37 TENNESSEE HOUSE MEMBERS FLEE TO ALABAMA
Decatur, Alabama (JFK+50) On August 21, 1920, thirty-seven members of the Tennessee House of Representatives fled Nashville for Alabama with the intent of staying in Decatur* "until the special session...is over."
Their aim, according to David Dismore, was...
"to prevent a quorum from being present to defeat their motion to reconsider ratification."
Speaker Seth Walker declared the House seven members short of a quorum, but in the end the attempt to defeat the ratification of the 19th Amendment (giving women the right to vote) failed by a vote of 50 to 9.
*Decatur, "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake along the Tennessee River. Decatur is 115.9 miles South of Nashville.
SOURCE
"August 21, 1920," by David Dismore, Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, www.suffragistmemorial.org/
Decatur, Alabama
Photo by MPearsallArt (2014)
