Women's suffrage supporters picketing at the White House.
National Woman's Party
Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument tells the story of a century of activism by American women. Alice Paulfounded the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1916 as a lobbying organization to promote women's suffrage. Nonviolent, dramatic protests were the hallmark of the NWP’s operations in Washington. Suffrage marches, daily picketing and arrests at the White House, and speaking tours raised the public profile of the movement. Protesters faced daily violence from both passers-by and the police, including having their banners ripped from their hands and being physically attacked and arrested. While imprisoned for their activism, some women protested through highly-publicized hunger strikes that resulted in forced feedings and even worse prison conditions. The brutality with which the women were treated created enormous public support for suffrage.
In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, confirming that the right to vote could not be denied based on sex. With this hard-won, long-awaited victory, the NWP focused on the next step: complete equality of the sexes under law. In 1929, the National Woman’s Party (NWP), with financial support of suffragist Alva Belmont, purchased the house to establish a Washington base of operations. The group’s headquarters at the Alva Belmont house provided the backdrop for many of the defining moments in this struggle. The house served not only as the headquarters for the massive political effort to obtain equality, but also as a second home for the hardworking women of the organization. Alice Paul authored the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923, which reads simply, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of sex.” In 1972, Congress passed the ERA, but included a time limit for ratification by three-quarters of the states. The amendment was three states short of ratification when the time limit expired in 1982. For over 50 years, the ERA has been introduced in every session of Congress.
For more than 75 years, the NWP lobbied for legislation, supported women running for office, worked for international rights for women, and fought for the passage and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The organization ceased its political activism when it became an educational nonprofit in 1997. In addition to their work on the exhibits at Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, the National Woman’s Party produced and shared educational resources related to the legacy of the NWP. The National Woman’s Party also hosted art performances and panel discussions with women's history scholars and artists.
On April 12, 2016, the NWP donated the house and property to the National Park Service and Presidential Proclamation 9423 established the site as the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument. The partnership between the National Woman’s Party and the National Park Service ensured the care and preservation of thousands of collection items that document the founding of the Party, the history of the suffrage movement, the fight for the Nineteenth Amendment, and the ongoing struggle for women’s equality. Many of these collection pieces are on display at the Belmont-Paul museum in public exhibits planned by both the National Woman’s Party and the National Park Service. The preservation of these items ensures that the stories they hold will be remembered for generations to come.
The National Woman's Party continued to occupy the house, along with its historic library and archives, to educate the public about the women’s rights movement, until 2020. In October 2020, the National Woman's Party announced the gift of its historic collection spanning woman suffrage and the movement for women’s equality to the Library of Congress and National Park Service. This gift ensures public access to a trove of records about the history of the women’s rights movement in the United States. The National Park Service received the NWP’s textiles, banners, furniture, paintings, sculpture and other artifacts. Notable examples include the banners held by women picketing the White House for suffrage; an original “Jailed for Freedom Pin” that Alice Paul gave to NWP members who served time in jail; keys to the District of Columbia jail where picketing suffragists were incarcerated; and Susan B. Anthony’s desk.Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument is one of the premier women’s history sites in the country, housing archives as well as one of the most important collections of artifacts from the women’s suffrage and equal rights movements.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks, Pennsylvania Avenue
These learning activities engage students with the history of women advocating for the right to vote. Each lesson uses an item from the National Woman's Party collection or an aspect of the story of suffrage to make connections to broad questions of working for change.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, Homestead National Historical Park
In 1921, Otero-Warren ran for federal office, campaigning to be the Republican Party nominee for New Mexico to the US House of Representatives. She won the nomination, but lost the election by less than nine percent. She remained politically and socially active, and served as the Chairman of New Mexico’s Board of Health; an executive board member of the American Red Cross; and director of an adult literacy program in New Mexico for the Works Projects Administration.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, Women's Rights National Historical Park
When Carrie Lane Chapman Catt was 13-years-old and living in rural Charles City, Iowa, she witnessed something that would help to decide the course of her life. Her family was politically active and on Election Day in 1872, Carrie’s father and some of the male hired help were getting ready to head into town to vote. She asked her mother why she wasn’t getting dressed to go too. Her parents laughingly explained to their daughter that women couldn’t vote.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Independence National Historical Park, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Pennsylvania Avenue, The White House and President's Park, Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail, Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, Women's Rights National Historical Parkmore »
These articles were originally published by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) as a part of the WSCC blog, The Suff Buffs. The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission was created by Congress to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment throughout 2020 and to ensure the untold stories of women’s battle for the ballot continue to inspire Americans for the next 100 years. In collaboration with the WSCC, the NPS is the forever home of these articles
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
What actions should you take when believe something needs to change? In this learning activity designed for sixth-eighth grades, students examine a flier created by the National American Woman Suffrage Association that lists six reasons that women should be enfranchised across the country by amending the U.S. Constitution. They will analyze the arguments presented by the suffragists. Extend the lesson by creating your own flier.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
How can popular culture be used to advocate for change? In this learning activity for sixth-eighth grade, students examine a suffrage illustration modeled on a popular cartoon circulated during Teddy Roosevelt's re-election campaign. They will analyze the use of cultural touchstones to change public perception about an issue and evaluate when they have been influenced by popular culture.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
How have signs and banners been used for change? In this learning activity designed for fifth grade, students examine a suffrage banner and compare it to signs used by other protest movements. They analyze how words and slogans have been used as strategies in the history of protest and imagine how they can take a stand in their everyday lives.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
How does identity shape our interactions with others? In this learning activity designed for fifth and sixth grade, students examine three photographs of women arrested for protesting for the right to vote. Through discussion, students will identify with different people from history and recognize that people may interact in complex ways.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
Have you ever spoken out when you saw someone mistreated? This learning activity designed for fifth graders uses a photograph of Mary Winsor protesting against the imprisonment of suffrage protesters to spark discussion about the responsibility to speak out when you believe something is wrong and needs to change.
Locations:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, National Mall and Memorial Parks
When have you needed courage? In this learning activity for fifth grade, students explore questions about when and how to take a stand in their everyday lives. Using photographs of Lucy Burns, co-founder of the National Woman's Party and the woman who spent more time in prison than any other American suffragist, students engage with questions about the courage needed to speak out.
