Pellinore
Platinum Member
- May 30, 2018
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Let's see ... for these purposes, I will exclude anything of personal or family importance, I want it be nice and dramatic but also of major historical importance, I don't want to see mass carnage, I have a feeling if I want to solve some mystery it will probably just be the most depressing possibility, and I want a day-long event so I don't waste my one chance to see five minutes and done.
I'm going with August 18, 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee. Both chambers of Congress and 35 of 48 states had ratified the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, but the anti-suffragists had a slight edge in Tennessee; if they failed to ratify, it probably would not be adopted before the upcoming 1920 Presidential election. Both sides of the national debate had descended on Nashville, including some of the heaviest hitters of the time, and the gallery was lined with onlookers.
25-year-old State Legislator Harry Burn from McMinn County had been in the anti-suffrage camp to reflect the wishes of his constituency, and had even leaned against in some earlier preliminary actions. Before the final count, though, he had reconsidered at least in part because his elderly mother, Febb, had written him a letter encouraging him to "be a good boy" and vote for women's suffrage. He had her letter in his pocket when he cast the deciding vote for what would become the 19th Amendment.
The gallery erupted in cheers, and the rest of the day became a massive party. The anti-suffragists were dumbfounded; some shouted insults or threats at Burn, and he was so swarmed that he had to escape through a cloakroom and flee the building. The Speaker tried to call for a revote, and some anti-suffrage Representatives fled the state to try to prevent a quorum, but both attempts failed.
I wouldn't be there to see this part, but a few days later, the anti-suffrage US Secretary of State signed the 19th Amendment into law, in the middle of the night, behind closed doors, witnessed only by his secretary. Several challenges to the US Supreme Court failed to nullify the vote, and women had won the right to vote. Harry Burn, despite expressly contradicting the majority of his county, won re-election in his next term, and spent his entire life representing the people of Tennessee in various positions.
So yeah, that.
I'm going with August 18, 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee. Both chambers of Congress and 35 of 48 states had ratified the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, but the anti-suffragists had a slight edge in Tennessee; if they failed to ratify, it probably would not be adopted before the upcoming 1920 Presidential election. Both sides of the national debate had descended on Nashville, including some of the heaviest hitters of the time, and the gallery was lined with onlookers.
25-year-old State Legislator Harry Burn from McMinn County had been in the anti-suffrage camp to reflect the wishes of his constituency, and had even leaned against in some earlier preliminary actions. Before the final count, though, he had reconsidered at least in part because his elderly mother, Febb, had written him a letter encouraging him to "be a good boy" and vote for women's suffrage. He had her letter in his pocket when he cast the deciding vote for what would become the 19th Amendment.
The gallery erupted in cheers, and the rest of the day became a massive party. The anti-suffragists were dumbfounded; some shouted insults or threats at Burn, and he was so swarmed that he had to escape through a cloakroom and flee the building. The Speaker tried to call for a revote, and some anti-suffrage Representatives fled the state to try to prevent a quorum, but both attempts failed.
I wouldn't be there to see this part, but a few days later, the anti-suffrage US Secretary of State signed the 19th Amendment into law, in the middle of the night, behind closed doors, witnessed only by his secretary. Several challenges to the US Supreme Court failed to nullify the vote, and women had won the right to vote. Harry Burn, despite expressly contradicting the majority of his county, won re-election in his next term, and spent his entire life representing the people of Tennessee in various positions.
So yeah, that.
