A Content Analysis of Depictions of Elizabeth Jennings in Historical Biographies

• In Event: Critical Conversations About Identity and Equity in History Education

Abstract

In 1854, Elizabeth Jennings was forcibly ejected from a streetcar in Manhattan due to her race. She sued the Third Avenue Railway Company and hired future president Chester A. Arthur as her lawyer. Arthur argued that the company violated her common carrier rights to ride on public conveyances. Jennings won, and her case set an important legal precedent to challenge racial discrimination. Although scholarly attention has grown about Jennings’ streetcar ejection, there is a lack of research on her intersectionality. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate depictions of Jennings in biographies in order to highlight her life as a woman of color, and to advocate for intersectionality studies in the social studies curriculum.

Author

• Katherine Perrotta, Mercer University