PBS Documentary -citizen’s at last: Texas women fight for the vote-
Citizen’s At Last: Texas Women Fight for the Vote was Produced by Ellen Temple and Nancy Schiesari, and Directed by Nancy Schiesari first aired on PBS in 2021 and has since appeared on stations worldwide. The film is largely based on a forthcoming book by Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, and includes interview segments with historians including Teresa Palomo Acosta, Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, Don Carleton, Gabriela González, Rachel M. Gunter, Jacqueline Jones, Judith N. McArthur, and Merline Pitre. The broadcast length film can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/stream. An extended version, which aired on the home PBS station for the original release, can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/stream-extended.
Short biographical films each tell the brief story and suffrage connections of five texas women
Five short films Produced by Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, Ellen Temple, Nancy Schiesari, and Directed by Nancy Schiesari released in 2024. Each tells the story of a Texas woman and her connections and reasons for supporting woman suffrage and/or the long voting rights movement. As a set, they build on each other and the full length film Citizens At Last: Texas Women Fight for the Vote, to show the wide range of Texas women and their different life experiences which led them to advocate for a variety of voting rights reform.
The short film focused on Galvestonian, Delta Sigma Theta national founder, suffragist, NAACP leader and educator, Jessie McGuire Dent can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/jessie-dent.
The short film focused on Austin resident, internationally acclaimed sculptor, and suffragist, Elisabet Ney can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/elisabet-ney.
The short film focused on Texarkana resident, head of the Black Division of the Woman Christian Temperance Union, and suffragist, Eliza Eubanks Peterson can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/eliza-peterson.
The short film focused on Laredo native and later San Antonio resident, Mexican Revolutionary, journalist, educator, community leader, and suffragist, Jovita Idar can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/jovita-idar.
The short film focused on Houston resident, Texas and national NAACP leader, and voting rights activist, Lulu Belle Madison White can be accessed openly and without cost to viewers at https://www.citizensatlastfilm.com/lulu-white.
SUFFRAGE TRAVELLING EXHIBIT by humanities texas
Jessica Brannon-Wranosky served as exhibit author for the fully revised (2021) Humanities Texas travelling exhibit, Citizens At Last. The exhibition is based on Jessica’s forthcoming book and portions align with the broadcast and extended length film versions of Citizens At Last: Texas Women Fight For the Vote, as well as the five short films produced focused on the lives of five Texas suffragists and voting rights advocates. Exhibit Panel Topics Include: Texas Beginnings, Reconstruction, The Public Crusade, A State Association, Suffrage Society Plan, Transnational Networks, Anti-Suffrage Sentiment, The Winning Plan, Primary Suffrage, Segregated Suffrage, The Nineteenth Amendment, The Long Voting Rights Movement. The travelling exhibit can be reserved through Humanities Texas at https://www.humanitiestexas.org/exhibitions/list/by-title/citizens-last-woman-suffrage-movement-texas.
NPR’s Texas standard series -100 Years: Voices Of Women Voters-
“The summer of 1919 brought about a sea change in American politics. On June 4 of that year, Congress took the monumental step of granting women the right to vote by passing the 19th Amendment. It next went to the states for ratification. Although women in Texas had been voting in primaries for a year before the historic 1919 vote, June [2019 marked] the 100th anniversary that opened the door for women to vote nationwide. These are the stories of civic-minded Texas women who are changing our world today inspired by a fundamental right: the right to have one’s voice heard.” The series featured “Maxine Barkan: The Centenarian,” “Grace Chimene: An Original and President of the League of Women Voters of Texas,” “Cristina Tzintzun: The Game Changer,” “Alice Yi: The New Face Of Texas,” “Julieta Garibay: The [Modern] Suffragette,” “Senfronia Thompson: The Lawmaker,” “Trish Nicholson: The Great-Grand-Niece of Minnie Fisher Cunningham,” “Jessica Brannon-Wranosky: The Historian,” “Kay Bailey Hutchison: The Ambassador and Former U. S. Senator,” “Daria Vera: The Marcher,” “Ada Villafañe: The Activist,” and “Sheri Doss: An Original and First African American Woman President of the Texas Congress of Parents & Teachers (PTA).” The individual Texas Standard segments interviewing each can be accessed openly and without cost to listeners at https://www.texasstandard.org/100years/.
book -Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson-
In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson’s political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women’s enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Bruce A. Glasrud have brought together top scholars to shine a light on this unique chapter in Texas history. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. Kay Reed Arnold then follows the Ferguson story into the halls of academia at the University of Texas—which Ferguson threatened to close—sparking a fierce response by faculty, alumni, students, and, especially, the Women’s Committee for Good Government. Rachel M. Gunter further places the Ferguson impeachment in the context of the suffrage movement. Leah LaGrone Ochoa then explores Ferguson’s hot-and-cold relationship with the Texas press, and Mark Stanley examines the impact of the impeachment on Texas politics in the decades that followed. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Ferguson’s impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson reveals how power ebbed and flowed in twentieth-century Texas and includes several annotated primary documents critical to understanding the Ferguson impeachment. A copy of this book can be purchased from Texas A&M University Press at https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623495275/impeached/ or at most online and storefront booksellers.
Ebook -Texas Women and the Vote-
In 2019, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Texas ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which removed sex as a qualifier for voting, the Texas State Historical Association published an ebook, Texas Women and the Vote, edited by Jessica Brannon-Wranosky. A copy of the ebook that includes a introductory letter by the editor discussing the content and perspective of the book in connection to the changing views historians and the public had leading up to the centennial of both Texas ratificationin 1919 and the passage of the amendment in 1920, can be obtained for purchase through the TSHA website.
Jessica Brannon-Wranosky • Historian 