Kizziah Jones Bills (c. January 19, 1860 – February 24, 1924), also known as Mrs. K.J. Bills, Kizziah J. Stith, Kizzie J. Bills, was a Black American

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for

Black press Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaper publisher founded in 1975 by David Holmes Black. Based in Surrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher of ''Toronto Star'' ( Torstar, 19.35%) and B ...

in Chicago, and a

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. She is known as an early member of the Ida B. Wells Club, the Alpha Suffrage Club and served as president of the Civic League.

Biography

Her name at birth was Kizziah Jones, she was born January 19, 1860 (or 1862), in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, to Patsey (née Hendricks) and Poindexter Jones. She was raised in Davidson County,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

in a cabin. Starting at a young age she worked as a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

. In c.1880, she married Dr. Nathan J. Stith and together they had a son, Andrew Haydn Stith (born 1889). By 1891, she was a widow and started using the name "Kizzie". She worked in 1891–1892 at

Meigs School Meigs School (or currently Meigs Academic Magnet Middle Prep) is a public magnet school located in Nashville, Tennessee. History The school is named in honor of James L. Meigs, Nashville's second superintendent of public schools. In a report ...

, a segregated public school in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Women's clubs

In 1893, she married Satto Bills and they moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She worked as a seamstress and Satto Bills worked as a cook and later as a railroad worker. She joined many

women's clubs The club movement is an American women's social movement that started in the mid-19th century and spread throughout the United States. It established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While wome ...

in Chicago and was an early member of the Ida B. Wells Club (previously named the Women's Era Club'')'' and Bills was the first president of the Julia Gaston Club. Satto Bills died in 1901, leaving her as a widow again. In 1905, she served as the president of the Civic League, served as the recording secretary of the Tennesseans, and joined as a member, the Grand Foundation United Order of True Reformers. In 1913 she joined the Alpha Suffrage Club, which is thought to be the first black female suffrage club. Starting in 1914, Bills served as the editor of the club newspaper, ''The Alpha Suffrage Record''. She later served as a writer in the 1930s for ''The Alpha Suffrage Record''s "Clubs and Society" column.

''The Chicago Defender''

Between 1910 until 1915, under the name "Mrs. K.J. Bills", she wrote for ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' newspaper. Her most famous publication was in 1915 on the film premiere of ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

'' in Chicago, an American silent

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

which is part fiction and part history, chronicling the

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play '' Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, L ...

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...

and the relationship of two families in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

eras over the course of several years. Bills reviewed the film with a critical lens and debunked much of the storyline for a lack of historical facts, while reflecting on her own experiences as a Black woman living during the Reconstruction era in the American South. She died in Chicago on February 24, 1924, after an illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bill, Kizziah J. 1860s births 1924 deaths African-American suffragists People from Florence, Alabama Journalists from Chicago African-American journalists 20th-century American journalists Clubwomen American columnists American women columnists 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Suffragists from Illinois 20th-century American women journalists