Reconstruction, Citizenship, and Movement Building in the 19th Century

In this episode, our host, Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, an assistant professor of secondary social studies at West Virginia University, interviews historian Martha Jones of The John Hopkins University to deconstruct how we understand citizenship for Black Americans.

Jones moves from before the Civil War through Reconstruction to the present, tackling the evolution of voter suppression, and revealing the tenacity of white supremacy. She addresses Black women’s roles in organizing during the fight for women’s suffrage.

This episode addresses themes of our campaign to Teach Reconstruction and to teach about voting rights on this 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment — coinciding with one of the most important elections in U.S. history.

People's Historians online mini-series - Black Freedom Struggle.

Music from Rose City Kings from Free Music Archive.