Mary McLeod Bethune Statue in the U.S. Capitol is an Important Commemoration of Black Women’s Political Activism in the Federal Government

On October 12, 2021, a six-foot statue of educator and activist, Mary McLeod Bethune was unveiled in Daytona Beach, Florida. In early 2022, the statue will be moved to the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall, a site comprised of statues donated by individual states to honor those notable to that state’s history. Bethune will become the first African American to have a state-commissioned statue in the hall and she will replace …

How the State Deploys “Know-Your-Place” Violence against Black Families in their Homes

Image Credit: Bellew, Frank, Artist. Visit of the Ku-Klux / drawn by Frank Bellew. , 1872. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2001695506/. Ever since police officers in the narcotics unit of the Louisville Metro Police Department killed  Breonna Taylor as she slept in her own home, I’ve been thinking about night riders in the nineteenth century, and finding disturbing parallels with SWAT and narcotics units in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Somehow these modern-day police entities are doing …

2020 ABWH Prizes

The Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH) is pleased to announce the 2020 Letitia Woods Brown prizes for the best book, anthology, and article in African American women’s history.  The Woods Brown prizes are awarded annually by ABWH. 2020 Letitia Woods Brown Book Prize for the best book or anthology in African American Women’s History The competition is open to all books, anthologies, and articles concerning African American women’s history published between June …

By Remembering Our Sisters, We Challenge Police Violence Against Black Women and Legacies that Eclipse these Injustices.

In the years since Aiyana’s untimely death, the number of black women and girls either killed by police or who have died in police custody has grown to include: Tanisha Anderson, Yvette Smith, Rekia Boyd, Natasha McKenna, Sandra Bland, Kindra Chapman, Kimberlee Randall-King, Joyce Curnell, Ralkina Jones, Raynette Turner, Kayla Moore, Gynnya McMillen, and Korryn Gaines.

ABWH-TV Discusses The Clark Sisters movie Thursday, 5/7 at 3 EST

Our thoughts are with those affected by COVID-19 in the U.S. and around the globe. We pray that this email finds you and your families safe. We would be honored if you would join us for another exciting premiere of ABWH-TV on Thursday, May 7 at 2 CST/3 EST. In Episode 3, we present our panel of experts discussing the Lifetime original movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel. …

Searching for Mildred Louise Johnson: Harlem’s First Private School Proprietor and Advocate of Progressive Education

New York City’s Ethical Culture Fieldston School used a photo of an African American woman instructing one of the school’s students during the early 1930s as part of a “centennial narrative on inclusion.” Use of the image, taken by photographer Lewis Hine, gave the impression that the school had an African American teacher on staff. The teacher, Mildred Louise Johnson, was a student in their Teacher Training Department (TTD). Prior …