The state of Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on this day in 1920, in the final major step needed to extend the right to vote to women. After many decades of advocacy, Congress had finally passed the amendment in mid-1919, kicking off the state ratification process. By then, several states had already allowed women to vote for years, but many remained deeply divided on the issue. Tennessee was one such state — in fact, the Volunteer State almost rejected the amendment.
Advocates for and against women’s suffrage stayed near a Nashville hotel, with each side wearing differently colored roses: yellow for the suffragettes, red for those opposed to women voting. Both sides aggressively lobbied the state legislature. Harry T. Burn, a 24-year-old member of the legislature, showed up to work wearing a red rose. Anti-suffragettes were heartened.
When the vote was called, however, Burn supported the amendment — with the rose still pinned on his lapel. Supposedly, he’d changed his mind based on a letter he’d received from his mother telling him to be “a good boy” and vote in favor of the right to vote for women. As to whether he was actually listening to his mother or just engaging in good politicking, we’ll never know.
