want to celebrate it here on the blog. I\u2019ve decided that it\u2019s the perfect time to celebrate AU alumnae on film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first alumnae on my list is Alice Paul. Alice Paul\nwas a suffragist, feminist, and a founder of the National Woman\u2019s Party \u2013 she also\nearned three degrees from American University. First a law degree in 1922 (from\nWCL), a master of laws degree in 1927, and civil law PhD in 1928. She\u2019s currently prominently displayed on the\npillars of the Kerwin Building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul was born to a Quaker family in New Jersey in 1885, and learned the values of public service and suffrage from her parents. After graduating from Swarthmore College, she spent a year as a social worker in New York City before moving to Britain, where she became active in the suffrage movement, specifically civil disobedience. Once she returned to the United States, she threw herself into the American suffrage movement, organizing the 1913 Woman Suffrage procession in DC. After clashing with the leadership of National American Woman Suffrage Organization (NAWSA), Alice eventually left the organization to form the National Woman\u2019s Party in 1916. There, Paul pushed for more militant tactics in order to enshrine women\u2019s right to vote in the Constitution. She was even arrested in 1917 for \u201cobstructing traffic\u201d while picketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After achieving the constitutional amendment in 1920,\nPaul turned her attention to advocating for an Equal Rights Amendment. Paul\nwould champion this cause for the rest of her life, and it was partially\nthrough her advocacy and influence that gender-based discrimination was\nincluded in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul died in 1977, but her legacy lives on in the fact\nthat I and millions of other American women can vote, and in film and media. One\nof those films, Iron Jawed Angels<\/em>, is\ncurrently available to rent from Media Services. It stars Hilary Swank as Paul,\nalong with a great ensemble cast that includes Angelica Huston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n