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 in
the United States 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 great-grandnephew, 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.
by Tyler L. Boyd
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10 McMINN LIFE FALL 2019