Description
Virginia Minor and her husband Francis may not be household names in US History but they united to wage a crucial battle in the struggle for women’s suffrage. Virginia was a smart and erudite activist while Francis was a lawyer who never met a cause he backed away from. The couple were born and raised in Virginia. Despite their both being raised on farms that employed slave labor, the couple abhorred the institution and became ardent abolitionists.
After their marriage in 1843, Francis eschewed the normal societal conventions and gave Virginia the rights to their property holdings. The couple made a home for themselves in the state of Missouri, where slavery divided the citizenry. When the Civil War began, both Virginia and Francis played their part in the Union effort. In the post-war period, Virginia became a member of various suffrage associations, and her road to a pivotal Supreme Court case was initiated.
America’s Forgotten Suffragists brilliantly shines a light on a true power couple who bravely took on the system that didn’t allow women a voice in government. Author Nicole Evelina has written a revelatory dual biography of an absorbing couple who wanted to change the nascent United States for the better.