Women won right to vote, thanks to Tennessee
By Sandra Bennett
Aug. 26 is Women’s Equality Day – a day set aside to mark the date in 1920 when the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was added to the U.S. constitution. And while this date made it official, the real date that should be celebrated here in Tennessee happened eight days prior.
On Aug. 18, 1920, after 72 years of a hard-fought battle and sacrifices young women in the United States today cannot fathom, the state of Tennessee became the final and deciding battleground for woman’s suffrage.
Suffrage leaders from all over Tennessee and from across the United States came to Nashville that August to take up the cause. Those opposed to suffrage also came. Both sides were at Nashville’s Union Station as legislators began arriving for a special session of the 61st General assembly, called by Tennessee Gov. Albert Houston Roberts.
On Aug. 9, the Tennessee Senate convened. The suffragists had the number of votes needed in the sensate and on Friday, Aug. 13, after three hours of debate, the resolution for ratification of the 19th Amendment sailed through the Tennessee State senate.
As the resolution moved on to the House, Nashville became an embattled frontier. There were fist fights in the lobby of the Hermitage Hotel, lobbyists were offering bribes of business loans, lucrative jobs and political appointments to members of the House in return for their votes. Fake messages telling of illness at home were sent to legislators who were known to be voting for the ratification. Threats of kidnappings and threats on the lives of legislators abounded. Lobbyists for the liquor industry, who were convinced that if women get the vote, they’d use it to pass prohibition, were passing out samples of their wares to everyone. Carrie Catt, the leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Association reported “Both suffrage and anti-suffrage men were reeling through the hall in an advanced state of intoxication.”
As crowds began to gather on Capitol Hill on Aug. 18, the votes were too close for either side to call. The twists and turns of that House session were filled with more real-life drama than anything seen today in films or on television.
As the final roll call for votes began, the youngest member of the House, Rep. Harry Burn of Niota, who had voted against ratification in an earlier vote, changed his mind. In his pocket, he carried a telegram received that morning from his mother saying “Hurrah and vote for suffrage!” And so it was that the advice of a mother to her son changed the course of history. With that one vote, women from all across the United States were given the right to vote.
As we celebrate the 90th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, let every woman be mindful of the great sacrifices that were made by the women who came before us. Let each of us honor these women by going to the polls every time there’s an election.
And, most of all, if you think your vote won’t make a difference, remember that right here in Tennessee on a hot and steamy August afternoon in 1920, women won the right to vote by just one vote. Hurrah!
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