Alice Locke Park

Alice Locke Park (February 3, 1861 – October 18, 1961) was a notable California suffragist and associate director of the Susan B. Anthony Memorial Committee of California[1] and a longtime defender of women's rights.[2]

Early life

"I am first and last a feminist."

— Alice Locke Park[2]

Alice L. Park was born in Boston.[3]

Career

"Because war will interrupt the regular suffrage work, as war has for long done in other cases, is no reason why we should turn aside from our chosen work and take up other work."

— letter to Carrie Chapman Catt, Feb. 17, 1917, quoted in Bolt, Women's Movements, p. 246[3]

Alice L. Park was a pacifist; she opposed the Spanish–American War of 1898.[3]

In 1894 she joined the International Feminist Movement and picketed the White House.[4]

She framed two pieces of California state legislation: the 1909 California Bird and Arbor Day Act legislated the protection of trees and birds and established a day for school children to be instructed in these environmental issues; and the bill which ensured equal guardianship of minor children to both parents. Previously, the man had complete legal control – even insofar as selling their unborn children.[4]

In the 1910s she was State Chairman of the Literature Committee of the Political Equality League.[5]

She was a member of the Women's Suffrage Association for 60 years. Once women's suffrage was legalized in California in 1911, she was a speaker at the International Woman Suffrage Alliance Congress in Budapest, Hungary, in 1913.[2][4]

She campaigned for: 6 hour work day; labor unionism; anti-child-labor laws; birth control; sex education in schools.[4]

In 1914 she declared: "I sympathize deeply with the tactics of the militants in London. I am tired of the English women being blamed for crudeness and for their violence. To them a great deal of credit is due for getting the votes for women in California, in giving publicity to the cause. If they did not destroy property and do things out of the ordinary, no one would pay any attention to them, and their action would be a pure loss."[6]

She quit the Unitarian society over its failure to oppose World War I. She was a Delegate to International Women's Congress for Peace and Freedom at the Hague in 1915; in 1915 she was a member of Ford Peace Ship; she was a leader of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She founded Palo Alto Women's Peace Party in 1915.[2][4]

She protested Stanford University’s establishment of a female quota for women and battled for women's rights. In her homes (at 611 Gilman and 510 Hamilton streets) she held meetings for a pacifist group called the American Union Against Militarism. This later became the American Civil Liberties Union.[4]

In 1926 she met with Mahatma Gandhi to discuss his non-violent philosophy.[4]

Death

"It is my conviction that if men could carry on wars without affecting women it would be all right."

— Alicke Locke Park[2]

Alice L. Park died on October 18, 1961, at her home in Palo Alto. She was 100 years old.[2]

Legacy

In 1948, Una R. Winter wrote Alice Park of California: worker for woman suffrage and for children's rights.[7]

Peers Park (1899 Park Blvd, Palo Alto, CA 94306) was established to honor Alice Locke Park and her love of trees.[4]

References

1. "Finding aid for Anthony Family Collection, 1844–1945". Huntington Digital Library. Archived from the original on 2017-08-18. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
2. "Alice Park Taken by Death at 100 - 19 Oct 1961, Thu • Page 35". Oakland Tribune: 35. 1961. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
3. "Alice Locke Park". Retrieved 15 December 2017.
4. "Alice Locke Park". Retrieved 15 December 2017.
5. "21 Apr 1910, Thu • First Edition • Page 4". Los Angeles Herald: 4. 1910.
6. "Militants Owe Lives to Policemen - 07 Aug 1914, Fri • Page 7". The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer: 7. 1914. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
7. "Alice Park of California : worker for woman suffrage and for children's rights". Stanford Libraries. Retrieved 18 August 2017.