Ezekiel Gillespie: Pioneer for African American Voting Rights in Wisconsin
In 1866, Milwaukeean Ezekiel Gillespie (1818-1892) sued for his right to vote in Wisconsin. At issue was a dispute over the results of an 1849 statewide referendum on black suffrage. Wisconsin’s Supreme Court found in Gillespie’s favor, declaring that African-American men had legally held the right to vote in Wisconsin since 1849; however, even after this ruling, local officials frequently disenfranchised African-American men at the polls until 1869, when the Wisconsin legislature ratified the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. African-American women finally gained the right to vote 1920, when the passage of the 19th Amendment extended the vote to all women. Learn more about the broader history of African Americans’ voting rights in the United States at your Milwaukee Public Library.
For more detailed histories of African American voting rights in Wisconsin or Ezekiel Gillespie, try the following, more detailed articles from the Wisconsin Magazine of History:
Current, Richard N., "The Politics of Reconstruction in Wisconsin, 1865-1873," Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 60, no. 2 (Winter 1976-1977), p. 83-108. (Discussion of Ezekiel Gillespie is found on p. 88)
Holzhueter, John O., "Ezekiel Gillespie, Lost and Found," Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 60, no. 3, Spring 1977, p. 178-184.