Released by the Alice Paul Institute
Her feet were blistered, and she had just been caught in a downpour, but her spirits were high when she dropped in at Paulsdale, the birthplace and childhood home of Quaker suffragist Alice Paul and headquarters of the Alice Paul Institute.
Helene Swanson of Sausalito, Cala. was on a 576-mile walk from Seneca Falls, N.Y., to Washington, D.C. to call attention to the Equal Rights Amendment, enacted by Congress in 1972 and ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states. It was reintroduced in Congress last year by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY.)
“I began my trip in Seneca Falls because of its significance to women’s rights,” Swanson explained.
In 1848, a convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others prominent in the women’s movement met in Seneca Falls and adopted a Declaration of Sentiments written by Stanton.
On her journey, Swanson chose stops important to women’s history. “Paulsdale was essential,” she said. “I couldn’t make the trip without thinking of Alice Paul, who wrote the ERA.”
After the first two weeks, Swanson was ready give up, but she was inspired by some black women she met who walked to work every day to save money for their children.
Swanson’s walk is supported by an organization called Katrina’s Dream, named in honor of her mother-in-law who waged a campaign to allow women to be ordained as priests by the Episcopal church.
Swanson spends each night of her journey with a parishioner of a local Episcopal church. After her visit to Paulsdale, she was headed to the Cinnaminson home of a parishioner of Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown.
Swanson, who covered 15 miles on foot each day, was hoped to reach Washington on Sunday, Aug. 26, which is Women’s Equality Day, the 92nd anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
She has spoken to Valery Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and hopes to be greeted at the White House, perhaps by Michelle Obama.
Swanson plans to extend her walk all the way to Florida in hope of securing ratification by three more states and the long overdue adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment.
