It Started Here: The Evolution of Voting Rights in New York State

Описание: We tend to think of voting rights in terms of the 15th Amendment (Race), the 19th Amendment (Women), and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But before each of these national laws were enacted, individual states determined who could vote. This mini-conference explores New York's history of voting rights from before the 15th amendment up to the most recent changes to accommodate the challenges of voting in 2020 in the midst of a pandemic.


Presenters:
Joan Kelley: New York State's Changing Definition of "Eligible Voter.”
Joan Kelley is currently the chair of the Archives Subcommittee at Historic Huguenot Street, archivist of Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, and the Town of Lloyd Historian.

Susan Lewis: Women’s Suffrage in New York State.
Susan Ingalls Lewis is Professor Emerita in History, as well as an affiliate faculty member of the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Department at SUNY New Paltz. Dr. Lewis has numerous publications to her name and is a Fellow of the New York Academy of History, and author of the blog, New York Rediscovered.

Ashley Dittus: Voting Rights in the 1960s
Ashley Dittus is the Democratic Elections Commissioner for the Ulster County Board of Elections.

Cynthia Bell: A Brief History of the League of Women Voters, Nationally and Locally.
Cynthia Bell is President of the The League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region.