08/25/2026
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Happy Women’s Equality Day — Honor the Women Who Won Us the Vote
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting Women the Right to Vote — by ONE VOTE!
Twenty-four-year-old State Representative Harry T. Burn had opposed woman suffrage. But that morning, tucked in his pocket was a letter from his mother, Febb Burn, urging him:
“Vote for suffrage and don't keep them in doubt…Don't forget to be a good boy…”.
He listened to his mother. When his name was called, Harry Burn changed his position and voted YES. That single vote secured Tennessee’s ratification: the 19th Amendment was won!
But that victory came after 72 years of organizing, more than 950 political campaigns, countless petitions and speeches, marches, arrests, imprisonment, violence, hunger strikes, and extraordinary persistence by three generations of women who refused to accept that citizenship could exclude them.
Eight days later, on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was officially registered, becoming a proclaimed part of the U.S. Constitution.
That is why, on Women’s Equality Day, we remember - The vote was not given to women. It was won. And the history of that struggle still matters.
126 years later, it is easy to take that voting right for granted. Although women register to vote at higher rates than men, in 2024, 45,000,000 American women, one third of all women, with the power to vote --did not vote! Currently the Right to Vote is under assault and often subtly. If the SAVE ACT, now pending in the Senate, becomes law, as many as 69 million women who changed their names upon marriage would face barriers to voter registration because their current legal names may not match their birth certificates.
Knowing the history of the suffrage movement gives us more than pride in the women who came before us. It gives us responsibility. Knowing Women’s History, how hard others fought for this political Right, voting becomes more than a privilege. It becomes an inheritance to protect and a duty to pass forward.
At the heart of the National Women's History Alliance is that duty. *
SO, ON THIS WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY, PLEASE REJOIN US, AND PROTECT WHAT THREE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN WON!
Become a member again -at whatever level comfortable for you — or become a monthly contributor. Help sustain our work* throughout the year. Together we will carry forward the torch lit by our foremothers and place it in the hands of all the girls of our nation.
Link: https://nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/membership-campaign/
By Check: National Women’s History Alliance, 1855 Cooper Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Special thank-you: With a membership or contribution of $125 or more, or $20 as a monthly donor, you may request Winning the Vote. It is considered to be the Bible of the entire Suffrage Campaign: a comprehensive, 496-page history of the struggle, superbly and profusely illustrated with more than 960 color and b/w illustrations that include historic photographs, and colorful marketing tools. (a $85 value) Or give a gift membership with this book to a library, a young woman, a friend, a sister.
Thank you for your consideration and participation!
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Martha Wheelock, President Emerita, National Women’s History Alliance.
Any questions? Contact Martha Wheelock 818-970-0097 [email protected] , or Molly Murphy MacGregor 707-694-4450, [email protected]
*For a look at our programs, see www.nationlwomenshistoryalliance.org
