The Women Who Lead Me
Filed by: Monica Roberts
August 27, 2008 9:30 AM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/08/the_women_who_lead_me.phpYesterday was the 88th anniversary of the 19th Amendment's ratification, which gave women the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, by one vote, a young 24-year-old Tennessee legislator named Harry Burn had been voting with the anti-suffrage forces. At the urging of his mother, he switched sides and became the deciding vote that passed the amendment.
After surviving parliamentary maneuvers from the anti-suffrage forces, the 49-48 vote stood and made Tennessee the 36th and deciding state to ratify. On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution became the law of the land and gave women the right to vote just in time for the 1920 Presidential election.
