[Vision2020] One Hundred Years Ago Today (August 18, 1920)

Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Tue Aug 18 04:54:48 PDT 2020


Courtesy of today’s (August 18, 2020) Lewiston Tribune.

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Always listen to your mother
Tennessee lawmaker followed this philosophy, which led to ratification 100 years ago today of 19th Amendment

It was 100 years ago today that 24-year-old Harry Burn helped make history by listening to his mother.

Burn was one of 99 members of the Tennessee House of Representatives and the youngest member of the entire state General Assembly.
 
In August of 1920, he and his colleagues were being lobbied right and left over the proposed 19th Amendment, which would give women the constitutional right to vote.
 
Almost every Western state had approved full voting rights for women prior to 1915, including Idaho and Washington. Many eastern and Southern states, by contrast, resisted such innovations.
 
After debating the issue for years, Congress finally approved a suffrage amendment in the spring of 1919. However, it needed to be ratified by 36 states before it took effect.
 
When Washington became the 35th state to approve the amendment in March of 1920, all eyes turned to Tennessee, where Gov. Albert Roberts called a special session to consider the matter.
 
The Tennessee Senate approved the measure on Aug. 12, leaving the House as the final hurdle in the decades-long fight.
 
On Aug. 18, motions to table the amendment failed twice on 48-48 votes. According to the National Archives “Pieces of History” online blog, Burn supported both motions, believing his constituents opposed the measure.
 
A third motion calling for approval of the amendment was introduced. Burn blurted out “aye,” thus ensuring passage.
 
Burn later revealed he’d received a letter from his mother that morning, urging him to support the amendment. He added a personal statement to the Tennessee House journal saying, “I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for a boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”
 
For Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee, Burn’s flip-flop was one of the more interesting stories she learned while researching the 19th Amendment and Idaho’s role in granting women the right to vote.
 
“Your mother is the wrong person to make angry,” said Troy, who earlier this year sponsored legislation designating Aug. 26 as “Women’s Suffrage Day,” in recognition of the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment.
 
Eight days after Tennessee ratified the amendment, on Aug. 26, 1920, the U.S. secretary of state announced that the 19th Amendment was now part of the Constitution — immediately enfranchising more than 26 million American women.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.TomandRodna.com/MoscowCares
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
“A stranger is just a friend you haven't met.” - Roy E. Stolworthy
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