My research examines the epistemological and political stakes of claiming gendered categories, namely those emergent at salient historical junctures in the 19th century U.S. context. To this end, I utilize qualitative document analysis methods and introduce a conceptual toolkit that interlaces feminist and social epistemology with social movement theory. I implicate a trajectory of canonical 19th century white feminisms in their deference to the U.S. nation-state while simultaneously exploring contemporaneous alternatives including Black feminisms and precedent(s) for the eventual crystallization of intersectionality. Ultimately, my research endeavors to reimagine how expressions of agency and consolidations of power contour U.S. women’s rights histories and related acts of memorialization.