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Women’s Heritage Trail New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail Department of Environmental Protection Historic Preservation Office Department of Community Affairs New Jersey Historic Trust “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.” —Alice Paul (in an interview from 1972) A lice Stokes Paul (1885-1977) was born and spent her childhood years in this farmhouse, Paulsdale. She grew up in a Quaker family with a tradition of activism in education and public service and a strong belief in equality. Alice Paul dedicated her entire life to the single cause of securing equal rights for all women. She founded the National Woman’s Party in 1914 and led the first picketers to the White House gates in the name of women’s suffrage. When women won the right to vote in 1920, Paul turned her focus to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). From her wheelchair in a nursing home in nearby Moorestown, she lobbied Representatives to pass the ERA until her death in 1977. Paul worked for women’s rights nationally and internationally and founded the World Woman’s Party in 1938 with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Alice Paul’s legacy lives on here at Paulsdale, through the work of the Alice Paul Institute. Paulsdale is on the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail because of the significant contributions of suffragist Alice Stokes Paul to women’s voluntary organizations and reform movements. The New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail highlights a collection of historic sites located around the state that represent the significant contributions women made to the history of our state. The Heritage Trail brings to life the vital role of women in New Jersey’s past and present.
