One of her first big projects that came from this was a parade that she organized in Washington the day before President Wilson's Inauguration. There were 8,000 women walking the parade. Alice wanted to put a ton of pressure on Wilson. The banner she held read "We demand an Amendment to the United States Constitution Enfranchising the Women of the Country." The situation soon followed a near-riot, with viewers so close to Alice and the Women that they were unable to proceed. The Massachusetts and Pennsylvania Police stepped in; eventually, students from the Maryland College created a huge human barrier to help the women to pass. Paul, with her experience using police mistreatment and brutality for publicity purposes in Britain, saw an opportunity to boost sympathy for the women's cause. She quickly mobilized public dialogue about the police response to the women's demonstration, producing greater awareness and sympathy for National American Woman Suffrage Association. Alice believed that no self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her sex (5).
Soon after the Washington parade, the National Woman's Party was created in 1916. In January 1917 Alice Paul came up with another idea to boost awareness for Women Suffrage. She set about to Picket the White House. The suffragists wanted President Wilson to support the amendment to the constitution, which could then guarantee woman the right to vote. The picketers were to stay silent. The held up signs demanding the right to vote. This way they were showing a non-violent civil disobedience campaign. .
Many saw the suffragist's wartime protest as unpatriotic, and the sentinels, including Alice Paul, were attacked by angry mobs. The picketers began to be arrested on the trumped up charge of "obstructing traffic" and were jailed when they refused to pay the imposed fine. By the end of October, more than 30 suffrage activists had been arrested and subsequently jailed at the Occoquan Workhouse.