Today in history:
("Few people live to see the actual and final realization of hopes to which they have devoted their lives. That privilege is ours.")
(~American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt)
A Mighty GirlPage Liked · 1 hr ·
On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment, recognizing women's right to vote in the United States, was adopted and became part of the Constitution -- although few people realize, as Jennie Cohen writes on History, that "women’s suffrage in the United States ultimately hinged on an 11th-hour change of heart by a young state legislator with a very powerful mother."
"The date was August 18, 1920, and the man was Harry Burn, a 24-year-old representative from East Tennessee who two years earlier had become the youngest member of the state legislature. The red rose [pinned to his lapel] signified his opposition to the proposed 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which stated that '[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.'
By the summer of 1920, 35 states had ratified the measure, bringing it one vote short of the required 36. In Tennessee, it had sailed through the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives, prompting thousands of pro- and anti-suffrage activists to descend upon Nashville. If Burn and his colleagues voted in its favor, the 19th Amendment would pass the final hurdle on its way to adoption.
After weeks of intense lobbying and debate within the Tennessee legislature, a motion to table the amendment was defeated with a 48-48 tie. The speaker called the measure to a ratification vote. To the dismay of the many suffragists who had packed into the capitol with their yellow roses, sashes and signs, it seemed certain that the final roll call would maintain the deadlock. But that morning, Harry Burn -- who until that time had fallen squarely in the anti-suffrage camp -- received a note from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, known to her family and friends as Miss Febb.
In it, she had written, 'Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt. I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.' She ended the missive with a rousing endorsement of the great suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, imploring her son to 'be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification.'
Still sporting his red boutonniere but clutching his mother’s letter, Burn said 'aye' so quickly that it took his fellow legislators a few moments to register his unexpected response. With that single syllable he extended the vote to the women of America and ended half a century of tireless campaigning by generations of suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and, of course, Mrs. Catt.
The next day, Burn defended his last-minute reversal in a speech to the assembly. For the first time, he publicly expressed his personal support of universal suffrage, declaring, 'I believe we had a moral and legal right to ratify.' But he also made no secret of Miss Febb’s influence -- and her crucial role in the story of women’s rights in the United States. 'I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow,' he explained, 'and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.'"
Though Burn was compelled to flee to the attic of the state capitol to avoid the angry anti-suffrage crowds following the vote, this young man's decision to heed his mother's sage advice and cast a courageous vote for suffrage marked a victorious end to the 72-year long struggle to achieve equal voting rights for women which had begun at the first women's right conference organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.
To read the full article about Tennessee's ratification on History, visit http://bit.ly/1oJY6Ca
For a fantastic new book for adults that recounts this dramatic chapter of the women's suffrage battle in detail, we highly recommend "The Woman's Hour" at https://amzn.to/2PmLu4q
For two new books about the heroic women of the U.S. Suffrage Movement, we also recommend "Roses and Radicals" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/roses-and-radicals) and "Votes for Women!" for ages 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/votes-for-women)
To introduce children and teens to more amazing women of the Suffrage Movement, check out the reading recommendations in our blog post, “How Women Won the Vote: Teaching Kids About the U.S. Suffrage Movement, ” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11827
For an excellent depiction of the tireless work of suffragists Lucy Burns and Alice Paul who helped lead the final push for the vote, we highly recommend the film Iron Jawed Angels for ages 13 and up: https://www.amightygirl.com/iron-jawed-angels
And, for hundreds of true stories of women trailblazers in a wide variety of fields, visit our “Role Models" biography section at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography