Institute Calls For Alice Paul To Be Commemorated Nationally

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — The Alice Paul Institute is calling on the public to nominate Alice Stokes Paul to be honored nationally by appearing on the quarter, an initiative made possible through the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act.

On January 13, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 was signed into law, a bill that directs the Treasury Department, through the U.S. Mint, to issue quarter-dollar coins featuring “prominent American women,” effective January 1, 2022 through the end of 2025.

The act allows up to five coin designs per year and will feature women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history across a number of fields and categories, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and arts.

The National Women’s History Museum is now accepting recommendations, in partnership with the U.S. Mint, the Smithsonian Institution American Women’s History Initiative, and the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.

“Placement on the quarter has the potential to bring a diverse group of influential women into the public eye,” Alice Paul Institute Executive Director Allison Titman said. “For her fight for women’s suffrage, authorship of the Equal Rights Amendment, and lifelong crusade for gender equality, we believe that Alice Paul belongs in that group.”

Paul was born in Mount Laurel in 1885. She attended Moorestown Friends School, graduating at the top of her class. She met Lucy Burns and joined the Women's Suffrage Movement while studying social work in England, according to the National Women's History Museum. She helped secure passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. She died in Moorestown in 1977.

The Alice Paul Institute was founded in 1984 to commemorate Paul's 100th birthday. Its goal is to further Paul's legacy and advocacy for women's rights, and takes a leadership role in bringing recognition to organizations and historic sites that honor women, according to the institute's website.