Votes For Women!

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Lindsay Harmon, Booklist, September 2020.

 

“Part reference work, part critical analysis, the book aims to situate the movement in the context of political, social, and economic climate of the time, but also to restore the voices of those who were left out of the movement’s official histories.  ... Roydhouse also illuminates the divisions that emerged over the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as many grappled with whose suffrage should take priority: Black men or (white) women.  The book’s afterword reminds readers that for many women of color, the struggle for voting rights continued long after 1920.

 

The engaging, warts-and-all approach to a broad range of historical figures makes this a good complement to history lessons.” 

 

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Rob Tench, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA.   Library Journal, October 2020.

 

“Tells the story of how American women earned the right to vote through the lens of those who directly fought in suffrage campaigns.  Examining their actions in the context of economic, political, and social issues unfolding in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, she illustrates how women organize and put pressure on the U.S. political system, resulting n white women being allowed to participate in local, state, and federal government politics.  She also provides insights and perspectives that can help resolve current conflicts over voter registration, polling places, gerrymandering, and other barriers to voter participation...

Eight compelling chapters form the core; a thought-provoking section is devoted to what happened in the years following passage of the amendment, including how Black women obtained the rights of suffrage through the Voting Rights Act of 1965... A skilled blend of interpretative essays and primary documents about the suffrage movement recommended for students, teachers, and general readers.”