The Right to Vote: Part 1 The Early Republic through the Civil War Who could vote in the founding and Jacksonian eras? Scroll through to view the exhibition (above). Recorded readings of select components in the exhibition are available by clicking “unmute background audio” when prompted. The Right to Vote Resource Suite Essays Read scholarly perspectives on the history of voting rights through essays geared to high school students Read Essays Lesson Plans Learn how individuals and groups attempted to expand access to the vote in "Taking a Stand for Voting Rights: Six...

The Right to Vote: Part 2 Reconstruction and the Jim Crow Era How did access to the vote evolve during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras? Scroll through to view the exhibition (above). Recorded readings of select components in the exhibition are available by clicking “unmute background audio” when prompted. The Right to Vote Resource Suite Essays Read scholarly perspectives on the history of voting rights through essays geared to high school students Read Essays Lesson Plans Learn how individuals and groups attempted to expand access to the vote in "Taking a Stand...

The Right to Vote: Part 3 Women's Suffrage What was the path to the Nineteenth Amendment? Scroll through to view the exhibition (above). Recorded readings of select components in the exhibition are available by clicking “unmute background audio” when prompted. The Right to Vote Resource Suite Essays Read scholarly perspectives on the history of voting rights through essays geared to high school students Read Essays Lesson Plans Learn how individuals and groups attempted to expand access to the vote in "Taking a Stand for Voting Rights: Six States, Six Stories, One Goal....

The Right to Vote: Part 4 The Civil Rights Era to the 2000s How has access to the vote expanded and contracted over the past sixty years? Scroll through to view the exhibition (above). Recorded readings of select components in the exhibition are available by clicking “unmute background audio” when prompted. The Right to Vote Resource Suite Essays Read scholarly perspectives on the history of voting rights through essays geared to high school students Read Essays Lesson Plans Learn how individuals and groups attempted to expand access to the vote in "Taking a Stand for...

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Margaret Corbin Revolutionary War Margaret “Molly” Corbin was the first woman in the United States to earn a military pension, based on her service at the Battle of Fort Washington. Image Source: Herbert Knotel, Twentieth-century sketch representing Margaret Corbin, 1955, West Point Museum Art Collection Margaret Corbin’s Biography Revolutionary War Veterans Margaret Corbin Cuffee Saunders Henry Knox All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Cuffee Saunders Revolutionary War Born into slavery, Cuffee Saunders secured his freedom by serving during the Revolutionary War. Image Source: Benjamin Huntington, Oath certifying Cuffee Saunders's purchase of freedom, 1821, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC00318 Cuffee Saunders’s Biography Primary Source: Oath certifying Cuffee Saunders’s freedom This document is composed of two oaths attesting to Cuffee Saunders’s freedom. At the time, Saunders was still registered with the enslaved name of Wells. aria-labelledby="par-1830-figcaption" > Benjamin Huntington, [Oath...

Henry Knox Revolutionary War Henry Knox rose through the ranks during the American Revolution to become chief of artillery in George Washington’s army. Image Source: Gilbert Stuart, Oil painting of Henry Knox, 1806, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston Henry Knox’s Biography Primary Source: Henry Knox to his wife, Lucy Knox In this July 8, 1776, letter to his wife, Lucy, Henry Knox wrote from New York City that “the eyes of all America are upon us” after the landing of “the enemy . . . on Staten Island.” aria-labelledby="par-1863-figcaption" > Henry Knox in New York City...

Federico Fernández Cavada Civil War Cuban-born Federico Fernández Cavada served in the Union Army during the Civil War as an engineer and topographer with the Balloon Corps, sketching Confederate forces from the air. Image Source: Mathew B. Brady, View of Professor Thaddeus Lowe and staff inflating reconnaissance balloon, ca. 1862, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC05111.02.1345 Federico Fernández Cavada’s Biography Primary Source: “Sketch of Virginia, and the Rebel Camps and Batteries” Col. William F. Small, a member of the 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, drew this...

Pauline Cushman Civil War Pauline Cushman served as a spy for the Union Army and is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery. She was an actress who used her skills to gather intelligence for the Union Army. Image Source: Mathew Brady Studio, Photograph of Pauline Cushman in uniform, ca. 1860-1870, National Portait Gallery Pauline Cushman’s Biography Civil War Veterans Federico Fernández Cavada Pauline Cushman Edward Day Cohota All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Edward Day Cohota Civil War Edward Day Cohota served in the Union Army for thirty years and was one of approximately 300 Asians and Pacific Islanders who fought in the Civil War. Image Source: Photograph of Edward Day Cohota, ca. 1880-1890, Cape Ann Museum Edward Day Cohota’s Biography Civil War Veterans Federico Fernández Cavada Pauline Cushman Edward Day Cohota All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Louis Santop Loftin World War I Louis Santop Loftin, Hall of Fame baseball player and WWI Veteran, is buried at the Philadelphia National Cemetery. Loftin played baseball in the Negro Leagues from 1909 to 1926 and was one of the league’s first star players. Image Source: Photograph of Louis Santop, ca. 1920-1930, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Louis Santop Loftin’s Biography Where did Louis Santop Loftin play baseball? During his seventeen-year career, Louis Santop Loftin played for nine different baseball teams (some of them more than once). This interactive...

Ella Osborn World War I Ella Jane Osborn, a nurse deployed to France during World War I, is buried at Wainscott Cemetery in New York. She kept a remarkable diary in 1918 and 1919 that captured her experiences during the war. Image Source: Ella Jane Osborn, View of a page in the diary of World War I army nurse Ella Jane Osborn, ca. 1918-1919, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC06570 Ella Osborn’s Biography Primary Source: Ella Osborn’s Diary Osborn kept a diary from January 1918 through April 1919 that offers unique and humanizing insight into the lives of World War I Service...

James Reese Europe World War I James Reese Europe, a bandleader in New York City, was an advocate for uniquely Black music. Europe enlisted during World War I and became a lieutenant in the 369th Regiment, known as the Harlem Hellfighters. Image Source: R. E. Mercer, Photograph of James Reese Europe’s Clef Club Band, 1914, New York Public Library James Reese Europe’s Biography World War I Veterans Louis Santop Loftin Ella Osborn James Reese Europe All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama World War II Yeiichi Kuwayama served as a platoon medic in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed of Japanese Americans. His unit fought in some of the fiercest World War II battles in Italy and France. Image Source: Photograph of Kuwayama presenting President Truman with a donation contributed by members of the 442nd for a memorial to President Roosevelt, 1945, Library of Congress Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War...

Joe Morris Sr. World War II Joe Morris Sr. was one of four hundred “code talkers” who memorized a code that substituted traditional Navajo words for military phrases. The contributions of the Navajo code talkers were classified until 1968. Image Source: Photograph of Joe Morris giving a talk at Travis Air Force Base, 2008, US Air Force Joe Morris Sr.’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Annie Fox World War II Annie Fox was Station Hospital’s chief nurse during the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawai'i. On October 26, 1942, Fox became the first woman in America to be awarded the Purple Heart for her heroism during the attack. Image Source: United States Public Health Service Division of Nurse Education and Jon Whitcomb, Poster urging women to "Be a Cadet Nurse," 1944, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC09520.04 Annie Fox’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War...

John W. Rogers Sr. World War II In World War II, John W. Rogers was one of the original twenty-eight Black airmen recruited to the 99th Pursuit Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Rogers flew more than 120 missions in Europe. Image Source: Photograph of Airman John W. Rogers in front of a plane, ca. 1941-1945, Chanute Air Museum John W. Rogers Sr.’s Biography World War II Veterans Yeiichi “Kelly” Kuwayama Joe Morris Sr. Annie Fox John W. Rogers Sr. All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Walter Schirra Jr. Cold War After completing ninety combat missions during the Korean War, Walter Schirra Jr. was named one of seven test pilots for NASA’s Project Mercury. Image Source: Yvette Smith, Photograph of Walter Schirra emerging from the Gemini VI capsule, 1965, NASA Walter Schirra Jr.’s Biography Cold War Veterans Walter Schirra Jr. Perry Watkins Grace Murray Hopper All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Perry Watkins Cold War Perry Watkins served fifteen years in the Army as an openly gay man. Despite this, in 1980, the Army revoked his security clearance and had him discharged because he was gay, a discharge he successfully fought in court. Image Source: Lina Pallotta, Photograph of Perry Watkins (left) and Miriam Ben-Shalom at a rally in Washington, D.C., 1993, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Perry Watkins’s Biography Primary Source Excerpts In 1980, the Army revoked Watkins’s security clearance...

Grace Murray Hopper Cold War Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper was a naval computer scientist who held the rank of rear admiral when she retired in 1985. Image Source: Lynn Gilbert, Photograph of Grace Murray Hopper in her office in Washington, DC, 1978, Private Collection Grace Murray Hopper’s Biography Cold War Veterans Walter Schirra Jr. Perry Watkins Grace Murray Hopper All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

Alan G. Rogers Iraq & Afghanistan Alan G. Rogers served in the Army during the Gulf and Iraq Wars. For his master’s thesis in policy management from Georgetown, Rogers wrote about the effect of the US military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on military recruiting and retention rates. Image Source: Photograph of Major Alan G. Rogers in Iraq, 2017, National Museum of the United States Army Alan G. Rogers’s Biography Iraq and Afghanistan Alan G. Rogers Jose Angel Garibay Ashley White-Stumpf All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War...

Jose Angel Garibay Iraq & Afghanistan In 1979, Simona Garibay and her youngest son, Jose Angel Garibay, came to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico. After his death in Iraq, the US government awarded Cpl. Jose Garibay posthumous citizenship. Image Source: Leonard Ortiz, Photograph of Simona Garibay holds a banner honoring her son, US Marine Cpl. Jose Angel Garibay, 2013, Getty Images Jose Angel Garibay’s Biography Iraq and Afghanistan Alan G. Rogers Jose Angel Garibay Ashley White-Stumpf All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War...

Ashley White-Stumpf Iraq & Afghanistan Ashley White-Stumpf served in the Army during the Afghanistan War. She was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for her service. Image Source: Photograph of the unveiling ceremony for Ashley White-Stumpf’s memorial at Goldsboro National Guard Armory, 2013, U.S. Army Ashley White-Stumpf’s Biography Iraq and Afghanistan Alan G. Rogers Jose Angel Garibay Ashley White-Stumpf All Conflicts Revolutionary War Civil War World War I World War II Cold War Iraq & Afghanistan

African American Voting Rights from The Gilder Lehrman Institute on Vimeo.

Born to Harriet Bailey, an enslaved woman in Maryland in February 1818, Douglass lived twenty years as a slave and nearly nine years as a fugitive. From the 1840s to his death in 1895, he attained international fame as an abolitionist, reformer, orator of almost unparalleled stature, and author of three classic autobiographies.