The vote that led to the 19th Amendment

August 18, 2020 by Scott Bomboy

The story of Harry T. Burn, the seemingly rogue 24-year-old legislator, has become a bit embellished
over the years. And in fact, women had won the right to vote in some states before the 19th
Amendment was passed by Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the states then in the Union.

But in August 1920, the struggle between the suffrage movement (which wanted the vote for women)
and powerful anti-suffrage forces had come down to a series of votes in Tennessee.

The suffrage movement had found a way to get Congress to approve the proposed 19th Amendment,
with the endorsement of outgoing President Woodrow Wilson (who hadn’t supported it until it became
needed as part of the war effort).

By the middle of 1920, a total of 35 states had voted to ratify the amendment. The problem was that
36 states were needed, and there was only one state left where a vote could be taken that year…

Supporters from both sides camped out at a Nashville hotel and began intense lobbying efforts in
what became known as the War of the Roses. Supporters of suffrage wore yellow roses in public; the
anti-suffragists wore red roses.

The suffragists had lobbied Burn, the youngest member of the statehouse, but they were unsure of
how he would vote.

They did know that any vote to bring the amendment to the floor would be too close to call, as well as
the vote to ratify the amendment…

Then, early in the voting, Burn, who came from a conservative district and wore the red rose on his
lapel, surprised everyone when he said in a clear voice “aye” when asked if he would vote to ratify the
amendment.

Burn also had a letter in his suit pocket, from his mother, Febb E. Burn, in which she asked him to “be
a good boy” and vote for the amendment. When Turner also voted in favor of the ratification, the 70-
year-old battle for suffrage was over…

Link: Read The Seven-Page Letter

“I knew that a mother’s advice is always safest for a boy to follow and my mother wanted me to vote
for ratification,” he said. “I appreciated the fact that an opportunity such as seldom comes to a mortal
man to free 17 million women from political slavery was mine.”

Febb E. Burn then said she was pressured in person by the governor of Louisiana’s wife to recant the
letter and say it was a fraud. She refused to do so.

Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center.