“A Delicate Balance: African American Women and Suffrage in Knoxville”
KNOXVILLE, TN (September 2021) – National celebrations of the 2020 centennial anniversary of women gaining the right to vote were sidelined by an ongoing international pandemic.
This year, the East Tennessee History Center is taking extra precautions by offering a Brown Bag lecture with options to participate in-person, online and Facebook live.
The topic, African American Women and Suffrage in Knoxville will be led by Ashley Farrington on Wednesday, September 22, at 12 noon.
Nationally, Black women used the African American club movement and their experiences in benevolent societies to advocate for woman suffrage. However, a thriving club movement did not always lead to suffrage activities, as appears to have been the case in Knoxville.
Join historian Ashley Farrington for a discussion of the African American suffrage movement broadly and her research into how unique race relations in Knoxville perhaps contributed to a more delicately balanced local effort.
Historians rely on evidence from the past to build a better understanding and interpretation of the past. Do you know of stories related to the African American suffrage movement in East Tennessee? You are encouraged to join the conversation and share your knowledge and/or artifacts.
IN-PERSON: Register HERE for at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 South Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902 (Seating is limited.)
ONLINE: Visit the ETHS Facebook page at the start of the program to watch this on Facebook Live.
ZOOM: Register HERE
Ashley Farrington holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Furman University and a master’s degree in history from Pittsburg State University. She has taught high school integrated humanities, dual-enrollment United States history, and is currently a librarian at Christian Academy of Knoxville.
The Brown Bag Lectures is a hybrid series of programs and lectures sponsored by the Albers Family Foundation in memory of Harriet Z. Albers. The East Tennessee Historical Society is privileged to share regional history with our members and the public.
For more information visit The East Tennessee History Society at 601 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville; Website at easttnhistory.org; Email, eths@easttnhistory.org; or phone, 865-215-8830.