The Woman Beside the Nation’s First Elected Black Lieutenant Governor: The Life and Legacy of Ellen Boyd Dunn

Dr. Brian Mitchell’s paper shifts attention to the broader political arena through an examination of P.B.S. Pinchback’s contested 1872 U.S. Senate election. By analyzing political maneuvering, corruption, and white opposition, the paper reveals how violence and institutional resistance constrained Black political advancement, exposing the instability of Reconstruction democracy at both state and national levels.