Law, Not Reality     
   Part 2 of 3

   Difficult as the battle for rights had been, imagine what would have happened to aggressive women in many other countries. 

   Here in the U.S., despite passage of the 19th Amendment, some states disenfranchised women - especially blacks and immigrants - with poll taxes, literacy tests and registration rules. Many women still didn't see themselves as having a roll, or say, in the public sphere.

   History-making women in the mid-1800s included Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. In 1902, Anthony wrote to Stanton, "We little dreamed...that half a century later we would be compelled to leave the finish of the battle to another generation of women." These included:

   Mary Church Terrell, a black champion for women's rights, said she belonged to "the only group that has two such huge obstacles to surmount." 

   Ida B. Wells helped found the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and crusaded against lynching, disenfranchisement, etc.

   Zikola-Sa of the Lakota nation, an essayist, founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926 to advocate for cultural recognition and citizenship rights for Native peoples.

   Lucy Burns was arrested and jailed six times for picketing on behalf of women's suffrage. She was among those on hunger strikes, enduring force-feeding.

   As a child, Mary McLeod Bethune picked cotton. As an adult, she was an educator and a fierce advocate for racial and gender equality, braving attacks during voter registration drives. 

   Tomorrow, we post some numbers, and discuss the special women advancing in politics. We wonder whether they are much different than the men with whom they collude. 
  

Smithsonian

      Jimmy