We are proud this week to feature several books about the 19th Amendment. Below, Bookseller Deb talks a little bit about this as well as providing some of her book recommendations...
"This week we celebrate a momentous occasion. It is 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment which barred states from denying women the right to vote because of their sex. Like a lot of American history, this accomplishment has been reduced to a snapshot which ignored the intense battle to convince states to vote for the amendment. The suffragist movement was closely aligned with the abolitionist cause in the period before the Civil War. The two most familiar names associated with the movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were instrumental in organizing men, women, white, and people of color to proselytize for women’s suffrage.
However, the proposal for the 15th Amendment which would enfranchise Black men, but not black women showed a deep division in the suffragist group. When some, including Stanton and Anthony, believed that Black men should not have the vote before white women, they left the American Equal Rights Association to form The National Women’s Suffrage Association, whose mission was to get universal suffrage, but adamantly asserting that Black men should not get the vote first. Their racist remarks alienated not only Black women but many others who had been their allies such as Frederick Douglass and Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, one of the most dedicated Black proponents of women’s suffrage.
In a desperate attempt to boost acceptance of women’s suffrage, leaders of the movement decided to link to with White Supremacists groups, turning their backs on the supporters who had worked for decades to promote suffrage for all women. The struggle to convince 36 states to ratify the amendment came down to the wire. Most of the states expected to vote in support had already committed one way or the other. The last chance was Tennessee, not exactly a liberal bastion. Tens of thousands of people poured into Nashville, to try and lobby for both sides. When the vote came, the result was tied with only one more congressman to go. He had been expected to vote nay, thereby bringing the measure to defeat for the entire country. What the other congressmen didn’t know was that this young man had just received a letter from his mother, urging him to vote yes. As a good son, young Harry Burn did as his mother asked, and thereby gave women the vote. The fight continued as White Supremacists argued that women of color were prohibited from voting, not because of their sex, but because of their race. Ridiculous measures such as poll taxes or literacy tests including having to recite the entire Constitution were used to disenfranchise women of color. Native American women achieved suffrage in 1962, but Black women were not guaranteed the right to vote until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
We have several books in stock that will help you explore this fascinating piece of history in more depth."
-Deb
Women Win the Vote! maps the road to the Nineteenth Amendment through compact, readable biographies of nineteen women who helped pave the way. From early feminist activist Lucretia Mott to radical twentieth century suffragist Alice Paul, this vibrant collection profiles both iconic figures like Sojourner Truth and those who may be less well-known, like Mary Ann Shadd Cary.
"This is a fascinating account of the bumpy road to women's suffrage in the U.S. . . . Well-chosen black-and-white archival reproductions and photographs ably support the text, which makes excellent use of primary sources, including excerpts from letters and writings to bring key personalities to life."
--The Horn Book Magazine, starred review
Email info@literatibookstore.com or call for price
"This is a great American story, beautifully told. Ellen DuBois enables us to appreciate the drama of the long battle for women's suffrage and the heroism of many of its advocates, as well as the movement's imperfections. At a time when many of our constitutional rights are under assault, this is an especially relevant piece of our national history."--Eric Foner, author of The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution
Email info@literatibookstore.com or call for price
"The most comprehensive intersectional anthology of writing about the women's suffrage movement published to-date... Not only does The Women's Suffrage Movement expose readers to the long-neglected intersectional history of women's rights in America--celebrating the activism and writing of not just these Indigenous women, but women of a wide diversity of races and classes--it also serves as a reminder to readers that political gains once won can be lost, that rights and freedoms once enjoyed can be swiftly taken away if we stop paying attention."
--Bust
"At the heart of democracy lies the ballot box, and Elaine Weiss's unforgettable book tells the story of the female leaders who--in the face of towering economic, racial, and political opposition--fought for and won American women's right to vote. Unfolding over six weeks in the summer of 1920, The Woman's Hour is both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for everyone, young and old, male and female, in these perilous times.” - Hillary Rodham Clinton
Email info@literatibookstore.com or call for price
The first of its kind, this fully illustrated history of women's rights offers a gripping account of the struggle for equality across the globe. In six chapters it covers issues that are critical to women everywhere: the right to vote, reproductive freedom, marital and property rights, workplace equality, oppressive notions of beauty, racial equality, and LGBTQ rights. Citizen Woman takes readers across continents to compare and contrast how women are faring in different cultures and societies.