As the last legitimate heir to a powerful family, Catherine de Medici was married at only 14 into one of the most powerful royal houses in Europe. The two halves of her story are VASTLY different, and here in Part One, we’re going to tell you about how her only resources were INNER resources – and the character that developed from the circumstances in which she was placed.
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
All the rest of the media recommendations will be in the shownotes of Part Two.
For more background on the Medicis, we recommend The Medici by Paul Strathern.
Catherine’s story does cross several previous subjects and giving a listen to them might give you a better sense of not only the world Catherine lived in, but the players in her story that we give just a passing mention to here. (Be kind, these are from our Way Back Machine.)
In late June, 2025, 50 people gathered to tour places we’ve talked about on the podcast, and learn more about the women of the Philadelphia area. Here we are at one of the favorite stops: The Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice in Mount Laurel, New Jersey!
Our Field Trip to Philadelphia was what we call a “long weekend.” From Wednesday evening until Sunday morning, we packed a lot of learning, exploring, general merriment , and LOTS of women’s history into our days. In this episode, we let our travelers call in from the road, or after they returned home, to share their experiences.
Suzanne’s first self-portrait, 1883 age 18How Pierre-August Renoir painted her that same year, 1883 (You’ve seen this one, right?) How Renoir saw her two years later, 1885Casting the Nets, Suzanne Valadon, 1914
Shownotes are under construction, please come back later for all the things Beckett talked about in this episode!
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
by Rosinsky Therese Diamond (The “small” biography)by June Rose (the “middle” book)by Catherine Hewitt ( the “big” book)by Henri Perruchot
Web!
You can visit one of her studios (and the original Le Chat Noir poster) at the Musée de Montmartre! It’s a “must-see” from us for a day spent in Montmartre!
The chateau she lived with Andre Utter, Château de Saint-Bernard, you can visit or even have your wedding there.
We have a Pinterest board for every subject, you should check it out and maybe start with Suzanne’s!
Moving Pictures!
Once again, we have the perfect subject for a movie and Suzanne’s is a story ripe for a biopic! Scandal! Relationships! The rise of an underdog! A woman in a man’s world! Art! Paris! A scoundrel son! Invite us to the premier, please and thank you! Until such a film exists, the only documentary we could find was one in French, Suzanne Valadon, peintre sans concession , here’s the IMDB page.
We left Alice as she completed the project that the leadership of NAWSA (National American Women’s Suffrage Association) didn’t think was possible: In just three months, organize a parade of thousands of suffragists from around the country to march down Pennsylvania Avenue the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. While this dazzling feat of organization and spectacle was stunning for a couple of blocks, a large group of rowdy men violently disrupted the event. The parade limped to the finish line. What it did succeed in doing was put women’s suffrage, the purpose of the parade, in all the papers for several weeks which was a score for Alice and Lucy Burns’ mission to get the country talking, but they didn’t stop there and built on the mounting momentum for the cause.
What followed was six years of parades, rallies, growing suffrage groups around the county, lobbying strategy, campaigning for pro-suffrage politicians, and failed attempts to get President Wilson to put suffrage in front of Congress so they could vote it into law. Alice’s organization was kicked-out of NAWSA and created their own suffrage group, the National Women’s Party (NWP), whose sole purpose was to get women’s right to vote as a constitutional amendment. To that end, Alice dug into her toolkit and pulled out a bold demonstration, the first of its kind, picketing in front of the White House. Over two and a half years, approximately 2,000 women participated as silent sentinels all day, every day but Sunday, regardless of weather or public opinion.
The Silent Sentinel protest, circa 1917 LOCThe NWP paper, The Suffragist, was used to share news of the battle for women’s suffrage. This cover is during the Silent Sentinel protest circa 1918, LOC.
When emotions got dark during WWI, and Alice still had women on the picketline, things turned violent. Women were arrested and beaten, and Alice once again was force-fed. Eventually public opinion turned the tide of politics and the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was ratified into law in May of 1919.
Lucy Burns during one of her prison terms, this one was at the Occoquan Workhouse prison (where she also underwent violence and force-feeding) for the “crime” of blocking the sidewalk. LOC
But Alice was only in her mid-30s and her work was far from over. She set out to get an amendment guaranteeing equal rights for all into the Constitution and co-wrote what we know as the Equal Rights Amendment. She would live to see it passed in both houses of Congress.
She was not without mistakes, for instance, Alice didn’t land on the right side of history as far as the rights of Black Americans were concerned (we go into it in this, and several other episodes.) The W column was much longer than the L, and, all totaled, Alice and her NWP were involved in over 300 pieces of legislation that became laws.
Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92.
The Equal Rights Amendment has yet to be ratified as of today, July 9, 2025- 48 years to the day after her death.
Alice Paul Memorial March for the ERA 1977, LOC
TIME TRAVEL WITH THE HISTORY CHICKS
Books!
by J.D. Zahniser and Amelia R. Fryby Tina Cassidyby Mary Waltonby Bernadette Cahillby Ellen Carol Duboisby Doris Stevens
by Susan Cambell Bartoletti and Ziyue Chenby Nancy Kennedy
Web!
You can visit Alice Paul’s family home, Paulsdale, in Moorestown, New Jersey, OR take a lovely virtual tour online (scroll down VISIT page for this): Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice
Have some questions about the ERA? Congress.gov might have some answers.
Here’s a timeline of the Women’s Right’s movement (you might have to scroll down the page…and not be tempted by any of the other subjects. Good luck with that, and an article on the 1977 memorial march for Alice Paul and the ERA, from The Smithsonian.
Mixed Media!
We mention several of our former episodes to give you more information about this era, including Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Fannie Lou Hamer, and 50’s Housewives to name a few. YOu can find any of these on your favorite podcatcher! (Transparency: The audio may not be here on our website due to a behind-the-scenes move that disabled our podcast players.)
Suffs, a Tony Award-winning musical about Alice Paul, has closed on Broadway, where we saw it, BUT, it’s starting a large tour this year. We HIGHLY recommend that you see it if it comes to your area- it’s a delight. And, hello? How do we get this to come to Kansas City?? SUFFS TOUR SCHEDULE
2004 with Hilary Swank but why it’s also with Patrick Dempsey we just don’t know. (Ooooh…maybe because they couldn’t have a movie with an all-female, lead character cast? naaaw, couldn’t be that.)
Alice Paul, circa 1913 in college robes, this is what she wore in the parade when she tried to march in the college women’s section of the Suffrage Procession. CC via LOCEmmaline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst, circa 1911 CC via wikicommonsOooh, Alice, the places you’ll go! Circa 1900 CC via LOC
SHOWNOTES UNDER CONSTRUCTION, come back in a little bit for more photos and some details from the episode!
Time Travel With The History Chicks
The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Suffs is hitting the road for a national tour! We saw it last fall in New York and LOOOVED it, but relevant to this episode, Alice Paul is the main character and the show focuses on her life and work. If the touring company is in your neighborhood, we strongly recommend you try to see it. (This isn’t sponsored, we just really loved the musical.) SUFFS TOUR DATES
Media recommendations will be on the shownotes for Part Two.
End song: We’re Dynamite by Craig Reever (featuring Willow) used by permission of Epidemic Sound
Travelers with a Golden Hour glow at Versailles! Photo: Ken Nelson
In April, 55 of of us descended upon Paris for a History Chicks Field Trip! It was nine days of history, exploring, learning, wonder, and friendship. And champagne. And cheese. We’ve compiled the stories of those experiences from some of our fellow travelers into this episode.
