Alice Paul has a name worth remembering in print.
From pages 197 to 213 of Born in the U.S.A., a collaboration of essays edited by Seth C. Bruggeman and released in July, Paulsdale comes to light.
“We talk about preserving Paulsdale,” said Kristina Myers, program director at the not-for-profit Alice Paul Institute, which was founded in 1984.
With a short deadline of four months time last spring, the women’s history site was added to the compilation.
Myers contributed to “Paulsdale: Adopting Alice Paul’s Birthplace for a New Generation,” which was the ninth chapter of the book.
The institute hopes to inspire change, Myers said, and Alice Paul dedicated her life to granting equal rights for women.
“It’s a unique story,” she said.
A group of women activists wanted to set up a living legacy for Paul, but not just simply as a historic house museum.
As many see women’s history as a special topic, Myers said, there was initially some doubt surrounding the project. Investors had to be convinced that Paul’s name was one worth remembering.
The Alice Paul Institute purchased Paulsdale in 1990 and the rehab and restoration was finished after years of fundraising in the early 2000s.
The idea to make the renovations was a relatively new concept at the time, Myers said, especially in New Jersey.
If it were not for the efforts of the founders, she said, Paul’s name probably wouldn’t be heard at all.
According to the institute’s website, “Her (Paul’s) life symbolizes the long struggle for justice in the United States and around the world. Her vision was the ordinary notion that women and men should be equal partners in society.”
She was born in 1885 to Quaker parents.
The N.J. Cultural Trust, Department of State is a supporter of the institute, the website states.
The Institute is involved in the Mt. Laurel community, and every fourth-grader is urged to vote when they turn 18.
“They’re very excited about that,” said Myers.
Second Saturday tours are held, sans the winter months, at Paulsdale with a $5 admission fee.
According to a release, the tours include a 15-minute presentation about Paul’s life and work, a guided tour of the first floor of the house, as well as historical information and the present day uses.
Group tours are also available during the week by appointment only.
A holiday open house will be held on Saturday, Dec. 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. The Mt. Laurel Garden Club will be decorating the home in Quaker fashion for the holiday season.
“We want to keep Alice Paul’s name alive,” Myers said.
Learn more
Born in the U.S.A.: Birth, Commemoration, and American Public Memory (Public History in Historical Perspectives) edited by Seth C. Bruggeman is available on www.amazon.com in paperback for $26.95.
For more information on the Alice Paul Institute, upcoming events and programs, visit www.alicepaul.org, call the Alice Paul Institute at (856) 231–1885 or email [email protected].
The institute is located at 128 Hooton Road in Mt. Laurel.
