The Abolitionist Origins of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

The Newton Free Library presents

The Abolitionist Origins of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

co-sponsored by LWVN

Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm

Join Manisha Sinha, author of The Slaves Cause: A History of Abolition, for a talk that will illuminate the forgotten origins of the women’s suffrage movement in the abolition movement and reconsider the break between abolitionists and some feminists during Reconstruction. It will show how the constitutional amendments during Reconstruction opened a path to women’s suffrage rather than shut the door on women’s enfranchisement. The 19^th amendment eventually passed in 1920 and continued the abolitionists’ legacy, but the women’s suffrage movement ignored and downplayed the issue of white supremacy. Despite black disfranchisement, the 19^th Amendment eventually paved the way for black women to emerge as the most progressive voting bloc in American politics. A book sale will follow.

Manisha Sinha is the James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. She was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal; the highest honor bestowed on faculty, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her book, The Slaves Cause, was featured as the Editor’s Choice of the New York Times Book Review. It was named the book of the week by Times Higher Education in May, 2016 to coincide with its UK publication and one of three Great History Books for 2016 in Bloomberg News.

This program is part of the year-long celebration being planned by the Women’s Right-to-Vote Coalition of Newton in recognition of the passage of the 19^th amendment granting women the right to vote. Through education and the arts, the Coalition honors the struggle suffragists endured to gain this first step in voting rights and acknowledge that the journey continues. This program is cosponsored by the League of Women Voters of Newton.

For more information call the Newton Free Library at 617-796-1360. All programs are free and open to the public, parking is free. The Newton Free Library is an accessible facility.