The Woman's Hour

The citizens of Nashville and the surrounding countryside swarm to the city to witness the historic vote on Wednesday. When the House convenes once more, tedious speeches take up much of the morning. Walker unexpectedly makes a motion to table the vote. This action could leave the amendment buried in political limbo forever. The Suffs are in a panic because they believe they don’t have sufficient votes to defeat the motion. To everyone’s amazement, Banks Turner votes against tabling even though he has already professed his allegiance to the Anti cause. Earlier that day, Turner received a persuasive phone call from Governor Cox that made him change his mind despite heavy pressure from Walker to side with the Antis.

Although the motion to table is defeated, the Suffs still fear they don’t have enough votes for ratification. Another surprise occurs when a young representative named Harry Burn votes in favor of the amendment. He has just received a letter from his mother convincing him to side with the Suffs. She writes, “Dear Son: 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 lots of love, Mama” (306).

The Suffs are wild with joy when they realize that Burn has sided with them. However, another tense moment occurs when Turner abstains from voting. This leaves the amendment tied and potentially defeated. At the last possible second, Turner reverses his decision and votes in favor of ratification. The amendment is approved, and the House erupts into pandemonium. However, the fight isn’t completely over yet because Walker unexpectedly changes his own vote. “It was a Machiavellian move, buying his side time. By changing his vote to the winning side, he could claim the right to bring the ratification question back for another vote anytime within the next two days” (307).

Despite their jubilation, the Suffs realize that they must keep every one of their legislative supporters on a short leash until Walker’s potential motion for reconsideration expires. During the interim, “The Jack Daniel’s Suite did a more robust business than ever […] Republican men were missing. Kidnappings were rumored, and some appeared to be real, as search parties were dispatched” (314).

The Antis cook up a bogus charge that Harry Burn was bribed to change his vote. Their plan to smear him in the press is foiled when a Suff newspaper gets wind of the libelous plot and exposes it in print. At the same time, Antis stage what they call “indignation rallies” across the state.

As Walker’s reconsideration motion nears expiration on Saturday, he makes another move to postpone discussion of the measure until the following week. Fortunately, the Suffs are able to keep control of their supporters in the legislature, so the motion to postpone is defeated. Walker never gets the number of Anti votes he needs to block ratification, so his two-day window to move for reconsideration expires.

Having failed in the legislature, the Antis resort to trying the legality of ratification in the court system: “Constitutional League lawyers would pursue their legal efforts to strike down the validity of the amendment all the way to the Supreme Court. Not until 1922 […] would the Supreme Court finally bring the Antis’ legal crusade to an end” (320).

As the Antis unsuccessfully attempt to derail ratification, the rest of the country celebrates women’s suffrage and lauds the leaders of NAWSA and NWP. Carrie Catt gets a hero’s welcome when she returns to her native New York. As Catt later writes to the newly enfranchised women of America, “Women have suffered agony of soul which you never can comprehend, that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom. That vote has been costly. Prize it!” (324).

In the presidential election of 1920, only one-third of eligible women opt to vote. Catt explains this as the consequence of the very short timeframe between ratification and Election Day. The country as a whole seems weary of change and chooses the bland, easily led Harding as its new president:

Americans picked a man who promised them strength and security, but whose character was weak and easily manipulated. Harding surrounded himself with cronies and opportunists who used the White House and its agencies to enrich themselves (326).

Governor Roberts is punished for his support of the amendment by losing his gubernatorial run. Harry Burn, however, is reelected as a representative by his constituency. Anti women around the country use their new franchise to vote conservative candidates into office. The South violently suppresses the Black women’s vote is during the 1920 election, while the national government does nothing to intervene. The Suff victory remains only partial: “Access to the vote is still manipulated for partisan political advantage, and true universal suffrage remains an elusive goal” (328).

Catt’s suffrage efforts grow into organizations like the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women, a global organization that still works actively to enfranchise women. However, Catt’s vision of a unified bloc of women voters never materializes.

The Antis shift their attention from suffrage to Socialism, successfully creating a conservative coalition: “The women superpatriots, having learned a lesson or two from the Suffs, mastered publicity, lobbying, and public pressure tactics to thwart significant social welfare legislation and initiatives” (333).

The impact of the original generation of Suffs still registers in the present day. In 2016, women throughout the country “cast their ballots for Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first woman to run for president as the candidate of a major political party, and then went to visit the graves of some of the suffrage leaders who’d won that ballot for them” (336-37). 

The principal players in the ratification drama met with varying degrees of success in later years. Harry Burn eventually became a Tennessee senator, a successful lawyer, and bank president. Carrie Catt remained an activist and pacifist for the rest of her life, advocating for the protection of Jews during the Nazi regime. Warren Harding died in office of a heart attack. His administration is chiefly remembered for its corruption. Seth Walker left the legislature and resumed a successful law practice protecting railroad interests.

Alice Paul continued to lead NWP and pushed actively for the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment. Anti leader Josephine Pearson returned to teaching at Christian colleges and published inflammatory articles warning against the dangers of liberalism. Governor Roberts, though not reelected to office, functioned as a respected elder statesman until his death. Sue White earned a law degree and helped draft the Equal Rights Amendment. She eventually became principal counsel for the newly established Social Security Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt.