Political Quotes

“105 years ago today, this Chamber did something truly historic: It passed the 19th Amendment to secure the right to vote for American women. The amendment's ratification by the States 1 year later marked the largest enfranchisement in U.S. history, extending the vote to 26 million Americans. This incredible achievement fulfilled more than 70 years of tireless efforts by brave suffragists to make our country a more perfect Union, including many Tennessee women: Abbey Crawford Milton from Chattanooga, Ida B. Wells from Memphis, and Anne Dallas Dudley from Nashville. On this anniversary, I am especially reminded of Febb Burn of Niota, TN. In the summer of 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly was in a heated debate about whether Tennessee would ratify the 19th Amendment. At the time, 35 States had already voted to ratify the amendment, so only 1 more was needed to make the 19th Amendment the law of the land. On the day of the vote in Nashville, Febb Burn wrote a letter to her son, Harry Burn, the youngest member of the Tennessee State Legislature. She urged her son to support the amendment. She wrote: Hurrah and vote for suffrage and don't keep them in doubt.…”