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100th Anniversary of Suffrage

McKenzie Celebrates Women’s Right to Vote

Posted

McKENZIE (August 2) — As part of McKenzie’s sesquicentennial celebration was a celebration of 100 years of women’s suffrage, the right to vote in the United States.
Approximately 75 persons attended a celebratory event to mark a century of voting. The event was held at the First United Methodist Church. Catherine Argo portrayed Susan B. Anthony, a leading advocate of the suffrage movement. After Congress allowed a Constitutional amendment to move to the states, it was Tennessee that was the 36th and final state necessary to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The War of the Roses started during the suffrage movement. Proponents of women’s suffrage wore yellow roses on their lapels. Opponents wore red.
Tennessee’s initial vote was deadlocked, however, a note from one representative’s mother was the turning point. Harry T. Burns, age 24, changed his vote to yes after his mom encouraged him to do so.
Catherine Dinwiddie Argo, a retired teacher, was the descendant of the first woman to vote. She was Ellen Dinwiddie Scates.
Failure is not an option in this undertaking, said Susan Anthony.

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s first U.S. Senator, said the vote on the 19th Amendment is well documented in the Tennessee State Museum.
The suffrage movement started in 1848 in New York State. The women who initiated the movement knew they would not personally benefit from the movement, but set the stage for women of the future.
Senator Blackburn said she and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, in a bi-partisan effort, initiated legislation to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote. Blackburn said it received unanimous support. The movement started in Gillibrand’s home state and concluded with a vote in Blackburn’s home state.
Blackburn also recognized the three females mayors who attended the event: McKenzie Mayor Jill Holland, Greenfield Mayor Cindy McAdams, and Belle Meade Mayor Gray Oliver Thornburg, who is the grandchild of former McKenzie Mayor Y.D. Moore.
The senator also honored McKenzie Mayor Holland with a proclamation, which was entered into the Congressional Record, proclaming McKenzie’s 150th anniversary.
Following the event hosted by Carroll Arts and the city of McKenzie, the ladies and gentlemen re-enacted a march to nearby City Hall to petition for the right to vote. Mayor Holland read a proclamation granting women the right to vote.
Watch videos of the event online at www.mckenziebanner.com.

Anniversary, Suffrage, Women, Women's Right, Voting, Vote