GCDP Book Club: The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters

On February 14, 2020, the League of Women Voters of the United States celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. Although women of color have always made significant contributions to women's suffrage and the women's movements, their contributions, particularly as they relate to the League of Women Voters (LWV), have been marginalized and relegated to the footnotes of the organization's history. The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters adds a new dimension to these conversations.

The book is structured to show the progression of the relationship between the League of Women Voters and its members of color as manifested in changes to its policies, practices, symbols, and messaging. It begins with the suffrage movement and continues until the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the League and uses actual correspondence, convention minutes, existing League histories, and personal accounts to tell the League story. Chapter titles disclose the philosophical shifts in attitude at each stage of the organization's evolution.

"Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins shows that no institution in the U.S. – not even an "every woman's organization" like the League of Women Voters – is immune to the complicated history of race. By sharing the untold stories of women of color who have shaped the organization, including the unvarnished truth about their experiences, she helps point the way toward a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive League of Women Voters and society. At the centennial of the 19th amendment, by reckoning with the difficult past, we can forge a better future for all of us, together."

-Beth Pitton-August, Executive Producer, Just The Beginning: A Century of Women's Political Power©

Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, PhD, is adjunct assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.