E-raamat: Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign

Adams (English, Loyola U., New Orleans) and Keene (English, U. of Tennessee) present a biography of Alice Paul (1885-1977), an American feminist whose important contributions to the womens suffrage movement are generally overlooked in historical accounts. Following an examination of Adams training in nonviolence and her place within the reform tradition, the authors discuss the various forms of visual rhetoric Paul employed and the rationale behind them, from traditional methods to the very controversial. Using these, she was able to create her own very influential version of nonviolent activism that exploited new forms of mass persuasion to elevate the status of women. For students, scholars, and general readers interested in American history and womens studies. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) The first analysis of suffragist Alice Pauls controversial rhetorical strategies Past biographies, histories, and government documents have ignored Alice Pauls contribution to the womens suffrage movement, but this groundbreaking study scrupulously fills the gap in the historical record. Masterfully framed by an analysis of Pauls nonviolent and visual rhetorical strategies, Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign narrates the remarkable story of the first person to picket the White House, the first to attempt a national political boycott, the first to burn the president in effigy, and the first to lead a successful campaign of nonviolence.   Katherine H. Adams and Michael L. Keene also chronicle other dramatic techniques that Paul deftly used to gain publicity for the suffrage movement. Stunningly woven into the narrative are accounts of many instances in which women were in physical danger. Rather than avoid discussion of Pauls imprisonment, hunger strikes, and forced feeding, the authors divulge the strategies she employed in her campaign. Pauls controversial approach, the authors assert, was essential in changing American attitudes toward suffrage.