McConnell Fellow featured on NPR today

(February 17, 2011) LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dr. Barbara Perry, a U.S. Supreme Court and presidency expert, will be a guest on today's "The Diane Rehm Show" on NPR. The show is scheduled to air at 11 a.m.
McConnell Fellow featured on NPR today

Dr. Barbara A. Perry, a McConnell Center Fellow

As part of the show's "Constitution Today" series, host Rehm will delve into how the document addresses women and the role they've played in its history.

Dr. Barbara A. Perry will be a guest commentator. Perry is a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs and a non-resident fellow of the McConnell Center.

Perry joins Michael Quinn, president and executive director of James Madison's Montpelier, and Marcia Greenberger, founder and co-president of the National Women's Law Center, on the show.

According to the show's website, when the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, it was the first time women's legal rights were specifically addressed in the U.S. Constitution. Women played no role in the document's ratification in 1787. And when former slaves got the right to vote in 1870, it was a severe blow to the women's movement. In later years, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution in ways that include and protect women. But the battle for an Equal Rights Amendment continues.