Equality Trailblazers

Equality Trailblazers. Honoring 100 Years of Woman Suffrage. , During the last two decades of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th, dedicated Tennessee women campaigned relentlessly for woman suffrage. Remembered here are the stories of some of these trailblazers whose perseverance in bringing the message of "Votes for Woman" to the people of this state paved the way for the suffragists' victory in Nashville on August 18, 1920., The earliest suffragist in the state was Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis, who is acknowledged with a state historical marker. She is also featured on the Tennessee Suffrage Memorial in Knoxville. Her activist sister-in-law, Lide Smith Meriwether, founded Tennessee's first woman suffrage organization in Memphis in 1889., After years of strategizing, organizing and overcoming defeats, it fell to Tennessee's all-male, all-White legislature, which met for three weeks in special session, to defend, denounce, cuss, discuss, and finally to ratify--with a majority of a single vote--the so-called Susan B. Anthony Amendment. This action, in effect, marked the moment of enfranchisement for one-half the adult population of the United States. Tennessee, which was immediately proclaimed "The Perfect 36" by commentators and cartoonists of the day, thereby became the pivotal 36thstate needed to complete ratification by three-quarters of the then 48 states., It also marked the climax of seventy-two years of ceaseless campaigning by three generations of American women activists. Seasoned veterans of the suffragist struggle said that this last battle was the toughest ever. It was a united Shelby County delegation that introduced the 19th Amendment into the legislature, which states: "The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." State Representative Joe Hanover's zeal for ratification resulted in his becoming the House floor leader. He was joined by Shelby County Representatives Ernest Bell, George A. Canale, Carl Larson, C.E. McCalman, John Morgan and T.K. Riddick, as well as State Senators Lambert E. Gwinn and Frank J. Rice in voting for ratification., The decisive drama that unfolded during those hectic days in Tennessee must be counted as one of democracy's finer triumphs, which is the way the suffragists themselves saw it. The victory made it possible for generations of women who followed to succeed in their endeavors. The "Equality Trailblazers" featured on this monument represent the goal of the suffragist--citizens participating in their government.