Untold Stories of Black Women in the Suffrage Movement

Summary

This video script narrates the untold stories of black women in the women's suffrage movement, highlighting figures like Ida B. Wells, a journalist and civil rights leader who fought against lynching and for African American equality. It also touches on the National Association of Colored Women and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, emphasizing the bravery and activism of these women. The script challenges viewers to explore both known and lesser-known histories and to continue striving for a future of equality for all women.

Takeaways

• 🎬 The video script narrates the untold stories of black women in the women's suffrage movement, highlighting their significant contributions and struggles.
• 👤 Susan B. Anthony is mentioned as a key figure in the suffrage movement, but her controversial views on race and voting rights are also acknowledged.
• 📰 Ida B. Wells is recognized as an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and early civil rights leader who fought against prejudice and violence.
• 🌟 Ida B. Wells' work in exposing the truth about lynching and advocating for African American rights is emphasized, showcasing her bravery and impact.
• 🏛 The script discusses the challenges faced by African American men post-Emancipation, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow laws that suppressed their voting rights.
• 🏫 Anna Julia Cooper's life and achievements are highlighted, including her education, her role as an educator, and her advocacy for black women's rights.
• 📚 The importance of education for black women is underscored, with examples of women like Anna Julia Cooper who pursued higher education and leadership roles.
• 👭 The script mentions the formation of organizations like the National Association of Colored Women and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, which aimed to uplift black women and their communities.
• 🚫 The limitations and discrimination faced by black women in the suffrage movement are discussed, including being made to march at the back of parades.
• 🔊 The script calls for a deeper exploration of both told and untold stories within the women's suffrage movement to understand the full scope of the struggle for women's rights.
• 💪 The video concludes with a call to action for women to continue striving for equality and to create a better future for future generations.

Q & A

Who is the host of the video script and what is the main theme of the video?

The host of the video script is Katie Hall, and the main theme is the untold stories of black women in the women's suffrage movement.

What role did Susan B. Anthony play in the suffrage movement?

Susan B. Anthony was a significant figure in the suffrage movement, collaborating with others to fight for women's rights, including the right to vote.

Who was Ida B. Wells and what was her contribution to the civil rights movement?

Ida B. Wells was an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. She fought against prejudice and violence, particularly through her documentation of lynching in the United States.

What significant event happened in Ida B. Wells' life at the age of 16?

At the age of 16, Ida B. Wells lost both of her parents and her infant brother due to a yellow fever epidemic.

How did Ida B. Wells expose the true nature of lynching in the United States?

Ida B. Wells exposed lynching as a barbaric practice used by whites in the south to intimidate and oppress African Americans, debunking the myth that it was reserved for black criminals only.

What was the impact of Ida B. Wells' investigative reporting on her personal life?

Ida B. Wells' investigative reporting led to a white mob destroying her newspaper office and presses, forcing her to leave Memphis.

What was the National Association of Colored Women and what was its motto?

The National Association of Colored Women was founded in 1896 and became the largest federation of local black women's clubs. Its motto was 'lifting as we climb'.

What is Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and what was its founders' first act of public service?

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is an organization founded by 22 college students who saw the importance of the right to vote. Their first act of public service was marching in the women's suffrage march.

What controversial statement has Susan B. Anthony been quoted saying regarding voting rights?

Susan B. Anthony has been quoted saying that women deserved the vote more than black men, which has become a point of controversy.

Who organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York?

The first women's rights convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Who is Anna Julia Cooper and what was her educational background?

Anna Julia Cooper was born a slave in 1858 and graduated from Oberlin College in 1884. She later became the principal at M Street High School and received her PhD in 1925.

What message does the producer of the video hope to convey to the audience?

The producer hopes that the audience will challenge themselves to explore both the told and untold stories of the women's suffrage movement and work collectively to create a better future for future generations of women.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Pioneering Black Women in Suffrage Movement

This paragraph introduces the video's focus on the untold stories of black women in the women's suffrage movement. Katie Hall, the narrator, invites viewers to learn about influential figures like Susan B. Anthony and the significant roles black women played in the movement, such as Ida B. Wells, an African-American investigative journalist and early civil rights leader. Wells is highlighted for her fight against prejudice and violence and her advocacy for equality, particularly for black women. The paragraph also touches on the historical context, including the Emancipation Proclamation and the Fifteenth Amendment, and the challenges faced by African Americans in exercising their voting rights due to poll taxes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow laws. Wells' personal story of overcoming adversity and making an impact on rights for black women and people is emphasized.

05:00

🔍 The Struggle for Equality and Representation

The second paragraph delves into the complexities and controversies within the women's suffrage movement, particularly the views of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who have been criticized for their stance on race and voting rights. It discusses the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, and the parallels drawn between the conditions of enslaved people and women's societal limitations. The paragraph also covers the March Hall event, where African-American women were allowed to participate but had to march at the back, leading to disagreement among activists like Ida B. Wells. Wells' activism, public disapproval, and her role in women's organizations are highlighted, along with the establishment of other notable groups like the National Association of Colored Women and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. The paragraph concludes with a mention of Anna Julia Cooper, an educator and advocate, and a reflection on the progress and ongoing challenges faced by black women in various professions, emphasizing the need to continue breaking through barriers.

Keywords

💡Women's Suffrage Movement

The Women's Suffrage Movement was a decades-long struggle for women's right to vote and to run for office in the United States. It is central to the video's theme, highlighting the efforts of various women in fighting for gender equality. The script mentions Susan B. Anthony, a prominent suffragist, and the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, as key elements of this movement.

💡Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and a leader in the civil rights movement. She is a key figure in the script, known for her work against racial prejudice and violence, and her fight for equality, particularly for African-American women. The script describes her as embodying the spirit of the suffrage movement and her significant role in combating lynching.

💡National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

The NAACP is a civil rights organization founded by Ida B. Wells and others, aimed at fighting racial discrimination and promoting equality for African Americans. The script notes that Wells was one of the founders, indicating the organization's importance in the broader context of the suffrage and civil rights movements.

💡Lynching

Lynching refers to the extrajudicial killing of a person, often by hanging, by a group acting outside the law. The script discusses Wells' documentation of lynching in the United States, exposing it as a brutal practice used to oppress African Americans and maintain white power.

💡Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests

Poll taxes and literacy tests were methods used to restrict voting rights, particularly for African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. The script mentions these as tools used to prevent African-American men from exercising their right to vote, even after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment.

💡Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is a historically African-American Greek-lettered sorority founded by 22 college students. The script highlights the organization's early involvement in the women's suffrage movement, showing their commitment to voting rights and social activism.

💡Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. The script briefly mentions these laws as part of the broader system of oppression that African Americans faced, which the suffrage movement sought to challenge.

💡Anna Julia Cooper

Anna Julia Cooper was an African-American educator, writer, and one of the first black women in the United States to earn a PhD. The script presents her as an example of the progress made by black women in various professions, while also acknowledging ongoing challenges.

💡Seneca Falls Convention

The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention held in 1848. It is significant in the script as it marks the beginning of the organized women's rights movement in the United States, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott as organizers.

💡Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle for social justice and equal rights for African Americans in the mid-20th century. The script connects this movement to the suffrage movement, showing the intertwined history of fighting for rights for both women and African Americans.

💡Glass Ceiling

The term 'glass ceiling' metaphorically refers to the invisible barrier that prevents certain groups, particularly women and minorities, from advancing to higher positions in their careers. The script uses this term to discuss the ongoing challenges faced by black women in breaking through to leadership roles.

Highlights

Introduction to the untold stories of black women in the women's suffrage movement by Katie Hall.

Susan B. Anthony's role in the suffrage movement and her collaboration with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Ida B. Wells as an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and civil rights leader.

Ida B. Wells' fight against prejudice and violence, and her advocacy for African American women's equality.

Ida B. Wells' early life, including her birth into slavery and the loss of her family.

The impact of the Fifteenth Amendment on African American men's voting rights and subsequent restrictions.

Ida B. Wells' investigative reporting on lynching and its role in racial oppression.

The founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago and its influence on black suffrage groups.

The establishment of the National Association of Colored Women and their motto 'lifting as we climb'.

The founding of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and their participation in the women's suffrage march.

Susan B. Anthony's controversial views on voting rights and her collaboration with Stanton.

The first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, and its significance.

Ida B. Wells' public disapproval and her outspoken activism for black female rights.

Anna Julia Cooper's biography, education, and her role as an educator and principal.

Anna Julia Cooper's perspective on the progress of black women and the challenges that remain.

A call to action to explore both told and untold stories of the women's suffrage movement for a better future.

Transcripts

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welcome to the untold stories of black

women in a women's suffrage movement my

name is Katie Hall and I want you to

join me as we explore women such as

susan b anthony and the role that she

played in the suffrage movement as well

as women like Ida B Wells and Anna Julia

Cooper Ida B Wells was an

african-american investigative

journalist educator and an early leader

in the civil rights movement she was one

of the founders of the National

Association for the Advancement of

Colored People

she arguably became the most famous

black woman in America during a life

that was centered on combating prejudice

and violence she also fought for

equality for African Americans

especially women

iamb well she's sort of like embodies

everything that the suffrage movement

was about everything that rights for

women and specifically about black women

were about I mean this is a woman who

came from adversity she lost her parents

at a young age she helped raise her

siblings but she was able to get herself

educated and to make a big impact on on

the rights for not just black women but

women in general and for black people in

general Wells was born into slavery in

Holly Springs Mississippi and free by

the Emancipation Proclamation during the

american civil war in 1870

african-american men were granted the

right to vote with the ratification of

the Fifteenth Amendment

however poll taxes literacy tests fear a

timid ation and later Jim Crow laws were

used in former slave holding States to

keep them from exercising their right to

vote

at the age of 16 I had lost both of her

parents and her infant brother in 1878

due to the yellow fever epidemic Wells

moved with some of the siblings to

Memphis Tennessee where she found better

pay as a teacher

soon she co-owned and wrote for the

Memphis free speech and headlight

newspaper in the 1890s Welles documented

lynching in the United States through

her indictment cause southern horace

lynch laws and all of his phases

investigating frequent claims of whites

that lynchings were reserved for black

criminals only Wells exposed lynching as

a barbaric practice of whites in the

south used to intimidate and oppress

African Americans who created economic

and political competition

in a subsequent threat of loss of power

for whites a white mob destroyed her

newspaper office and presses as her

investigative reporting was carried

nationally and black owned newspapers

after being forced to leave Memphis

because of the 1892 expose

she wrote about a lynching iwl starts

the Alpha suffrage Club in Chicago one

of the first and most influential

african-american suffrage groups in

Illinois the group immediately sets out

to mobilize and register black men and

women voters in 1880s black performers

began organizing their own groups in

1896 they founded the National

Association of colored women which

became the largest Federation of local

black Women's Clubs their motto was

lifting as we climb 22 women that did

something a long time ago that were

college students at the time our

founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

Incorporated of which I am a member a

proud member of Delta Sigma Theta

Sorority Incorporated those 22 women

were college students young women at the

time who saw the importance of of the

right to vote so their first act of

public service when they became an

organization was marching in the woman

suffrage march yes they had to march in

the back but they were there they were

present they were college students and

that took extreme bravery and extreme

forethought and for them to be you know

in their teens and 20s and leading in

that way and leading the way for

hundreds of thousands of women that are

a part of the sorority now puts them on

the top of my list as my Shero

statin and fellow abolitionist susan b

anthony are introduced and quickly began

collaborating on the women's suffrage

movement their life work included

fighting for both to end slavery and

property ownership of women susan b

anthony has become a controversial

figure in recent years as she is quoted

saying that women deserved the vote more

than black men stanton too has been

criticized for her views on extending

voting rights to african-americans

she echo anthony's resentment that black

men were allowed to vote before women

the first women's right convention is

held in Seneca Falls New York organized

by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia

Mott who began drawing a parallels

between the condition of the enslaved

population in their own condition as

prisoners within a patriarchal society

women from all over the United States

and abroad traveled to Washington DC to

participate in the March Hall working

with Mary Turkish Terrell allow

african-american women to participate

but they had to march in the back of the

parade prominent leaders like Ida B

Wells didn't agree with this decision

while she started in the back with the

rest of the black women she ran to the

front once the parade began to join the

women in her States delegation

Welsh was outspoken regarding her

beliefs as a black female activist and

faced regular public disapproval

including that of leaders would diverge

you viewpoints from both the civil

rights movement and the woman suffrage

movement

established in several notable women's

organizations Wells was a skilled and

persuasive speaker and traveled

nationally and internationally on

lecture tours

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Anna Julia Cooper was born a slave

August of 10 1858 in North Carolina she

graduated from Oberlin College in 1884

in 1902 she was named the principal at M

Street high school and she was an

educator there through 1930 at the age

of 67 she received her PhD in 1925 I

think that we have come a long ways if

you look you will see black women in all

professions doing all kinds of things

they're working as CEOs they're partners

they're surgeons so we are doing a lot

of things we've come a long way however

we still face many of the same issues

that we faced maybe not so much in 1920

but we still face issues that hold us

back we still have not broken all the

way through the glass ceiling we still

are striving to do that

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thank you for joining us as we explore

the untold stories of black women during

the women's suffrage movement my hopes

as the producer of this film is that you

challenge yourself to dig back into the

history of the women's suffrage movement

both the told stories and the untold

stories and collectively as women we

create the future that we want for our

daughters and our granddaughters thank

you so much for joining us I'm Katie ha

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