Moorestown Suffragist Movement

Gary Ell, member of the Historical Society’s Board of Trustees, will speak on a new project which will shed light on the early suffrage movement in Moorestown.

Alice Paul Photo: Library of Congress

Gary has identified about a dozen early Suffragists from Moorestown that inspired twelve year old Alice Paul. He has also discovered key moments in the suffrage movement that occurred in Moorestown, such as formation of the Moorestown Equal Suffrage League in 1897, the “key” reorganization of the NJWSA in 1900 – at City Hall in Moorestown. Gary will discuss Alice Paul’s return to Moorestown after having been imprisoned in UK, where she addressed 500 people at City Hall and Moorestown Friends School, that set the direction of the new movement. Additionally, the lecture will cover the incorporation of the National Grange and WCTU into Suffrage Movement with the work of Catherine B Lippincott; and finally, the culmination: the voting of Alice in 1920 with her 141 Chestnut St. address.

Moorestonians were the movers and shakers of the movement in local, state, national and even global affairs. Gary has compiled extensive research on their endeavors leading to the passing of the 19th Amendment and beyond.

This program is part of the New Jersey Speaks Lecture Series.

For more details and photos see our Instagram page here.

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