PRESIDENT WIRES TENNESSEE SPEAKER TO CONCUR WITH SENATE ON SUPPORT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE
Nashville, Tennessee (JFK+50) The Nashville Tennessean of August 14, 1920 published a report that President Woodrow Wilson had sent a telegram to Speaker Seth Walker* of the Tennessee House of Representatives which stated...
"May I express the earnest hope that the House will concur in the suffrage amendment?"
On Friday, August 13th, the Tennessee Senate had "overwhelmingly" passed the Susan B. Anthony Amendment by a vote of 25 to 4. The Tennessean, however, could not get in touch with Speaker Walker for comment.
Most of the legislators had returned home for the weekend, but Nashville was the scene of fervent activity with meetings being held by both supporters and opponents of woman suffrage. The supporters were meeting at the Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson.
*Seth L. Walker of Lebanon, Tennessee originally supported the amendment but after the Senate passed it, he changed his mind and opposed it. He is to have said on the House floor, "This is white man's country," arguing that if women were given the vote, blacks would demand it as well.
SOURCE
"Wilson Wires to Walker For Aid on Ratification," The Nashville Tennessean, August 14, 1920, www.newspapers.com
State Capitol Building
Nashville, Tennessee (1966)
Photo by Roy G. White
