A TTC Documentary: The Belmont Paul Women's Equality National Monument
March 03, 2017

This week on a special documentary episode of To The Contrary, Bonnie Erbe explores the historic Belmont Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, the final headquarters of the National Woman’s Party. Declared a national monument in 2016 by President Barack Obama, the 200-year-old home sitting on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. is a treasure trove of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

With the country’s first feminist library being housed in the Belmont Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, Bonnie reports on the work done by Alice Paul and other suffragists who lived in this house. The impressive collection showcases their push for the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s equality all around.

http://www.pbs.org/to-the-contrary/watch/7039/womens-equality_a-national-monument-(encore)
Does the National Woman’s Party still exist?

“Yes we do. Our hundredth anniversary is this year in 2016 and we are not fading. We are still working on the unfinished business for women's equality. And also working to conserve the priceless pieces in the collection.”
-- Page Harrington, Executive Director, National Woman’s Party

How did the women’s suffrage movement start?

“Alice Paul specifically was studying over in Great Britain. and she happened to meet Emmeline Pankhurst who was the leader of the women’s social political union at that time. She was the founder of the women’s social and political union which was more of a militant suffrage organization. And Alice Paul was hooked. She saw a speech and started working with the group and was arrested three times while over in Great Britain and went on hunger strikes while there as well. several of the other key figures within the National Women’s Party were also jailed while over there. The British suffrage movement was sort of all about action now and it was very militant. There were rocks thrown through windows, there were protests in parliament, there were fires set throughout the city. I mean, it was a very, very violent movement—a woman died when she ran at the king’s horse. But it was certainly something that the United States saw as necessary to bring to the United States to kind of jump start the movement.”
-- Jennifer Krafchik, Deputy Director, National Woman’s Party