The Suffragette Movement: A Conclusion
Title
The Suffragette Movement: A Conclusion
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Description
The nineteenth amendment was ratified in 1920 after it garnered the required two-thirds majority in approval by state legislatures. The final state to pass the amendment was Tennessee. In the lead up to the vote on its passage suffragists from NAWSA and the NWP converged on the state capital of Nashville. Gathered in the sweltering heat of a Tennessee summer the suffragists were in a panic as on the final day of the vote it seemed the legislature was deadlocked and the amendment would have to be ratified by another state. The final deciding vote was cast by Harry Burn who had voted against the amendment just days prior. When it became clear, however, that the bill needed one vote to pass Burn switched his vote and the bill was passed and the amendment ratified.
The story of Harry Burn switching his vote is an interesting one. His elderly mother had exhorted the young Harry Burn to follow his conscience in the vote and he had done so in voting against the measure. In the story, his mother had asked him to vote yes on the measure if it became apparent that he could cast the deciding vote. Burn saw the course of the vote just as the suffragists did and, realizing that he could be that deciding vote, switched his vote ensuring the amendment's ratification.
The work of the NWP, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and the many other suffragettes who marched outside the White House was completed for a time. The NWP and Alice Paul went on to be instrumental in pushing for the Equal Rights Amendment of the 1960's. The NWP's adherence to feminism and the securing of federal guarantees of equality became Paul's life work. Their actions in picketing the White House ushered in a new era of direct protest designed to garner attention and publicize the cause. The great suffrage marches of the 1910's would be followed by the Depression era marches of the poor, the Civil Rights marches of the 1950's and the anti-war protests of the 1960's and 1970's. The NWP brought the tactics of the protest into the mainstream in the United States. Massed marches are a hallmark of the liberation ideologies struggles to gain acceptance and popular legitimization and this can be traced back to Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organizing the NWP into an effective propaganda machine.
Numerous websites have assisted me in this project. Most notably the Library of Congress's site on Women of Protest located here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/
The site includes a timeline of events, a huge anthology of pictures of which I have displayed but a few, and concise summaries of the events leading up to the passage of the nineteenth amendment.
Also at the library of Congress is the Alice Paul, This Day in History page, which offers an overview of Paul's life and work. It can be seen here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan11.html
Also available on the web is a great journal article I used to describe much of the events surrounding Paul and the picketing of the White House. Woodrow Wilson, Alice Paul, and the Suffrage Movement by Sally Hunter Graham is a great resource for anyone interested in knowing more detail about the picketing of the White House. It can be seen here:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=14&ved=0CC0QFjADOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjourneytohistory.com%2FHistory102%2FArticles%2FAlice%2520Paul2.pdf&rct=j&q=Alice%20Paul%20nwp&ei=hhMKTvWcAqG40AHP7qh1&usg=AFQjCNEwISwZ3GboIzAkXB3fq3qiLItNxQ
The National Women's History Museum also has a good site devoted to Paul that can be viewed here:
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/alice-paul/
PBS kids also has a good summary and great interactive items for looking at Paul and her role as the leader of the NWP. The site can be seen here:
http://pbskids.org/wayback/civilrights/features_suffrage.html
In all this has been a great project to learn about and try to display the courage, savvy, and tenacity of the women who worked with Alice Paul and Lucy Burns on the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
The story of Harry Burn switching his vote is an interesting one. His elderly mother had exhorted the young Harry Burn to follow his conscience in the vote and he had done so in voting against the measure. In the story, his mother had asked him to vote yes on the measure if it became apparent that he could cast the deciding vote. Burn saw the course of the vote just as the suffragists did and, realizing that he could be that deciding vote, switched his vote ensuring the amendment's ratification.
The work of the NWP, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and the many other suffragettes who marched outside the White House was completed for a time. The NWP and Alice Paul went on to be instrumental in pushing for the Equal Rights Amendment of the 1960's. The NWP's adherence to feminism and the securing of federal guarantees of equality became Paul's life work. Their actions in picketing the White House ushered in a new era of direct protest designed to garner attention and publicize the cause. The great suffrage marches of the 1910's would be followed by the Depression era marches of the poor, the Civil Rights marches of the 1950's and the anti-war protests of the 1960's and 1970's. The NWP brought the tactics of the protest into the mainstream in the United States. Massed marches are a hallmark of the liberation ideologies struggles to gain acceptance and popular legitimization and this can be traced back to Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organizing the NWP into an effective propaganda machine.
Numerous websites have assisted me in this project. Most notably the Library of Congress's site on Women of Protest located here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/
The site includes a timeline of events, a huge anthology of pictures of which I have displayed but a few, and concise summaries of the events leading up to the passage of the nineteenth amendment.
Also at the library of Congress is the Alice Paul, This Day in History page, which offers an overview of Paul's life and work. It can be seen here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan11.html
Also available on the web is a great journal article I used to describe much of the events surrounding Paul and the picketing of the White House. Woodrow Wilson, Alice Paul, and the Suffrage Movement by Sally Hunter Graham is a great resource for anyone interested in knowing more detail about the picketing of the White House. It can be seen here:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=14&ved=0CC0QFjADOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjourneytohistory.com%2FHistory102%2FArticles%2FAlice%2520Paul2.pdf&rct=j&q=Alice%20Paul%20nwp&ei=hhMKTvWcAqG40AHP7qh1&usg=AFQjCNEwISwZ3GboIzAkXB3fq3qiLItNxQ
The National Women's History Museum also has a good site devoted to Paul that can be viewed here:
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/alice-paul/
PBS kids also has a good summary and great interactive items for looking at Paul and her role as the leader of the NWP. The site can be seen here:
http://pbskids.org/wayback/civilrights/features_suffrage.html
In all this has been a great project to learn about and try to display the courage, savvy, and tenacity of the women who worked with Alice Paul and Lucy Burns on the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
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Steven Terry
Library of Congress
PBS kids
National Women's History Museum
Sally Hunter Graham
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