Rare suffrage hunger Strike Medal Alice Paul SUFFS Suffragist Votes for Women For Sale

You are offerding on a scare Medal for Valor/Hunger Strike Medal made for U.S. Suffragist Alice Paul (founder of the NationalWoman’sParty).VELVET BOX IS NOT INCLUDED BUT AVAILABLE IN SEPARATE LISTING.
A beautiful keepsake and gift for the enthusiast of women’s suffrage/human rights/the history of peace and justice. This is an elegant educational tool that can be worn and/or displayed. A small number of these medals were made in 2021.This reproduction, unavailable in any store as it was made for aneducational Foundation, is of superior quality and includes numerous historical details keyed to an actual historical personality: Alice Paul. Thedetails add to the uniqueness and value of this item.

AlicePaul worked and trained with the WSPU, but left the UK before they started awarding these medals. We have made a medal for her, that includes the dates of her being forcibly fed inboth the UK (in 1909) and in the US (in 1917). Wehave also included the colors of the National Woman's Party in this medal, instead of the Green, White and Purple drape used by the WSPU. A replica of a the WSPU medal is available in a separate listing.

About this medal:This medal commemorates the valor of American Alice Paul (1885-1977). Paulwas forcibly fed in both the UK (as a“suffragette”) and the US (as a“suffragist”). The NWP did not award Hunger Strike Medal to those who endured it. But wehave created a Medal for Valor for Alice Paul that denotes her courage and fortitude in both the U.K. (in 1909). and the United States (in 1917).Originally trained by the Women’s Social andPoliticalUnion in the U.K,Alice Paul returned to the US in 1909. Several years later, shefounded the National Woman’s Party (NWP) as the militant alternative to the older, more conservative National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The tactics of the NWP were profoundly influenced by the WSPU. But unlike the WSPU, the NWP didnotadvocate property destruction, incendiarism or physical violence. The NWP adopted a color scheme ofpurple, white and yellowin 1913. These colors are also found in the peace flag created in 1897 byCora di Brazzà.These medals were made to help raise funds for educational programming connected to the peace and suffrage movements. Your purchase of a medal will help support activities in 2023 that are part of the Forward Into Light Initiative of The Cora di Brazzà Foundation. A medal for Lady Constance Lytton of WSPU is available on a separate listing.
Design & Details of this medalThis medal measures 5.5 inches long and 2 inches wide. The grosgrain drape on this medal depicts the colors of the National Woman’s Party (purple, white, yellow). The silver bars have the datesNovember 9, 1909andOctober 6,1917. On November 9,1909Alice Paul (1885-1977) was arrested for window smashing and sentenced to a month’s hard labor in Holloway Prison. She went on a hunger strike and was forcibly fed shortly thereafter, on several occasions. One of the colored bars denotes Paul’s forcible feeding in the UK. Alice Paul returned to the United States in 1910. In 1917, Paul was arrested for her silent, dignified protests in Washington DC which allegedly “obstructed traffic”. She was forcibly fed numerous times.The other color bar denotes Paul’s forcible feeding in the US. Engraved on the reverse of the colored bars are the dates of some of Paul's forcible feedings: "FED BY FORCE 11.12.1909” and“FED BY FORCE 11/8/1917”. The order of the colors yellow, purple and white on the colored bars symbolizes the colors of the Peace Flag (designed in 1897 by Cora di Brazzà) to reflect Paul’s commitment to non-violence while working for suffrage in the U.S
What was the Medal for Valour/Hunger Strike Medal?The Hunger Strike Medal was Issued by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) from 1909-1914 to women who endured hunger and hardship as part of their agitation during the “Votes for Women” campaign in the UK. A medal was awarded to the hunger striker. The silver bars denote either the date of arrest or the date of the hunger strike.The colored bars denote forcible feeding. Not every suffragette was forcibly fed. Those who did would get a medal with colored bars. Thus, a medal with many colored bars denoted multiple episodes of forcible feeding. The WSPU presented the medal in a box with an incscription (embossed in satin) that read: “In Recognition of a Gallant Action, Whereby Through Endurance to the Last Extremity of Hunger and Hardship, A Great Principle of Political Justice Was Vindicated”. These medals, now over 100 years old, sell for tens of thousands of dollars at sale.