Papers of Alice Paul, 1785-1985 (inclusive), 1805-1985 (bulk)

The Alice Paul papers came to the library in a state of considerable disarray, with a large proportion of duplicates, books, periodicals, and irrelevant items. Several rounds of weeding were required to reduce them from more than 300 linear feet to their present size. Some duplicates and items considered to have little research value were given to the Alice Paul Centennial Foundation for use at Paulsdale, Paul's birthplace and childhood home, now on the National Register of Historic Places. Other duplicates were offered to the Smithsonian Institution, the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, and the National Organization for Women; the staffs of all these institutions had been helpful in the acquisition of the papers. Twenty-six reels of 8mm. film were transferred to videotape by Brodsky and Treadway and a copy of the tape purchased from them in October 1989. Copies of original audiotapes were made by Harvard University's Modern Language Center in June 1990.

It is clear from notes attached to various documents throughout the collection that portions of this collection were included in the microfilm edition published by the Microfilming Corporation of America in 1979; the extent of the overlap between this collection and that on the microfilm (most of which is at the Library of Congress) is not certain, however.

Series I, Personal and family, contains biographical and genealogical information; a journal (1901) from Paul's freshman year at Swarthmore; date books; legal and financial documents, including material about her estate and other property; family papers and correspondence, including letters Paul wrote to her mother from England; correspondence with friends and with organizations, of most of which she was a member; photographs; home movies; and videotapes of television specials with interviews of Paul. For additional information on videotapes in this collection, see Vt-50.

Series II, Suffrage, documents Paul's activities in the movement until 1920 and the passage of the 19th Amendment. It includes a summons and judgment, and pamphlets, leaflets, and clippings from the British campaign; and from the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and National Woman's Party, general and financial correspondence, reports from field representatives, photographs, pamphlets, leaflets, and clippings.

Series III, National Woman's Party, is divided into administrative and program records (Series IV, which is similarly organized). Administrative records include by-laws, legal documents, and minutes; membership; financial; and correspondence. Programs include records of committees, research on the legal status of women, ERA campaigns, and other aspects of the National Woman's Party's work. Among the administrative records are the constitution, deeds and contracts, and court documents about the internal dispute (1947); histories of the National Woman's Party and Alva Belmont House; photographs; minutes and reports of the National Council; and convention programs, agendas, and announcements. Membership includes lists of members and officers, invoices, pledges, lists of contributors, and membership cards. General office correspondence dates from 1922-1977 and is arranged chronologically.

Financial records consist of correspondence; treasurer's reports and statements of receipts and disbursements; audit reports; minutes and audit reports of the Investment and Endowment Fund Committee; financial statements of the periodical Equal Rights; and financial reports, expense accounts, bills, and check stubs pertaining to the National Woman's Party's international activities.

Records of National Woman's Party programs and other initiatives include minutes and membership lists of the Women's Joint Legislative Committee for Equal Rights. There are questionnaires from the Committee on International Relations about women losing their native citizenship, and others, from a survey sponsored by the National Woman's Party's Government Workers' Council, about a law prohibiting both husband and wife from working as government employees. Also included are the Legal Research Department's summaries by state of the effect of labor laws on men and women and the legal position of women, and "The Law of Women," compiled and edited by the LED; correspondence and treasurer's reports from the Women's Research Foundation; drafts and background material for "Towards Equality," Paul's 1928 dissertation; Congressional documents, speeches, statements, and resolutions by the National Woman's Party and others about the ERA campaign; press releases, pamphlets, broadsides, sheet music, and other publications; clippings by or about the National Woman's Party and its members; taped interviews with Alice Paul and others; biographies of members and other prominent American women; and statements, Congressional documents, and clippings concerning the status of women, sex discrimination, civil rights legislation, and other women's issues.

Series IV, World Woman's Party, is organized similarly to the National Woman's Party series. Administrative records include minutes, reports, resolutions, a broadcast tape of the opening ceremonies of the headquarters in Geneva, and photographs. Membership consists of correspondence, receipts, and member- ship cards. Among the financial records are correspondence, receipts, account books, and check registers. Part of general correspondence is organized by correspondent but the bulk is arranged chronologically.

World Woman's Party program material includes publicity; correspondence about certain refugee cases; and correspondence, reports, minutes, and publications of other organizations, including the International Labour Organization, the Six Point Group, and the United Nations.

Series V, Other international activities, includes correspondence; photographs, reports, and minutes from the Women's Consultative Committee on Nationality; speeches and articles by National Woman's Party members and others on nationality and the Equal Rights Treaty; National Woman's Party publications about its international activities; publications and news releases of the League of Nations, the Inter-American Commission of Women, Open Door International, the Six Point Group, and other international organizations; correspondence and multiple drafts of the survey of nationality laws undertaken by the Inter-American Commission of Women; background material on the World Conference on the Codification of International Law at The Hague and on treaties and laws concerning women; Congressional documents about nationality legislation; and clippings about the international feminist movement, equal rights, and nationality.