Print

Acknowledgments I want to acknowledge all who made this adventure possible. To those I know and those I may never know who supported and encouraged me. You have all sown a seed into my life so that I can do the same for the next generation. To my Washington, D.C.–based support team, Dr. Marilyn Sephocle, Melanie Campbell, Irene Natividad, Carla Bundy, Gracia Hillman, Wade Henderson, and Ellen Buchman, who provided cover, comfort, and counsel. To Dr. Dorothy Height, Marian Wright-Edelman, and C. Delores Tucker, who provided words of wisdom. To Dr. Josie R. Johnson for tak- ing the time to share her experiences as the first black national board member in the league with me. Patricia Sweet, former executive director of the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund who facili- tated my first publication One Man, One Vote: The History of the African- American Vote in the United States. To Mildred Madison and the Honorable Jean Murrell Capers, who served as my Cleveland League mentors and supporters. To the historians whose books introduced me to black women’s history and taught me about the influence of history on the present and future— particularly, the scholarly studies of Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. I am deeply indebted to the many historians and researchers at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Archives, as well as to the scores of librarians and archi- vists at the Library of Congress Manuscript Division who accommodated my endless requests for information in such a professional manner. A particular thanks to all of the local and state leagues who hosted me during my tenure as president and allowed me to share my vision of the league.