National Woman’s Party

American political party

Also known as: Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, NWP

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History

National Woman’s Party (NWP), American political party that in the early part of the 20th century employed militant methods to fight for an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Formed in 1913 as the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, the organization was headed by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. Its members had been associated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), but their insistence that woman suffrage work be concentrated on the federal,...