Alice Paul

Claiming Power

De: J.D. Zahniser, Amelia R. Fry

Narrado por: JD Zahniser

Alice Paul has long been an elusive figure in the political history of American women. Raised by Quaker parents in Moorestown, New Jersey, she would become a passionate and outspoken leader of the woman suffrage movement. In 1913 she reinvigorated the American campaign for a constitutional suffrage amendment and, in the next seven years, dominated that campaign and drove it to victory with bold, controversial action - wedding courage with resourcefulness and self-mastery.

This biography of Paul's early years and suffrage leadership offers fresh insight into her private persona and public image, examining for the first time the sources of Paul's ambition and the growth of her political consciousness. Using extensive oral history interviews with Paul and her colleagues, Authors J. D. Zahniser and Amelia R. Fry substantially revise our understanding about Paul's engagement with suffrage activism in England and later emergence onto the American scene. Though her Quaker upbringing has long been seen as the spark for her commitment to women's rights, Zahniser and Fry show how her childhood among the Friends forged crucial aspects of Paul's character, but her political zeal developed out of years of education and exploration. The authors explore the ways in which her involvement with the British suffragists Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst honed her instincts and skills, especially her dealings with her most important political adversaries, Woodrow Wilson and rival suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt.

Applying new research to the persistent questions about Alice Paul and her legacy, this compelling biography analyzes Paul's charisma and leadership qualities, sheds new light on her life and work, and is essential reading for anyone interested the woman suffrage movement.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2014 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Well written, Well read

I learned a lot about Alice Paul that I did not previously know. She is largely ignored and it’s a shame.

Excellent for one flagrant mistake

As this author herself, and most every other expert on the subject that is Ms. Paul, she was almost to a fault, an extremely private woman. It is stated throughout this and other .gov cited material on her Quaker roots being a fundamental element of this virtue.
But throughout the narrative there seems to be an insistence on the author to insinuate homosexuality into situations where there is no fact of evidence. Doing my own research, I have not read anything that expanded on this in any way, unless it was research on the question of her sexuality was the actual point - which is worth any discussion for those looking for people to examine one individual leading two lives as one would’ve had to do in the time. Absolutely! And this would be welcome if there were facts and not insinuations. I’m not sure if the author was trying to dip a toe into this discussion without taking responsibility for it, or if she was simply trying to gain an audience for those searching for leaders in a quiet movement underlying their outward presence. But I DO KNOW one thing - Ms. Paul would literally be A.Paul(ed) by these constant thirst traps. If anything - she barely wanted to talk about the work she’s most famous and beloved and honored for. To have such a private space of her life be so intruded upon is disappointing. We all deserve respect and privacy. I felt this to be annoying at the very least and then fiercely protective of her and saddened by these insensitive comments at times as well. Meet people where they are. Means where THEY are. Not where YOU demand them to be. Stopping here before I forget to say that other than this blatant overstepping-the book is very good. As is the author’s audible version as it’s narrator.