Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All

An essential history of African American women’s pursuit of political power—and how it transformed America

“Elegant and expansive.” —New York Times

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History

Named a Best Book of the Year by Ms. • Time • Foreign Affairs • Smithsonian

In Vanguard, acclaimed historian Martha S. Jones offers a new history of African American women’s political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they...