Mackenzie Reynolds, a McGillicuddy Humanities Center fellow, spoke on Sept. 17 regarding her project “Separate But Not Equal: Black Women’s Exclusion from Maine and Louisiana Suffrage, 1900 to 1925.” Her project delves into a comparison of the controversy regarding enfranchisement in the early waves of feminism between two distinctly different states.
Reynolds boiled down the differences in the movement’s exclusion of Black women largely into implicit and explicit racism. While Maine has few archival mentions of Black women, little written evidence of outreach and deeply ingrained biases, Louisiana has records of direct written racism and outfront criticism of full female enfranchisement. According to Reynolds’ research, this can be attributed to the harsh differences of Maine and Louisiana’s histories with slavery and the proximity the two have to black populations.
Reynolds lived in both Louisiana and Maine, a large reason for the trajectory of this project and fuel for the clear passion that went into its portrayal. Kicking off this academic year’s presentations, Reynolds gave a thoughtful, well-researched and articulate synopsis of a complex project. Maine is often left out of important historical conversations in the US. Yet, Maine brings an important coalition to other “landmark” states as it shows how state history and demographic impacts social progress. A point to take out of Reynolds’ deep archival dive is that historical traumas are cyclical and not linear. New Orleans was one of the largest markets for trafficking enslaved Black people, and generational wealth still pumps through the veins of elite white Americans in Louisiana. 31% of Louisiana’s population is African American in comparison to Maine’s 1.4%; a point of reference for the attitude and approach to explicit/implicit racism. While Maine has little publication regarding Black women at this time, Louisiana had obscenities and slurs in large papers.
Her project opens a conversation surrounding the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA). While this association had branches in Maine and Louisiana, the states’ stark contrasts of history, demographic and culture demanded self-made organizations for advocacy. As these groups came to fruition, the concept of “the good suffragette” became apparent. “The good suffragette” was married, white and valuing polite society which once again excludes African American and indigenous women.
McGillicuddy fellows such as Reynolds are tasked with the prioritization of the humanities. All projects in their essence are aimed to cultivate the values of this discipline: critical thinking, ethical insight and social value. While the roots of Reynolds’ project lay in her major and minor, history and WGS, the entirety of it perfectly encapsulates the embedded capstones of a humanities assignment.
