This week marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment declared that the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” While the amendment opened up the legal door for American women to cast votes, the suffrage movement often overlooks the work of many women who fought for the right to vote, but were excluded from its benefits because of their race.
Dr. Martha S. Jones is a Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All. In this special segment of Stay Tuned, she’s telling the stories of Black women who shaped the suffrage movement and fought for equality, but were left out of the prevailing historical narratives.
REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
- Martha S. Jones, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All, Basic Books, 2020
- Martha S. Jones, “Black women in politics are no longer a ‘first.’ They are a force.” The Washington Post, 8/13/2020
- Cathy Rainone and Noreen O’Donnell, “‘For the Future Benefit of My Whole Race’: How Black Women Fought for the Vote Before and After 19th Amendment,” NBC, 8/17/2020
- “The 19th Amendment: An Important Milestone in an Unfinished Journey,” The New York Times Editorial Board, 8/15/2020
- Rebecca Boggs Roberts, “The Great Suffrage Parade of 1913,” The Women’s Vote Centennial,” 2020
- The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in the National Archives
- History of the National Association of Colored Women from the National Women’s History Museum
- Carol Anderson, “Republicans Could Use the Coronavirus to Suppress Votes Across the Country. This Week We Got a Preview,” TIME, 4/8/2020
- Vann R. Newkirk II, “Voter Suppression Is Warping Democracy,” The Atlantic, 7/17/2018
