Author Archives: Mary Frances Berry

The future of civil rights is up to the Supreme Court

A single court seat can change the landscape of our liberties—and this election could determine four.

When 95-year-old Rosanell Eaton first registered to vote in the Jim Crow South, she was forced to pass a written literacy test and recite the preamble of the Constitution from memory. Seven decades after becoming one of the first African American voters in her county, Eaton once again found herself facing obstacles undermining her access to the franchise. Continue reading