Alice W. Gordon was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 8, 1847. Her father was James M. Gordon. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary from 1863-1867 and was instructor there from 1868-1870. She married the Reverend Alvah B. Kittredge, who was a tutor at Amherst College, and he died shortly after the marriage. After his death she became a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and decided to devote her life to missionary service. In 1871 she married the Reverend William H. Gulick, who had spent much time working as a missionary. They had five children. She was highly recognized for her missionary activities in Spain, where she and her husband worked since 1872. She was best known for founding a school for girls called the International Institute for Girls in San Sebastian. The school was later renamed the International Institute for Girls in Spain. She died in London, England on October 1, 1903 at the age of fifty-six.