Test test test test captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 it isnt possible in Watkins Harper view to take a position that speaks to antiblack racism and doesnt speak to gender. Her often quoted line is, we are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity. This becomes the signature contribution that africanamerican women will make to this ongoing debate over Voting Rights that will continue i would say even until our own time. This view that it is not possible to parse out access to the polls, access to office holding, to jury service and more along manmade differences as she should put it like race and gender that she asks this, including stanton, including douglas, to really lift their sights to the interests of all humanity as she would put it and this is the position that black women will put on the table. They will not carry the day in the 1860s but they will press this position coming all the way through the 19th amendment and beyond. Ill leave it to another panel to decide whether weve arrived at that ideal. Its Francis Harper who puts that on the table as early as the 1860s. In your book you tell the story of not only of Francis Harper but also other heroic black women, maria stewart, fanny lou hammer and more. Tell us about their activism during this crucial period between the passage of the 15th and 19th amendment. Some activists were arguing as Lisa Tetrault argues for change at the state level, others were arguing for courts to recognize women suffrage. What was the position of these africanamerican women you right about and how successful were africanamerican women in particular in getting the right to vote in the states during this crucial transition period . One of the important facets of this story in my research was to recognize that while we have been able to recover some and important numbers of africanamerican women who are part of the womens Suffrage Association that take us, if you will, from the civil war to the 19th amendment, it is a small number of africanamerican women. Part of my work was to ask, where did where were black women, if they werent a part of these Suffrage Associations. One of the myths about them is that they hadnt been interested in politics, they hadnt been interested in Voting Rights. I wind up following them, if you will, to the places where they do gather and it turns out that africanamerican women are gathered in important numbers, by the thousands and tens of thousands, first in their churches, black methodist and Baptist Churches where in the same period theyre engaged in pitched debates over their political power within religious denominations. Will they have preaching licenses, will they have offices within their denominations, will they be ordained to the ministry . And when they engage in these debates they are speaking precisely the sorts of language and making the sorts of arguments that are animating suffrage debates at the very same moment. By the 1890s, 1895 and 1896 africanamerican women are, indeed, prepareded to gather in a national organization, but it will not, again, be a Suffrage Association, it will be the National Association of colored women. It will be a Club Movement that gathers together hundreds and thousands of local black women clubs across the country and activates them for a whole range of political work, even before suffrage, these clubs are organizing against lynching and advocating for federal antilynching legislation led to an important degree by the great suffrages, black suffrages, ida b. Wells. The founding of black women politics as a companion to the Suffrage Movement is through an organization that yes, comes to adopt womens suffrage as part of its agenda and to work hard to that end, but at the same time is active and committed to what we would say in 21st century, antiracist work, right in particular, the move for federal antilynching legislation. Black women do not find a comfortable home in Suffrage Associations. The important degree to which racism has informed that movement for some women individually, but more importantly i think strategically and instrumentally, it means that africanamerican women never find a comfortable home here. But at the same time, they are as Lisa Tetrault has suggested, already part of the political machines in cities like new york and chicago, san francisco, and los angeles, even before the 19th amendment. So they are beginning to work their political power to influence the agenda, particularly of the Republican Party of that era, and at the same time, black women are organizing with one another citizenship schools and suffrage schools because what they know, and it is no secret in the years leading up to the ratification of the 19th amendment, that they will face an additional set of hurdles in too many states, literacy tests, in addition to intimidation and violence, so suffrage and citizenship schools become the way that black women prepare one another. It turns out they also prepare black men who have been away from the polls for a very long time for a new wave of registration, new attempts to cast ballots in the fall of 1920. As we know, too much of that will not succeed and require black women to mount yet another movement for womens suffrage, if you will, one that begins in august of 1920. Lisa tetrault, take us up from 1913 to the passage of the amendment, because we are comment rating its 100th anniversary this year, the two womens movements as martha jones describes, africanamerican women marchers and white women, converged on the eve of a president ial inauguration and set in motion a series of events that led to a dramatic listminute shift of a vote by a tennessee senator who got a letter from his mother and the amendment was proposed and passed. Tell us about that story, why did it pass when it did . Its a cinematic finish, the ratification, both the fight for the actual voting, our Congress Approves the amendment and then it goes to the states for a three fourths ratification. Beginning often people say with this parade in 1913, which was a massive peaceful protest in washington, d. C. , done on the eve of Woodrow Wilsons inauguration to upstage him to, hundreds of people turn out in the streets, violence erupts. This is the kind of violence that many women of color experience on a daily basis, but its shocking for americans, white americans, to see this happen to sort of good, upstanding white women. It makes front page press. There is, of course, you know, the usual racial tensions and kind of concessions to White Supremacy with inside white suffrage activism. They ask ida b. Wells, who is, you know, one with of the nations premier civil rights activists, mary terrell a black sorority and others to march at the parade. This is emblematic in many ways of the ways in which white suffragists made concessions to White Supremacy to further the cause of eradicating the word male but not fighting more generally for the right to vote of all peoples. And that parade leaves alice paul, who direct it and who becomes kind of the center of the theatrics of the campaign, to go on and do more and more theatrics including picketing the white house, underscoring as we enter world war i the way that the United States is defending democracy abroad but not protecting it at home and it would lead up to Congress Finally passing this for many reasons including the fact that i would argue that the Southern States have officially disenfranchised africanamericans with jim crow laws, part of why the amendment passes, we rarely talk about that because we talk about gender as an isolated variable, and they know women of color will have difficulty voting, and then it goes to ratification. It flies through ratification until it stops sits with one state short for months, tennessee takes it up, looks like its not going to pass. The youngest member gets a letter from his mother who tells him to, quote, be a good boy and help put the rat in ratification, changes his vote dramatically, goes over by one and the hundreds of thousands of votes and fights and letters have pushed the amendment over for ratification. It is a cinematic finish. It is the eradication of the word male which is significant. Martha jones, as lisa says, it was an insufficient achievement to pass the 19th amendment. Tell us what happened next. Africanamerican men, of course, in 1920 had already been severely disenfranchised by literacy tests, poll taxes and other bruises that subverted the promise of the 15th amendment. How did africanamerican women fair in voting between 1920 and 1965 . Were they disenfranchised at a greater rate than africanamerican men and different ruses and elicit means . Tell us about their story and how they contributed ultimately to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights act . Sure. Theres no question but africanamerican women in a strong sense become equal to their male counterparts in 1920, but that means also equally disenfranchised, subject to the same jim crow laws. Jim crow laws, georgia, the poll tax requirements applied only to men, had to be amended now to include women as a bar for voting or impediment for voting for black women in the state of georgia. But africanamerican women, again, in the National Association of colored women now headed by an ohioan, halle brown, call on alice paul in 1921 on the eve of the last what turns out to be the last meeting of the National Womens party and they implore alice paul to stay in the fight for Voting Rights, even with the victory of the 19th amendment behind them because black women know that the 19th amendment is not going to be enough to get all of them to the polls. They are disappointed by alice paul who will move on to laudable concerns like equal rights amendment, but africanamerican women now will to an important degree link arms with africanamerican men in a civil rights agenda that looks to topple many of the pillars of jim crow, including grandfather clauses and poll taxes and other statelevel impediments to the vote. This is a story that takes us through to the modern Civil Rights Era and the 1965 ratification excuse me a passage of the Voting Rights act. What i want to point out in this interim 45 years is that africanamerican women, though disenfranchised, do not sit on the sidelines and wait until that moment when theyll be welcomed to the polls. I write about a figure like mary church terrell, a floridian, a staunch Voting Rights activist in florida in 1919 and 1920, an educator on the founder of bethunecookman university. When bethune cant make good on Voting Rights for black women in florida she comes to washington and introduces herself to Franklin Roosevelt and will help roosevelt by the 30s establish what is often referred to as his black cabinet. Bethune understand that power in washington certainly comes by way of the election of representatives, but in the wake of the depression and the advent of the new deal state, if one can commandeer the resources of federal agencies which are charged with digging the nation out of the depression, one can actually do a great deal for black communities across the country. Beth thune will use that kind of influence, the deep friendship with mrs. Roosevelt as well to bring black americans to washington to work in those agencies, but most importantly, to redirect the resources of those agencies towards black americans. All of this long before we get to the Voting Rights act. This is why black women can never be single issue political agents. They have to be nimble, they have to be inventive, they have to be ready to seize opportunities where they exist and bethune is a wonderful example of a consummate politician, when at the polls figures out now how to get close to power in washington and do something with it. Thank you so much, martha jones and Lisa Tetrault for illuminating and a rich discussion of the complicated and important history of the 19th amendment. Well look forward to the next panels about the present and future of the fight for the right to vote and look forward to seeing all of you at the National Constitution center and online at stu constitutioncenter. Org. Lisa tetrault, martha jones, thank you so much for joining us. Good to be with you. Thank you, jeff. Now please welcome david, the tenth archy vist of the United States and deborah wall, the deputy archivist of the United States. The National Archives is home to some of the most important records of a womens suffrage story including the 19th amendment. 100 years ago the 19th amendment became law prohibiting states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. Our records, such as petitions, legislation and court cases, tell the story of the struggle for Voting Rights as a critical step toward equal citizenship. The passage of the 19th amendment was made possible by decades of suffragists political engagement. Americans across the spectrum of race, ethnicity and class krad vanced the cause of suffrage and even though we are comment rating the centennial, the struggle of Voting Rights continued well beyond 1920. As the National Archives member of the commission, im honored to be a part of the xhem rags of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. The success of the Suffrage Campaign and the fortitude shown by its supporters demonstrated that women can make their voices heard in the political arena. Women had been active as advocates for justice and reform before the Suffrage Movement, but with that fight they showed they could have a voice on the national stage. Without the right to vote, women knew that they were denied their full rights as citizens. With the vote, they could exert influence on elected officials and lobby for issues important to them, as guaranteed in the constitution. This anniversary reminds us that the right to vote is not only guaranteed but won through the work of generations of tireless activists. We are honored to be the home of the 19th amendment and we want the American People to join our commemoration virtually. Join us this month at archives. Gov women as we highlight records from our holdings and examine the fight for womens Voting Rights through virtual Public Programs for all ages. Thank you, david and deborah. Now from the past to the present and our keynote conversation, mark, president and ceo of the lbj foundation, and my close collaborators on this program, speaks with the most powerful woman in america today. Speaker nancy pelosi needs little introduction. She is, of course, speaker of the house of representatives, first woman speaker in American History, and only the second person in 60 years to hold that position twice. A member of congress for more than 30 years, a member of the National Womens hall of fame, grandmother to nine grandchildren, she is the proud representative of san franciscos 12th congressional district. Please join me in welcoming mark upgrove and speaker nancy pelosi. Madam speaker, what an honor it is to have you with us today. Thank you so much for joining us. My honor, always, to be associated with not only l abbj Library Foundation but for the groups assembled for celebrating the anniversary of women having the right to vote. You have said many times that when you made history by becoming the first woman to become the speaker of the house of representatives, you stood on the shoulders of the women who came before you. Who are the women in history from whom you drew inspiration . Let me just say that many of the women from whom i drew inspiration, starting with my own family with my mother, were quiet contributors to the greatness of our country. Some more famous than others. But i always like to tell the story since were talking history of my first meeting when i went to the white house as a leader. I had been to the white house many times as an appropriator, intelligence person for years, so i wasnt particularly apprehensive about the meeting and i didnt think that much about it, just going to another meeting at the white house. As the door closed behind me in the room, it was a small room, president , Vice President , and the leaders, house and senate, democratic and republican, very small room, as soon as the door closed i realized this was unlike any other meeting i had ever been in the white house, unlike any meeting any woman had ever been to in the white house because i was there not as an appointee of the president , as important as that would be, but by being elected by my colleagues to represent them at the table. I sat down. President bush was present. Always gracious, george w. Bush, father too, i loved him, but this was george w. Bush, and as he was welcoming me as a new leader coming to the table to this event, felt very closed in at my chair, very closed in at my chair. I never felt anything quite like it. All of a sudden i realized that on the cha