It’s been a century since Congress adopted the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing women the right to vote. The women’s suffrage movement continues to be a source of inspiration for modern activism today.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, author and historian Ellen Carol DuBois revisits the history of how the women’s suffrage movement came to be in her new book Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote. The book explores the movement’s roots dating back to the abolition of slavery and the granting of voting rights to African American men, but not white or African American women. DuBois delves into how suffrage leaders persisted against changing attitudes on politics, citizenship, race and gender during the era of Jim Crow and the beginnings of progressivism. Even a century after women were granted the right to vote, the book finds common themes of conflict and prejudice that still persists in women’s activism today.

Today on AirTalk, host Larry Mantle sits down with DuBois to discuss the significance of the women’s suffrage movement and the impact of its one hundred years later.

Guest:

Ellen Carol DuBois, author of the forthcoming book, “Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote” (Simon & Schuster, 2020); retired professor of history and gender studies at UCLA