Thread by @NMAAHC

“A white woman has only one handicap to overcome—that of sex. I have two—both sex and race.” -Mary Church Terrell

Join us today as we highlight the stories of African American women in the fight for suffrage. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

Early movements for women’s rights were closely tied to the Antislavery Movement. Free and formerly enslaved African American women like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Sarah Remond & Henrietta Purvis were active in the call for women’s suffrage. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

In 1866, writer and activist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper gave a speech at the National Woman's Rights Convention campaigning for African American women’s suffrage. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

Following Emancipation and the passage of the 15th Amendment giving black men voting rights, the women’s movement began to split into two factions⁠—those who were for African American suffrage and those who were not. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was founded by Lucy Stone and others to explicitly endorse the 15th Amendment. Its membership included both AA men & women, making “no distinctions because of race" & "no distinctions because of sex." #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

After being excluded, African American suffragists founded their own orgs, women’s clubs and suffrage leagues to advocate for the right to vote. Mary Church Terrell served as the 1st president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

In 1913, journalist Ida B. Wells formed the Alpha Suffrage Club, to campaign for African American interests in Chicago. Unlike white suffrage clubs, African American women's clubs sought full racial & gender equality. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment became law. However, it did not guarantee voting rights for African American women, who still faced barriers with literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation at the ballot box due to their race. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100

Black women activists continued the fight for the full voting rights until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This act finally guaranteed the right to vote for all Americans, but barriers to the ballot still exist today. #HiddenHerstory #HerVote100