"The 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. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
With those words, the right of women to vote was finally acknowledged in our country. The battle had its official start with the
Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, attended by over 240 people (including 40 men). It was at this convention that the
Seneca Falls Declaration, bearing a striking similarity to the Declaration of Independence, was drafted and signed. Sadly, only one of the women who signed that document lived long enough to be allowed to cast a vote.
Today, August 26th is the 86th Anniversary of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment; in 1971 the date was declared Women's Equality Day by Congress, at the petition of Bella Abzug in recognition and commemoration of that historic occasion.
I live in Tennessee now - a transplant, 20 years ago, from New Jersey. I knew little - OK, I knew nothing about the history of the state when I moved here. I was certainly not aware that TN had played such an important role in the passage of the 19th Amendment: it was the 36th, and final state needed, to ratify the amendment. Do you know the story of that historic vote? The gallery of the TN legislature was packed with women carrying red or yellow roses - the Suffragists carried yellow; the antis, red. Both sides had been counting up the votes, but it was too close to call. The youngest member of the House, Harry Burn from East Tennessee, entered the chamber wearing a red rose, and the Suffragists moved him from their "ayes" to "nays" column. What they didn't know was that in his pocket he carried a telegram from his mother, urging him to "do the right thing." The role was called and the women held their breath. To the great surprise of everyone, Harry voted FOR suffrage. When the votes were tallied, and the Suffragists in the galleries realized they had won, they shredded their roses and a shower of yellow rose petals rained down on the chamber floor. Don't you wish you could have seen that?!
Here in TN - the state that in 1920 turned woman's suffrage from dream to reality -- this historic anniversary will go by well under the radar. Nothing was mentioned about it at my daughter's school, although I emailed her U.S. History teacher (I know he read it, but he did not reply); nothing is planned in my community; nothing is planned by state officials, who, I would think, should be proud of the role TN played.
There are several small celebrations of which I'm aware: in Franklin, the Williamson County Democratic Women will hold an event on the steps of the courthouse in the historic town square. In Nashville, Davidson Women for Bredesen will hold a reception. And in Knoxville, The Tennessee Woman Suffrage Memorial is being unveiled. It stuns and saddens me to know that this important event in US history goes relatively unmarked by most of the country -- no parades, no school assemblies, no moment of silent commemoration in workplaces.
Don't let the day go by silently -- find some small way (or some big way!) to mark this historic occasion! And then share with your DKOS family how you celebrated.
Stay strong! Stay involved! And, in the words of Jeanette Rankin, for God's sake -- VOTE!!
P.S. Although the 19th Amendment was ratified by the requisite 36 states in 1920, the legislatures of Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina didn't ratify it until the 1970s, and Mississippi not until 1984.