This dissertation contributes to a small body of recently published revisionist scholarship that reconsiders women's experiences during the Black Power era by focusing on how Ericka Huggins and Elaine Brown influenced and transformed evolving gender conventions within the Black Panther Party (BPP) from October 1966 until June 1982. I assert that these were women more than participants in a movement; they were instrumental in the development and creation of their own understandings of Black Power and the status of women in the BPP. Many of these women's actions and thoughts embodied elements of black feminist thought. At the same time, challenging dominant perceptions of a hyper-masculinized Black Power era. I also point out the progressive gender politics within the BPP. In an effort to move women from the margins to the center of analysis this dissertation re-conceptualizes women as central figures during the Black Power era and more specifically in the Black Panther Party. I provide life histories of Huggins and Brown to highlight their leadership as well as the BPP's support of a distinguishable and unique feminist politics.
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