Alice Paul: The Forgotten Suffragette

Party bosses long opposed the idea of women's suffrage.  It was associated with dangerous political reform and the concern that suddenly doubling the electorate might result in unwelcome social change as well.  Suffragists endured years of public ridicule and were often arrested and jailed. By the turn of the century however, with increasing numbers of women engaged in the workplace and especially with their important contributions in the First World War, women were granted the right to vote. In August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution.