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Dr. Matilda Evans, a pioneering African American physician, dedicated her life to improving healthcare for Black communities in the United States. Born on February 13, 1872, in Aiken, South Carolina, she grew up during a time when racism and sexism severely limited opportunities for Black women. Despite these challenges, she pursued a career in medicine and became one of the most prominent Black doctors of her time.

Dr. Evans attended Oberlin College in Ohio, studying chemistry and earning a bachelor’s degree in 1897. By 1901, she earned her medical degree from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Returning to South Carolina, she began practicing medicine in Columbia.

At the time, health care for Black Americans was often inadequate or inaccessible, due to segregation and racism. Determined to change this, Dr. Evans devoted herself to improving medical care for Black patients. She established the Columbia Clinic Association, a network of clinics that provided medical care to Black residents of Columbia and the surrounding areas. Her medical practice included obstetrics, gynecology and surgery for both Black and white patients. She built the first hospital for African Americans in Columbus, SC.

In addition to her work as a physician, Dr. Evans advocated for civil rights and social justice. She was an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and worked for voting rights and equal access to education for Black Americans. In 1922 she became president of the Palmetto Medical Association in South Carolina, the only Black woman in the US to lead a state medical association.

Throughout her career, Dr. Evans struggled to obtain funding and resources for her clinics, and faced discrimination and hostility from white patients and colleagues. Despite these challenges and obstacles , she remained committed to her mission and worked tirelessly to improve healthcare and advance social justice.

While Dr. Evans died in 1935, her legacy lives on. She was a trailblazer and a role model for generations of Black physicians and activists. Her dedication and perseverance in the face of adversity continue to inspire and motivate those who strive to make a difference in their communities.

December 10 marked Human Rights Day, the 75th anniversary of the the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights place reproductive rights in the larger framework of reproductive justice. SisterSong defines reproductive justice as "the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities."

In Stand UP, Speak OUT: Episode 3 - Reproductive Rights, women tell their stories about involuntary sterilization, abortion, birth control, and family planning. With Roe v. Wade overturned by the Supreme Court, the right to choose abortion is not the only right at risk. Family planning and contraception are likely to be outlawed by state legislatures that don't trust women to make their own decisions about their lives.

View our Family Planning video to hear women talk about balancing family and career before and after effective contraception became available in the mid-20th century. The older generation, with limited options, focused on family and children. Starting in the 1970s, some women chose to build a career before having children, others to work at home while raising a family, or live a full life without children. Through their eyes we see that to be truly free, women must have reproductive freedom.

On November 8th, women’s fundamental freedoms are on the ballot: the freedom to vote, to marry whom we love, to control our reproductive health, and to decide on the shape of our futures.

With only one week before Election Day, there is still time! To protect, regain, and expand women’s rights, we must:

Make a plan to VOTE. Voting laws have changed. 20 states have enacted new voter suppression laws since 2020, including new voter ID laws. Make sure you’re up-to-date on what’s required in your state, including what ID (if any) you need to vote. Find details for your state here.

Tell everyone you know that you’re counting on them to vote. Research reveals voter turnout is 8% higher if it is instigated through personal and social networks. Activate America is an app that can show you how to develop your list and blast out a message using Swipe Blue. Activate America will host information sessions on Thursday, Nov 3 at 7 pm Eastern Time. Sign up here.

Help get out the vote of voters you don’t know who are pro-women’s rights, and provide them with voter information. Phone banks turn less-likely voters into actual voters by providing them with the information and motivation they need. Sign up here to join a phone bank for making calls on your own schedule. You can attend the first 15 minutes of a phone bank training session, and decide whether it’s for you. Sign up here for training.

The midterm elections — and the future of our nation — will likely be decided by a tiny number of votes in a very small handful of battleground states. This means women voters, who make up over half of likely voters in the battleground states, could decide the outcome of key races.

Invite your friends and family to watch Stand UP, Speak OUT: The Personal Politics of Women’s Rights to witness the individual consequences of political decisions. In Episode 2: Voting Rights and Episode 3: Reproductive Rights, women tell their personal stories of the impact of having, and the consequences of not having, the right to vote and the right to control their reproductive choices.