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Christia Adair, 1920 Courtesy of Willie Lee Gay, Houston Christia Adair was approached by suffragists to enlist the support of black women for the vote. Adair states: "Back in 1918 Negroes could not vote and women could not vote either. The white women were trying to help get a bill passed in the legislature where women could vote. I said to the Negro women, "I don't know if we can use it now or not, but if there's a chance, I want to say we helped make it. "We went to the polls at the white primary but could not vote...We kept after them until they finally said 'You cannot vote because you are a Negroe.'" When Adair became involved with NAACP she challenged this issue, becoming one of the first black women to vote in the Texas Democratic primary in 1944. Donna Bearden and Jamie Frucht, The Texas Sampler |