JOINT MEETING OF TENNESSEE HOUSE & SENATE LIKELY TO APPROVE SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT
Nashville, Tennessee (JFK+50) On August 12, 1920, the Tennessee House and Senate Commissions on Constitutional Conventions and Amendments held a joint meeting on the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. The meeting lasted 3 hours and was expected to result in a favorable report to the full Tennessee Legislature.
Speaker Andrew Todd** predicted approval would be given by the Senate. Governor Albert Roberts, who lobbied for the amendment, said ratification by both houses was assured "unless something miraculous occurs."
*The Susan B. Anthony (a.k.a. 19th) Amendment granting women the right to vote passed the U.S. Congress on June 4, 1919 & was ratified on August 18, 1920 when Tennessee became the 36th & deciding state to ratify.
**Andrew Lee Todd, Sr. (1872-1945) was born in Rutherford County, TN & graduated from Union University of Jackson, TN. He taught in public school before studying law at the University of the South. ALT served as Rutherford County School Superintendent 1900-1907 & as a legislator in the TN General Assembly 1913-1923. He served as Speaker of the Tennessee Senate & Speaker of the Tennessee House, the only person to have held both positions. ALT cast the deciding vote for ratification of the 19th Amendment.
SOURCE
"August 12, 1920: Turning Point," Suffragist Memorial Organization, by David Dismore, www.suffragememorial.org/
Susan B. Anthony
by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1900)
