From Civil Rights Advocate to Historian: Rachel B. Tiven Comes to the Graduate Center

Today’s guest, Rachel B. Tiven, is an established civil rights leader and change-maker who is coming to the Graduate Center to get a Ph.D. in History. As a lawyer and nonprofit leader, she has become a leading voice on issues involving LGBTQ rights, immigration rights, and voting rights. In 2018, after serving as CEO of Lambda Legal, Tiven managed the voter protection hotline for the Georgia Democratic Party and the Stacey Abrams gubernatorial campaign. She followed that role with a one-year residency at Columbia Law School, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. Intrigued, she began researching the history of the women’s suffrage movement and started the @DailySuffragist social media project. This semester, she comes to the Graduate Center to deepen her knowledge of the movement for women’s full citizenship in the United States. “I want to understand what works, what works to get people to give up power, to share power with others, especially what works to get people to share power without violence,” Tiven says. “And I think that's what I have found so compelling about the story of women's search for political citizenship in the United States.” Listen to this far-ranging and timely Thought Project conversation.