Harry T. Burn: Woman Suffrage, Free Elections and A Life of Service
merican women won the right to vote
after seven grueling decades of hard
work. The woman suffrage movement
began in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.
Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting
illegally in the 1872 election. In 1917,
Alice Paul and Sue Shelton White (from
Tennessee) served time in prison for
protesting in front of the White House.
Carrie Chapman Catt spent years traveling
the country, giving hundreds of speeches
and coordinated dozens of
campaigns advocating
for woman
suffrage.
The efforts of
these women
culminated in June
1919 when the U.S.
Congress proposed
the 19th Amendment
to the states for
ratification. By March 1920, thirty-five states
had ratified it, with only one more needed
to make it the law of the land. Nearly
every Southern state had rejected the
amendment. In August 1920, the Tennessee
General Assembly met in a special session
to vote on ratification. The state senate
overwhelmingly passed the resolution to
ratify on August 13. On August 18, the state
house of representatives voted on a motion
to table the resolution. Both roll calls
ended in a 48-48 tie. The House Speaker,
an Anti-suffragist who was hoping to kill
the amendment in Tennessee (and maybe
even in the country), called for a vote on the
“merits” of the resolution.
Earlier that morning, the youngest
member of the legislature, McMinn County
Representative Harry T. Burn of Niota, had
received a letter from his widowed mother,
Febb Burn. “Hurrah and vote for suffrage,
and don’t keep them in doubt….Don’t
forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt
with her ‘rats.” Is she the one that put rat
in ratification? Ha!” Burn had been torn
between his belief in woman suffrage and
his desire to represent his constituents who
he had been misled into believing were
against woman suffrage.
On the vote on the
merits, Burn followed his
mother’s advice. He voted
“aye” to break the tie. The
vote was then 49-47. The 19th
Amendment had been ratified,
making Tennessee the “Perfect 36th” state.
Burn’s vote had put it over the top. It was
pandemonium in the House Chamber as
the suffragists celebrated and the Antisuffragists
seethed in anger.
Unbeknownst to many, Burn’s deciding vote
to ratify the 19th Amendment was only the
beginning of a long and impactful career in
public service. Tyler L. Boyd, a social studies
teacher in Lenoir City and Burn’s greatgrandnephew,
has written a comprehensive
biography of Burn. Boyd was inspired to
write the book in part to help celebrate the
centennial of the 19th Amendment in 2020.
Debunking the errors and apocryphal
stories that persist to this day also provided
Boyd inspiration to write the book.
Contrary to popular belief, Burn did not
by Tyler L. Boyd
beli
d
e
19t
tififififififie
g
onstituents y p p ,
ieving th
ed,
hundreds o
doz
campaign
fo
su
The
these
culmin
919 wh
Congress
he 1
c
19
Con
th
to
12 FARRAGUT LIFE FALL 2019