The 1988 Republican National Convention (RNC) in New Orleans was, according to several Wisconsin newspaper accounts, more of a celebration than a convention. Then–vice president George H. W. Bush, following Ronald Reagan’s two terms in office, was expected to become his party’s presidential nominee, and delegates from around the country were eager to meet and project an image of political unity and a vision for the future. Diversity was a major focus of the convention, with women and people of color taking significant speaking roles and presenting the party as welcoming and reflective of the broader society. According to delegate Marlene Cummings, a Black Wisconsinite who was the secretary of the state’s Department of Regulation and Licensing and a contributor to the Wisconsin State Journal, “It’s almost as if we, as Republicans, have gotten the message that what you do and have done has now got to be demonstrated. Our way of responding to political inclusiveness should not only be demonstrated but presented without apology.”1
As part of this effort to foster inclusion, the RNC chose Black congressional candidate Helen Barnhill of Wisconsin to be one of its featured speakers, along with two white women: congressional candidate Ann Haney and acting state Health and Social Services secretary Patricia Goodrich. Wisconsin was, indeed, a major player at the 1988 convention, with the recently inaugurated governor Tommy Thompson and former governor Lee Dreyfus supporting delegates they had chosen to serve in their administrations. With headlines like “State Delegation Shows Its Diversity” and “GOP Spotlight Shines on Black Wisconsin Woman,” Wisconsin newspapers reflected the GOP’s efforts, as stated in its platform, to “support the pluralism and diversity that have been part of our country’s greatness.”2 Covering all of this for the Wisconsin State Journal from a delegate’s perspective was none other than Marlene Cummings.
Barnhill and Cummings—two Black Wisconsin businesswomen—showed RNC attendees, television viewers, newspaper readers, and the nation as a whole that anyone, regardless of sex or skin color, could compete in national politics and help craft policies to improve the lives of the marginalized and underprivileged. Though little evidence exists that they knew each other outside of professional circles, Barnhill and Cummings traveled similar roads to get to the 1988 RNC: engaging in civil rights activism, working for Republican governors Lee Dreyfus and Tommy Thompson, and running for political office. Their stories offer an oft-overlooked perspective on Wisconsin and the nation’s shifting social and political landscape at the end of the twentieth century.
Helen Barnhill’s Journey to New Orleans
For Barnhill, traveling to New Orleans meant returning to her roots. A native of Ponce de Leon, Florida, just a few hundred miles from New Orleans, Barnhill was ambitious from the start. Her
