Silenced Warriors: African American Women in the North during the Civil Rights Movement
In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other influential Civil Rights Movement (CRM) leaders were honored at the March on Washington. As Dr. King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, Gloria Richardson Dandridge, leader of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC), was being silenced (Allen, 1996). Female activists, like Dandridge, Dr. Pauli Murray, and others were held in the background due to their gender. Years later, there is still little known about these important women. Due to this gap in the research, this paper focuses on African American women activists during the modern CRM, specifically in the North. Through archival research, this study examines the role of ordinary women in community-based movements. Also, this paper explains how the patriarchy of both the CRM and the media have kept the victories of these women silenced. These forgotten stories not only help to complete the narrative of the CRM but also finally give voice to these silenced warriors.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
History
Research Advisor:
James D. Anderson
Department of Research Advisor:
Educational Policy Studies
Year of Publication:
2007