The Department of History at CU Boulder, with support from the Center for Humanities and the Arts, presents the 33rd Athearn Lecture in the History of the American West. This year’s lecture will be by Dr. Cathleen Cahill, a Professor of History at Penn State University, author of  Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).

Lecture title: Is New Mexico Going to Line Up with Texas?'  Women, Race, and Voting Rights in the Era of the Nineteenth Ammendment

Both before and after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the political experiences of women differed dramatically based on their citizenship, which was closely intertwined with their racial and ethnic identities. Although often overlooked in historical discussions about women's voting after 1920, the American West - where Native, Black, Latina, Asian American, and Anglo women all engaged in suffrage activism - is an important region in which to contemplate the diversity of women's political participation. With a particular focus on New Mexico, this lecture explores how the intersections of religion, language, citizenship, and marital status all impacted women’s efforts to cast ballots, run for office, and shape politics in the era of the Nineteenth Amendment. 

RECEPTION TO FOLLOW

Event Contact: Paul.Sutter@colorado.edu