'Reclaiming Democracy: A History of Voter Disenfranchisement and the Future of Voter Empowerment' with ASU History Alumna, Terry Anne Scott, Director of the Institute for Common Power

In this talk, Terry Anne Scott will explore the history of voting rights for African Americans, the group that has historically faced the most discernible and pernicious obstacles to voting in the country. Her newest anthology works to exam this history through essays, primary sources, literature, photography, and more. It tells the story of how their struggles created change for many other groups in America. Scott will also discuss voting challenges today as racially neutral laws threaten to reverse hard won progress.

This lecture is presented by the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies as part of Humanities Week hosted by The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

About the speaker

Terry Anne Scott, PhD is an award-winning historian, author, and speaker. She is the Director of the Institute for Common Power, an educational 501(c)3 branch of Common Power. Scott is a former Professor of African American History and Chair of the Department of History at Hood College. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Sports History and a member of the Editorial Staff for the Journal of American History. 

Scott earned her doctorate in history from the University of Chicago. She was awarded a fellowship from the University’s Board of Trustees. She received a master’s degree with distinction from Southern Methodist University and her undergraduate degree in history from Arizona State University. 

Scott left her tenured position as an Associate Professor to become the Director of the Institute for Common Power in 2022. During her time at Hood College, she received numerous awards, including the college’s highest commendation for professors—the Excellence in Teaching Award. Scott has also taught at other universities, including the University of Maryland and the University of Washington, where she was nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Award and received the Outstanding University of Washington Woman Award. 

Scott’s research interests focus largely on urban history, the intersection of sports and race, African American social and cultural history, and political and social movements. She is the author of several books, including Lynching and Leisure: Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas (winner of the 2022 Ottis Lock Endowment Best Book Award) and the forthcoming authorized biography "From Bed-Stuy to the Hall of Fame: The Unexpected Life of Lenny Wilkens". She is also the editor of Seattle Sports: Play, Identity, and Pursuit in the Emerald City and the forthcoming anthology Reclaiming Democracy: A History of Voter Suppression and a Handbook for Voting Justice. Her latest essays include “The 1968 Black Power Image and the Mexico City Olympics” which appears in "Sports through the Lens: Essays on 25 Iconic Photographs" (University of Texas Press, 2025). 

Scott regularly lectures about race, sports, social movements, and voting rights at venues across the country. Additionally, she is frequently featured on regional and national media programs. Scott is a featured historian in several episodes of the History Channel’s I Was There. She is also in the critically acclaimed documentary Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day which received a 2022 NAACP Image Award, a 2022 Peabody nomination, and was short-listed for an Academy Award. Scott is also featured in acclaimed documentarian Stanley Nelson’s 2023 documentary, Sound of the Police. 

Scott has worked on several public history projects throughout her career. Contracted by the Texas Department of Transportation, Scott was a member of a small group of historians who chronicled the history of an excavated, post-emancipation era, African American cemetery (Freedman’s Cemetery) and the surrounding community in Dallas, Texas. The team used the findings to create an expansive report, elementary school curriculum, and a museum exhibit. Scott also chronicled the history of the first African American public housing project in Dallas for the Dallas Housing Authority. While at Hood College, Scott established a program that taught students how to process the archival collections held by African American Resources, Cultural Heritage Society of Frederick County (AARCH). Scott was a key consultant on a permanent exhibit about lynching in Maryland at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also a lead curator of an exhibit on voting rights on display at the Legacy Building in Selma, Alabama.