It was hot. It was August. Members of the League of Women Voters were at work. They, along with other suffragists, had a job to accomplish that August, 105 years ago. It was a task which they and their foremothers had been working on for over 7 decades, gaining the right to vote for women.
The year before, in 1919, the United States Congress passed the 19th Amendment. Then, for the next 15 months, states took up the issue of ratifying the Amendment. It would take 36 states to vote “yes” for the Amendment to become part of the Constitution. By mid-summer 1920, 35 states had ratified the Amendment, 8 had rejected it. Three other states had refused to consider the issue. North Carolina was likely to vote “no”, leaving Tennessee as the last, best hope for women's suffrage. With suitcases in hand, women from all across the country headed to Tennessee. They were tired from the frantic pace of the last year, but they prayed that victory was near.
Those supporting suffrage found Carrie Chapman Catt holding forth in her sweltering, Nashville hotel room. She was directing members of her newly formed League of Women Voters to leave no stone unturned in the hollows of Tennessee and leave no legislator unleashed from his pledge of support until the Woman’s Hour had arrived with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
It is from these roots that we, too, bear the heat and trudge on empowering voters and defending democracy. Please join us! Check out our website at lwvsa.org. Follow us on social media. Come make new friends on August 12 at Write and Wine and September 10 at our new Speaker’s Series. Sign up to volunteer, your talents are needed on our very active committees.
If you are interested in reading about the summer of 1920 in Tennessee, add The Woman's Hour, by Elaine Weiss, to your summer reading list.