Past biographies, histories, and government documents have ignored Alice Paul's contribution to the women's suffrage movement, but this groundbreaking study scrupulously fills the gap in the historical record. Masterfully framed by an analysis of Paul's nonviolent and visual rhetorical strategies, Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign narrates the remarkable story of the first person to picket the White House, the first to attempt a national political boycott, the first to burn the president in effigy, and the first to lead a successful campaign of nonviolence.
Katherine H. Adams and Michael L. Keene also chronicle other dramatic techniques that Paul deftly used to gain publicity for the suffrage movement. Stunningly woven into the narrative are accounts of many instances in which women were in physical danger. Rather than avoid discussion of Paul's imprisonment, hunger strikes, and forced feeding, the authors divulge the strategies she employed in her campaign. Paul's controversial approach, the authors assert, was essential in changing American attitudes toward suffrage.
| Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Alice Paul's Formation as Activist 2. The Commitment to Nonviolence 3. Reaching the Group through Words and Pictures 4. Parades and Other Events: Escalating the Nonviolent Pressure 5. Lobbying and Deputations 6. The Political Boycott 7. Picketing Wilson 8. Hunger Strikes and Jail 9. At Nonviolent War Conclusion Works Cited Index |"Casts welcome light on a real American hero."—Journal of American History
"The book's authors provide a thorough examination of two aspects of Paul's work for suffrage: her reliance on nonviolence as the foundation for her campaign and her use of 'visual rhetoric' to advance the cause."—Journalism History
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Katherine H. Adams is William and Audrey Hutchinson Distinguished Professor in the department of English at Loyola University, New Orleans, and the author of several books, including A Group of Their Own: College Writing Courses and American Women Writers, 1880-1940. Michael L. Keene holds the John C. Hodges Teaching Chair in the department of English at the University of Tennessee and author of Successful Writing.
