TENNESSEE HOUSE SPEAKER PREDICTS SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT DEFEAT
Nashville, Tennessee (JFK+50) On August 16, 1920, five of seven members of Davidson County's delegation dropped their support for the Susan B. Anthony Amendment* here in Nashville.
David Dismore says that "defeat in the House would end any realistic possibility of ratification" in 1920.
House Speaker Seth L. Walker said...
"We have ratification beaten, that is all there is to it."
There were a thousand pro-amendment workers in the Tennessee capital whohad adopted the colors of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, white and golden yellow with yellow roses becoming their emblem. The anti-amendment forces adopted red roses, thus it became "The War of the Roses."**
The House would go on to approve the amendment and on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and deciding state to ratify the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.
*Susan B. Anthony Amendment (a.k.a. 19th Amendment) ratified in 1920 prohibits Federal or State governments from denying the right to vote to U.S. citizens on the basis of sex.
**Representative Harry T. Burn of Niota wore a red rose pinned to his lapel, but in the end, following the advice of his mother, he voted for the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.
SOURCES
"A Look Back at Tennessee's War of the Roses," by Mary Skinner, March 6, 2019, Tennessee State Museum, www.tnmuseum.org/
"August 16, 1920, Turning Point," by David Dismore, Suffragist Memorial, www.suffragistmemorial.org/
Harry T. Burn Statue
Knoxville, Tennessee
Photo by John White (2018)
