A handwritten letter from his mother may have been the last push he needed for Harry Burn, a young state representative, to cast Tennessee’s deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment.
When it became clear that Tennessee could become the deciding state, Catt spent the summer of 1920 making speeches and advocating for suffrage across the state.Angela M. Gosnell, Knoxville News SentinelHarry T. Burn Jr. wrote that his grandmother, Febb,"thought all adults regardless of station in life or any other characteristics had something to contribute to our political process. ... She was a very practical person.
Burn, the fourth to vote, quickly voted"Aye," a change that sent shock waves through the room. After the full vote was taken, shock turned into chaos. Steve Cotham, the manager of the collection, said the family was at first hesitant to have the letter displayed publicly because of how informal it was.
"It was a real crucial moment because once the procedures in the vote had happened, the legislators were trying to undo it," Cotham said. "But once it happened, the official documents went to the Tennessee secretary of state and he put them on a train to Washington. Despite rumors that the letter had been destroyed, it has been stored in the McClung Collection since 1978. and copies have appeared in several textbooks. As the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment approache, Cotham said they've gotten requests to view the letter at least once a day.
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