Jim Crow Capital

“Jim Crow Capital is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature on the black freedom movement and black Washington’s lives and labors in the early twentieth century. Murphy’s well-researched book reaffirms and expands our knowledge of the sacrifices, ingenuity, and activism of African American women who paved the way and shaped the second Reconstruction.”—Journal of Southern History

“Murphy’s work intervenes skillfully in a historiography of Washington, DC. . . . [Her] book delivers a compelling argument that makes clear connections between the tactics [of] the women of Washington, DC, and their influence on the national movement while also preserving the distinctiveness of the city and the particular advantages and disadvantages that politically minded women had to face as they navigated the nation’s capital.”—Journal of African American History

“In Jim Crow Capital, Murphy fuses social history’s fine-grained examinations with political history’s grand narratives. . . . Murphy’s careful mining of archival sources and black newspapers reveal the sometimes-surprising lobbying work of black women activists and their innovative direct-action strategies.”—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“Murphy’s excellent book makes a valuable contribution to the history of the black freedom struggle. Through meticulous research, she deepens our understanding of the strategies that African American women employed to mobilize against racism locally and nationally.” — Lisa G. Materson, University of California, Davis

“The history of African American women’s political organizing in interwar Washington, D.C., is important, and Murphy’s work lifts up black women’s persistence, ingenuity, and courage for us all to learn from and celebrate. The author’s argument is fascinating, and her focus on police brutality is timely and revelatory. Washington, D.C., can, as the author implies, serve as both a key example and a progenitor of black women’s political activism before the postwar civil rights movement.” — Eric S. Yellin, University of Richmond

“Mary-Elizabeth Murphy’s nuanced, ground-breaking study shines light on the oft-overlooked roles that black women played in Washington, D.C.’s early twentieth century freedom struggles. Murphy shows how black women in the nation’s capital, despite lacking the ballot, waged local and national campaigns for political rights, economic justice, and an end to race-based violence. This book is an invaluable and long overdue contribution to the burgeoning field of D.C. history.” — Chris Myers Asch, co-author of Chocolate City: Race & Democracy in the Nation’s Capital