Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights

NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book ILA Children’s Book Award Nonfiction Honor Winner of Bank Street College of Education’s Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for excellence in nonfiction Chicago Public Library Best Informational Book for Older Readers Shortlist for inaugural Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice
Finalist, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

In 1854, Elizabeth Lizzie Jennings, an African American schoolteacher, fought back when she was unjustly denied entry to a New York City streetcar, sparking the beginnings of the long struggle to gain equal rights on public transportation.

One hundred years before Rosa Parks took her stand, Elizabeth Lizzie Jennings tried to board a streetcar in New York City on her way to church. Though there were plenty of empty seats, she was denied entry, assaulted, and threatened all because of her race–even though New York was a free state at that time. Lizzie decided to fight back. She told her story, took her case to court–where future president Chester Arthur represented her–and won! Her victory was the first recorded in the fight for equal rights on public transportation, and Lizzie’s case set a precedent. Author Beth Anderson and acclaimed illustrator E. B. Lewis bring this inspiring, little-known story to life in this captivating book.