Paulsdale is the childhood home of Women’s Suffrage Movement leader Alice Paul. It is located right here in South Jersey, Right off Hooton Rd in Mount Laurel. Paulsdale hosts tours of the home to this day for folks interested in learning how Alice Paul became who she was. It is one of the many national landmarks in the South Jersey Area that are worth checking out.
As a suffragist, feminist, and driving force behind the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment, Alice Stokes Paul initiated and strategized events like the Silent Sentinels which helped Women’s rights to vote come to fruition in 1920.
After her success in 1920, Paul went on to spend 50+ years as a leader of the National Woman’s Party. She and Crystal Eastman comprised the Equal Rights Amendment which secured constitutional equality for Women. Paul was also a major supporter of the Civil Rights movement. She sought equal rights for everyone and even went as far as getting arrested while protesting on the White House lawn alongside Pauli Murray in 1964 at the age of 79. On July 9th, 1977, Alice Paul passed away in Moorestown, NJ. She is buried at Westfield Friends Burial Ground, in Cinnaminson, where many people visit to express appreciation for what Paul did for women and minorities in America.
Today, you can visit Paulsdale and take a one or two-hour tour for just 10-15 dollars per person. Take in a special video and presentation on Alice’s life and the history of the home, followed by a guided tour of the farm that surrounded Paulsdale. Walk throughout the home as your guide explains what daily life was like for the Paul family in the eighteenth century and how Paulsdale has been restored serving the community as a leadership development center. The main exhibit is titled Alice Paul: In Pursuit of Ordinary Equality. It honors her legacy as an activist featuring memorabilia and photos of Paul during her heyday. It also stands with the principles of equality, human rights, and injustice that shaped Paul’s life.
