On Equal Pay Day, Menendez Cheers Designation of New National Monument Named for NJ Hero, Alice Paul

WASHINGTON, DC – On Equal Pay Day, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez applauded the designation by President Obama of the new Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument to honor the movement for women’s equality. The new monument is named in part for Alice Paul, who founded the National Women’s Party and who drafted the Equal Rights Amendment from her home in Mt. Laurel, N.J.

“On the day that symbolizes how far we need to go in order for women to have the equality in the workplace they rightly deserve, it is fitting that we honor New Jersey’s Alice Paul, who fought her entire life for women’s rights and gender equality, and that we recognize the responsibility we share to finally complete her life’s mission,” Sen. Menendez said.

Located on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol, the new Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument will protect the iconic house that has served as the headquarters for the National Woman’s Party since 1929. From this house, known in recent years as the Sewall-Belmont House, members of the Party led the movement for women’s equality, authoring more than 600 pieces of federal, state and local legislation in support of equal rights. It is named for former Party president, activist and suffragist Alva Belmont, who was a major benefactor of the National Woman's Party, and Alice Paul, who founded the Party and was the chief strategist and leader in the Party’s ongoing fight for women’s political, social, and economic equality.

Menendez has long recognized the inspiring legacy of Alice Paul and has been a leader in the fight for women’s equality. Menendez has introduced the Equal Rights Amendment in the Senate since 2010 and in 2015, introduced a bill to bestow Ms. Paul with the Congressional Gold Medal.

The designation will permanently protect one of the oldest standing houses near the U.S. Capitol and help preserve an extensive archival collection that documents the history, strategies, tactics and accomplishments of the movement to secure women’s suffrage and equal rights in the United States and across the globe.

After playing an instrumental role in the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women’s suffrage, Paul led the Party’s advocacy work from the house, including drafting updated Equal Rights Amendment text, writing provisions that were later included in the Civil Rights Act to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, and working to get women’s equality language incorporated in the U.N. Charter. A fierce advocate for women’s equality her entire life, Paul died in 1977 at the age of ninety-two.

In 1997, the National Woman’s Party became an educational organization, and today seeks to educate the public about the ongoing women’s rights equality movement.

Equal Pay Day represents the extra days a typical woman working full-time would have to work just to make the same as a typical man did in the previous year.

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