Description

A feature in the August 1915 issue of The Crisis, a monthly publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It includes various pieces written by intellectuals and leaders in the black community on the subject of women's suffrage. It also includes photographs of the participants, one of whom was Mary Church Terrell. Note: At this time, the swastika (used here to divide sections of the article) was a common stock symbol used by printers and had no connection to anti-Semitism. It was not formally adopted by the Nazi Party until 1920.The 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution granted women the right to vote. When the Tennessee General Assembly passed the ratification resolution on August 18, 1920, it gave the amendment the 36th and final state necessary for ratification. Suffragists and anti-suffragists lobbied furiously to secure votes during that intense summer in Nashville. The ratification resolution passed easily in the Tennessee State Senate on August 13, but the House of Representatives was deadlocked. When young Harry T. Burn of Niota changed his vote to support ratification of the 19th Amendment, he broke a tie in the House of Representatives and made history. Race featured heavily in the suffrage debate. Much of the argument against women's suffrage centered on the fear of a potential rise in black voters. Some suffrage proponents also exploited this fear by arguing that passage of the 19th amendment would increase the number of white voters overall.

Record Contributed By

Tennesse State Library and Archives

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Tennessee