Photo: Nina Zacuto
Mount Laurel: Alice Paul's House
Some places don't just hold history. They make it feel unfinished — in the best possible way.
On the morning of March 3rd, the Golden Flyer II rolled up a quiet road in Mount Laurel, New Jersey and parked in front of a pale stucco Victorian farmhouse that hasn't changed all that much since a Quaker family named Paul bought it in 1883. This is “Paulsdale “— the place where Alice Paul grew up. The place where, as a girl, she first learned about justice at her mother's side. And the place where, more than a century later, the work she started is still being carried forward.
Paulsdale is now home to the Alice Paul Institute for Gender Justice, led by Executive Director Rachael Glashan Rupisan. The Institute has transformed the farmstead into something it calls a "base camp for ongoing work" — less a shrine to the past than a launching pad for the future, with leadership programs for girls, school field trips, and community conversations about civic engagement and equality. Walking through its pink-stucco doors, you feel the weight of what happened here and the urgency of what still hasn't.
Rachael Glashan Rupisan, Executive Director of the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice, welcomes the Golden Flyer II team to Paulsdale — the childhood home of the woman who drafted the Equal Rights Amendment. Photo: Nina Zacuto
Alice Paul drafted the original Equal Rights Amendment in 1923. One hundred and three years later, the ERA has been ratified by the 38 states required — and Congress has still not affirmed it as the 28th Amendment. If that sounds like unfinished business, that's because it is. Paulsdale is exactly the right place to say so.
Mayor Steglik signs the Sign4ERA petition at Paulsdale, adding Mount Laurel's official voice to the call for Congressional affirmation of the ERA as the 28th Amendment. Photo: Nina Zacuto
Shirley Henderson, member of the NOW National Board, signs the petition — bringing national organizational weight to a stop steeped in the history of the women's rights movement. Photo: Nina Zacuto
Councilwoman Fozia Janjua, former mayor of Mount Laurel, signs the Sign4ERA petition — one of several local officials who added their names at Paulsdale. Photo: Nina Zacuto
Our stop brought together local officials and ERA supporters who signed the Sign4ERA petition and added their voices to the campaign. Mount Laurel Mayor Stephen Steglik signed the petition and spoke movingly about Alice Paul's legacy and why this community takes it seriously. Councilwoman Fozia Janjua — herself a former mayor of Mount Laurel — added her signature alongside APCGJ Board Chair June DePonte Sernak. Heather Hamilton-Drach, Administrative Vice President of New Jersey NOW, signed on behalf of the state organization. Shirley Henderson, a member of the NOW National Board, added her name as well.
Jeryl Schriever (as Alice Burke) and Susan Nourse (as Nell Richardson) at Paulsdale — with Alice Paul's portrait looking on from the background. A century of suffrage history, in a single frame. Photo: Nina Zacuto
The energy was palpable. Folks cheered as Jeryl Schriever (as Alice Burke) and Susan Nourse (as Nell Richardson) posed in front of the historic home — Alice Paul's own portrait looking on from the wall behind them. The Golden Flyer II, gleaming in suffrage yellow, parked proudly out front for photos that Alice Paul herself would have appreciated.
Before we left, someone leaned over and said: "Alice would have loved this car." We couldn't agree more.
The stop at Paulsdale made the news. CBS Philadelphia covered the Golden Flyer II’s visit as part of its reporting on the 25-state tour retracing Alice and Nell's 916 suffrage route — and why the ERA fight is as urgent as ever. Watch the segment at cbsnews.com.
Follow the Journey
Watch history happen. The Golden Flyer II is rolling — New York to the Pacific and back. Track every stop as we drive the ERA fight across 25 states. Real stops. Real people. Real pressure.
