Indian Citizenship Act ~ 1924

photo: nebraskastudies.org/0700/media/0701_014601.jpg

On June 2, 1924, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting. In a WPA interview from the 1930s, Henry Mitchell describes the attitude toward Native Americans in Maine, one of the last states to comply with the Indian Citizenship Act:

One of the Indians went over to Old Town once to see some official in the city hall about voting. I don't know just what position that official had over there, but he said to the Indian, 'We don't want you people over here. You have your own elections over on the island, and if you want to vote, go over there.'

"The Life of Henry Mitchell"Old Town, Maine,Robert Grady, interviewer,circa 1938-1939.American Life Histories, 1936-1940

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