Old Women, Race, and Power

While most Americans have heard of Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman, they may not realize that these women lived into their eighties and described their later years as filled with pleasure, happiness, and sustained activism. Too often, when we picture women’s freedom and empowerment, young women come to mind. This conference seeks to shift the frame to consider the history of old women, race, and power in the Atlantic World from the 17th century to the present.

In the American context, older women, especially women of color, have long been the bulwarks of democracy – demanding that laws and lawmakers uphold our Constitutional ideals, registering voters, working the polls, building the institutions and infrastructures that sustain democracy. Immigrants adapted traditions to new contexts as they grew old and indigenous elders created the future by applying the wisdom of the past. Older people in queer communities have innovated new possibilities for elder care beyond private families and for-profit institutions. Scholars have not yet paid sustained attention to the history and power of older women. Our goal for this two-day conference is to bring together a diverse cadre of interdisciplinary scholars whose work interrogates gendered conceptions of aging and centers the experiences of women from a broad range of racial, ethnic, class, and sexual backgrounds.

Funding provided by Anonymous and the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute. 

Key Details

• Conference registration is good for both days and includes general admission to The Huntington.
• Lunch reservations close on Feb. 20 at noon. A limited number of lunch tickets will be available for purchase at the conference.

For questions about this event, email researchconference@huntington.org or call (626) 405-3432.

Top image: Severance, Caroline M. Seymour (Caroline Maria Seymour), 1820-1914, The Mother of Clubs, 1830-1980, Caroline Maria Seymour Severance papers, 1830-1980 (bulk 1860-1914). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens