Alice Garoute, pioneer of women's right to vote, passed away 76 years ago.

On October 30, 1950, seventy-six years ago, Alice Garoute died in Port-au-Prince. A suffragist, she dedicated her life to the rights of Haitian women, including those in rural areas. On her deathbed, she requested that her grave be decorated with flowers on the day when Haitian women would finally be able to vote.

From Exile to Struggle

Born Alice Thézan on April 24, 1874, she experienced exile in Kingston, Jamaica, with her parents who were opponents of President Lysius Salomon. She married Auguste Garoute, a lawyer from Jeremie, at the end of the century. Alongside Thérèse Hudicourt, she ran a reading club where educated women debated feminism and Marxism. During the American occupation, following sexual violence against Haitian women, she participated in the founding of the Patriotic Union, which sent a delegation to Washington in 1921 and established ties with W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP.

The Feminine League for Social Action

In 1934, she was among the founders of the Feminine League for Social Action, which she presided over starting in 1941. She contributed to the journal La Voix des femmes and advocated before the National Assembly for complete equality between men and women. The League demanded more schools for girls, equal pay, and the right to vote.

The First Congress of Haitian Women

From April 10 to 14, 1950, the League organized the First Congress of Haitian Women. Alice Garoute delivered a speech on girls' education and denounced the treatment of women, who were still equated with children and mentally ill patients. Women's right to vote was achieved in 1957.