Events - Month View

Black History Month is celebrated in the United States and Canada each February. Black History Month traces its origins to Negro History Week which was first created in 1926 with the week chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12th) and Frederick Douglass (February 14th). An annual monthlong celebration of black history was later proposed by students and educators at Kent State University in 1969, and adopted one year later. By the mid-1970s, Black History Month was celebrated across the United States and officially recognized by US President Gerald Ford in 1976. Originally intended to celebrate black history and culture in the United States, Black History Month has since spread to Canada, as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands, where it is celebrated in October.

The LWVSA presence at naturalization ceremonies is a wonderful opportunity to welcome new citizens. The citizenship oath will be administered by a federal judge to approximately 300 applicants. Volunteers will hand out welcome letters from LWVSA and direct new citizens to turn in their voter registrations to Bexar County Elections staff on site.

#OnThisDay in 1870, the 15th Amendment, which granted black men the right to vote, was ratified. Unfortunately, Southern states continued to disenfranchise black voters through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, threats of physical harm, etc. Therefore, the promise of the 15th Amendment was not fully realized until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965--almost a century later.

The amendment was passed (proposed) by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870.

Learn more:

-- National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27

-- LOC: http://www.loc.gov/rr//program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html

-- Teaching resources: https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/elections/voting-rights-african-americans.html

Be a part of LWVSA Voter Outreach at the Pearl to assist voters in voter registration and voter education.

Be a part of LWVSA Voter Outreach at the Pearl to assist voters in voter registration and voter education.

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Juanita Jewel Craft. Juanita and Lulu Belle White of Houston organized 182 branches of the NAACP in Texas over a period of eleven years. Following the Smith v. Allwright ruling, in 1944 Juanita became the first black woman in Dallas County to vote in the Democratic Party primary. In 1946, she was the first black woman deputized in the state to collect the poll tax. Juanita was also a member of the League of Women Voters of Texas.


The Smith v. Allwright U.S. case ended the white primary.

Learn More:
-- http://www.juanitacrafthouse.org/
-- TSHA: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcr59
-- TxPolProject - Smith v. Allwright: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/vce/features/0503_01/smith.html

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Lawrence Aaron Nixon. Lawrence...

The Smith v. Allwright case ended the white primary, which suppressed the Black vote.

Learn More:
-- @TSHA: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fni10
-- @TxPolProject - White Primary: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/vce/features/0503_01/smith.html

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Adella Hunt Logan.

Learn more:
-- Hidden Figures: https://www.brandywine.org/museum/hidden-figures-suffrage-movement

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Nellie May Quande. “In 1913, Nellie Quander, president of the nation‘s oldest Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, wrote to Alice Paul, chair for a major upcoming Washington, D.C., parade, planned to attract national attention for the cause on the day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. "We do not wish to enter if we must meet with discrimination on account of race affiliation," Quander wrote. "Can you assign us to a desirable place in the college women‘s section?”

Learn more:

-- LOC: https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/new-tactics-for-a-new-generation-1890-1915/new-tactics-and-renewed-confrontation/howard-university-sorority-seeks-assurances-of-nondiscrimination

-- Smithsonian: https://womenshistory.si.edu/news/2020/08/19suffragestories-countdown-stories-14-10

-- Facing History:

https://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/suffrage-and-sisterhood-the-origins-and-impact-of-black-sororities

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Fannie Barrier Williams. Fannie was an educator, political activist, and women’s rights advocate. In 1907, she was the only Black woman to eulogize Susan B. Anthony at the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) convention. Also, she helped found the NAACP in 1909.
Learn more:

-- BlackPast: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/williams-fannie-barrier-1855-1944/

-- ISU: https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/frances-barrier-williams/

-- RRLC: https://rrlc.org/winningthevote/biographies/fannie-barrier-williams/

-- SPC: https://www.splcenter.org/news/2019/06/01/weekend-read-challenging-whitewashed-history-womens-suffrage/

-- LOC: https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/more-to-the-movement/fannie-barrier-williams/

#OnThisDay in 1909, the NAACP was founded. The NAACP is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation.

Mission: To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.

Learn more:

-- NAACP: https://naacp.org/nations-premier-civil-rights-organization/

-- TSHA: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colored-people

-- UW: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/NAACP_intro.shtml

#OnThisDay in 1920, the League of Women Voters was founded. Carrie Chapman Catt shared the following about the founding: "Is the (League) political? Certainly, but not partisan. Its members are as free as other women to join and vote with the party of their choice. They make no pledge otherwise in joining the League."

Mission: Empowering voters. Defending democracy.

Learn more: https://www.lwv.org/league-women-voters-through-decades

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Charlotta Spears Bass, who was born on this day in 1874. Charlotta was an educator, newspaper publisher, civil-rights and voting-rights activist. She was also the first Black woman to own and operate a newspaper in the United States and the first Black woman nominated for Vice President.

Learn more:
-- NPS: https://www.nps.gov/people/charlottabass.htm
-- Black Past; https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/bass-charlotta-1879-1969/
-- South California Library: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf6c60052d/

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Anna Howard Shaw.

Learn more:
-- PBS: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vote-part-1-3kph5d/ (1 hr in)

Join us in celebrating the birthday of Susan B. Anthony (1st generation suffragists). She was born in 1820. Susan was a co-founder of the National Woman Suffrage Associate (NWSA), which would later merge with the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890. After the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the NAWSA evolved into the League of Women Voters (LWV) in 1920.

**Susan died in 1906, 14 years before women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. **
Learn more:

-- NWHM: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/susan-b-anthony

-- @susanbhouse: https://susanb.org/her-life/

-- LOC: https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbnawsa.n8361/?sp=7 (p. 7)

-- Seneca Falls Convention:

Multiple small groups of new citizens will meet every 20 minutes over the course of several until approximately 500 to 525 immigrants take the citizenship oath. Volunteers will hand out welcome letters prior to each ceremony. VDRs will offer voter registration when those new citizens exit the building.

#OnThisDay in 1929, LULAC was founded. LULAC is the oldest and largest continuously active Latino political association in the US.

Mission: To advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States.

Learn more: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wel01

Be a part of LWVSA Voter Outreach at the Pearl to assist voters in voter registration and voter education.

Be a part of LWVSA Voter Outreach at the Pearl to assist voters in voter registration and voter education.

Join us commemorating the life of Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895)."Frederick was one of the few men present at the woman‘s rights convention held at Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848.

Learn more:

-- Blackpast: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1888-frederick-douglass-woman-suffrage/

-- Smithsonian: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hidden-history-anna-murray-douglass-180968324/

#BHM

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird). "Zitkala-Ša joined the Society of American Indians, a group founded in 1911 with the purpose of preserving traditional Native American culture while also lobbying for full American citizenship."

Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/people/zitkala-sa.htm

Photo: https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.79.26?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_q%3DZitkala%2520Sa

Join us in commemorating the birthday of Rosalie Gardiner Jones. In December of 1912, over 200 women joined Rosalie for parts of a 140-mile march from New York City to Albany to support women‘s suffrage. During the march, the women stopped to hold open-air meetings and distribute pamphlets in communities along the way.

Learn More:

-- PBS Doc: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vote-part-1-3kph5d/ (1 hr 16 mins in)

-- New York Heritage: https://nyheritage.org/exhibits/recognizing-womens-right-vote/%E2%80%9Cgeneral%E2%80%9D-rosalie-jones-and-suffrage-hikes

-- NPS: https://www.nps.gov/people/dr-general-rosalie-jones.htm

The LWVSA presence at naturalization ceremonies is a wonderful opportunity to welcome new citizens. The citizenship oath will be administered by a federal judge at two ceremonies to approximately 200 applicants at each. Volunteers will hand out welcome letters from LWVSA and direct new citizens to turn in their voter registrations to Bexar County Elections staff on site.

#OnThisDay in 1869, Congress passed (proposed) the 15th Amendment, which granted Black male citizens the right to vote.“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The amendment was passed (proposed) by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870.

Learn more:

-- National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27

-- LOC: http://www.loc.gov/rr//program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html
-- Teaching resources: https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/elections/voting-rights-african-americans.html