Alice Duer was born in New York into a wealthy family. In 1895 she began studying mathematics and astronomy at Barnard College. She paid for her education by selling novels and short stories. Are Women People? is a collection of poems published in the New York Tribune centered on the suffrage movement. This title phrase became a catchphrase of the suffrage movement. Her Introduction contains the following lines. "Father, what is a Legislature? A representative body elected by the people of the state. Are women people? No, my son, criminals, lunatics and women are not people. Do legislators legislate for nothing? Oh, no; they are paid a salary. By whom? By the people. Are women people? Of course, my son, just as much as men are."