Black Women, Representation, and the Constitution

Although the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution enshrined the right to vote regardless of race and guaranteed women the right to vote more than 100 years ago, the struggle for Black women’s suffrage and representation is ongoing, and the history of the struggle still relatively unknown today. We discuss that history on this week’s episode, and highlight the key Black women figures throughout time who served as suffrage advocates, voters, and representatives—from Sojourner Truth to Shirley Chisholm. This panel features Nadia Brown, professor of government and chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University and Idol Family Fellow at the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute at Villanova University; Bettye Collier-Thomas, professor of history at Temple University and co-editor of African American Women and the Vote, 1837–1965; and Martha Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and professor of history at Johns Hopkins University and author of Vanguard. Lana Ulrich, senior director of content at the National Constitution Center, moderates the discussion.

This program was made possible through the generous support of the McNulty Foundation in partnership with the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women's Leadership at Villanova University. It’s part of the National Constitution Center’s Women and the Constitution, initiative.

This conversation was streamed live on November 9, 2021.

Additional resources and transcript available in our Media Library at constitutioncenter.org/constitution.

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].