Alice Paul and Lucy Burns

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Iron Jawed Angels Women’s role in the early twentieth century began to transform from only a housewife, to housewives, nurses, politicians, soldiers, suffragists etc. Female suffragists in the 1900s began encouraging the spread of feminist ideas, all over the country. It was during this Third Great Awakening era that many social reforms took place due to campaigns by suffragists. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns were suffragists who changed women’s role during the twentieth century by holding suffrage campaigns and forming organizations. Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885, to a wealthy businessman, and the President of the Burlington County Trust Company in New Jersey. As a Quaker, Paul’s family believed in gender equality, education for women, and working for the betterment of the society. Her mother, Tacie Paul, often took her to suffrage meetings, teaching her about the simple life of other women around the country. Tacie was a member of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. When Paul was asked by an Interviewer, why she dedicated her whole life to women’s equality, she credited her farm upbringing, and the teachings of her mother (“Alice Paul: Feminist, Suffragist,” par. 6). Alice was inspired by her mother to spend her life holding campaigns, for the welfare of women. The education was limited for women in the Quaker society; they only studied for a year, and got married. “Though each of [Tacie’s] four children took classes at the college, it was her eldest daughter Alice who stayed for four years graduating with a degree in Biology” (“Alice Paul: Feminist, Suffragist,” par. 9). Paul graduated with three degrees, with her Master’s in Sociology. From a young age Alice was a commencement speaker. At the age of 22, she moved to England, and began her journey towards Women’s Suffrage Movement. During a campaign in England, she met Christabel
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