About Us
This Heritage Trail is a work in progress. We welcome your suggestions of other sites for inclusion. Please send suggestions to: twsheritagetrail@gmail.com.
TN Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail
Our Vision: The suffragists believed that democracy required active participation. It was not a spectator sport. They fought so American women could have a say in their government. They were the original persisters. Their story must be preserved.
The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage
Yellin and Sherman bring to life the struggle of suffragists to earn women the right to vote which culminated with the final vote needed for ratification in the Tennessee legislature. The Perfect 36 gives voice to those who were for and against the right of women to vote with a richly illustrated volume. The authors provide a great deal of writings of those who were involved in this important movement along with pictures and cartoons to give a vivid sense of what it was like to win enfranchisement. The Perfect 36 is an important resource for anyone interested in how women and men earned the right for women to fully participate in the democratic process of the United States.
Read MoreThe Woman's Hour
The Great Fight for the Vote (Viking Press) tells the dramatic story of Tennessee's ratification of the 19th Amendment, placing it in the context of the long crusade for woman suffrage, as well as the world of 1920. The story has wonderfully colorful Tennessee characters, powerful themes, and an important message for our nation today.
Read MoreWhy Can't Mother Vote?: Joseph Hanover and the Unfinished Business of Democracy
The unsung hero of the suffrage movement was a Jewish immigrant from Poland, Joseph Hanover of Memphis. He believed so strongly that women should vote that he ran for the Tennessee legislature to support woman suffrage. As the House floor leader during the August 1920 special session, he kept the pro-suffrage votes together despite the opposition of the railroad, liquor and manufacturing lobbies. The 19th Amendment would not have been ratified in Tennessee without his zealous support, strategizing with Carrie Chapman Catt, and unwavering belief in democracy and the rule of law.
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