Alice Paul raises glass in front of a banner to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment, taken August 26, 1920, accessed in nps.gov
Born on January 11, 1885 with parents that embraced gender equality in industrial work, education, etc., Alice Paul was an American activist and suffragist for women's rights. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a phd. She also met Lucy Burns and joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) when studying in England where she learned about protest tactics, including hunger strikes. She also joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and led the Congressional Committee to organize a march in 1913. She later founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage to lobby on Congress directly for suffrage which conflict with NAWSA, leading to her split with them and formed the National Woman's Party. She and the other suffragists endured verbal and physical attacks and the physical violence they endured while being imprisoned. Yet, Paul's efforts led to the draft of the Equal Rights Amendment. Even though it was never ratified, her efforts also, led to the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote which was a huge victory for Alice Paul. She continued to advocate for other issues for women and died in July 9, 1977. All her efforts show her legacy as an activist for women suffrage.
nellie bly accesseed in womenshistory.org organization
Being a star journalist during the progressive era, Nellie Bly was born as Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864. She went to school in State Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania, but quitted from her family's financial issues. To find a job that will support her family, she worked for a dispatch as a reporter and used a pen name "Nellie Bly". Later, she moved to New York City in 1886 and was challenged to investigate one of the most notorious asylums in New York City. She decided to disguise herself as mentally unwell and uncover the horrific conditions in the asylums such as inadequate clothing, extremely cold baths, horrible food, and even cases of beating up asylum patients. She later wrote her series, "Ten Days in the Madhouse" and became one of the most famous journalists. She continued to expose daily life in New York such as corruption, workers life conditions, and even selling babies in the black market. While she died from pneumonia on January 27, 1922, she was claimed as the best reporter in America.