The GKCBWSC vows to enshrine the lives of those who dedicated themselves to a just cause, to illuminate the dynamic history of local suffrage and the fight for women’s rights, and to inspire our community to continue to protect the right of all people to vote.
In 2020, Kansas City celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Ratified in 1920, it stated, “The right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” Although this protected women’s right to vote, Jim Crow-era restrictions prevented women of color from fully taking part in elections until the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
At the 19th Amendment commemorations, participants noted this contradiction and asked about Black suffragists in KC. The Greater Kansas City Black Women Suffragists Committee (GKCBWSC) was formed to highlight women of color’s suffrage efforts, identify local Black women activists who contributed to the suffrage fight, and honor their efforts artistically.
The project identified eight KC-area women involved in activism related to suffrage—Anna Jones, Josephine Yates, Minnie Crosthwaite, Myrtle Cook, Fredericka Douglass Perry, Carrie Langston Clark, Mamie Dillard, and Ida Bowman Becks. The committee will honor these women at a meditative pocket park located at the Black Archives in the 19th and Vine District. The park will feature a monument that provokes reflection and educational panels about the history of suffrage and the Black Women Suffragists who helped secure the vote.
The KCMC grant is supporting the current construction of the pocket park, but the committee is still raising funds for the monument. To donate, send your contribution to the Black Archives of Mid-America. Include a note specifying that your donation is for the GKCBWSC monument project.
Photos provided by the Greater Kansas City Black Women Suffragist Committee