Anna (Annie) A. Clemmons, 1890 -1956.
Southport, North Carolina

There is evidence from her grave marker that Anna Clemmons had a daughter, but we have not discovered her name at this time. Anna Clemmons was a nurse who worked with Dr. J. Arthur Dosher in Southport, North Carolina.

She also volunteered during the 1918 flu pandemic and received a certificate for heroic services. She was determined to live in the freedom owed to every American, and decided to register to vote in 1920.

(Because of North Carolina's Jim-Jane crow laws, as well as laws the prohibited all women the right to vote, the Brunswick County registrar made sure she failed the tests and refused to allow her to vote.)

Ms. Clemons wrote letters to the National Women’s Party (NWP) in Washington, D.C, the result of which was that they were unable to help her. At that point she became a suffragette and worked to gain the right for women to vote.

These correspondences are in the archives of the National Women’s Party, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Library of Congress, and the Susie Carson Research Room at the Southport Historical Society.

Source: John Smith Cemetery, Southport, NC.
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Anna Clemons was 30 years old when the 19th amendment was passed giving white American women the right to vote.

It would be 45 years before the Civil Rights Movement protested and pushing for the Voting Rights Act in 1965, giving Black Americans the Right to Vote.
Anna Clemons didn't live to see this day, she died in 1956 at age 65.

On October 10, 1920 she wrote a letter to the National Women's Party (NWP) in Washington, DC, hoping they would help her be able to vote.

"I am an american colored woman property owner in Brunswick County State of North Carolina and I am seeking way to vote by mail if there is a way, because a colored person in my county is unable to vote, because they are colored. Please send me information how to send votes or register to general Headquarters by mail before it is too late to register.
am oblige.
(Miss) Anna A. Clemons"
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To read more about the correspondence between Anna A. Clemons and the NWP, click to the next image.