The movement from 1848 when a convention to consider the rights of women was held in new york. The committee drafting the list of womans demands found her grievances against the government of men to be the same number that american men have had against king george. It took George Washington six years to rectify mens grievances by law, but it took 72 years to establish womens rights by law. At least 1,000 legal amendments were necessary and every one was a struggle against ignorant opposition. Woman suffrage is a long story of hard work crowned by victory. Colleen shogan is vice chair of the womens Suffrage Centennial commission and White House Historical association here in washington. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you, and good morning. Lets talk about the significance of the events this week, august 18th, 1920, and the key role tennessee played in the 19th amendment. Yes. In august of 1920, 35 states had ratified the 19th amendment, but the 36th state was elusive. There were 48 states in the United States at that time, and according to the constitution, there was a required threefourths number of states that had to ratify to make the 19th amendment part of the constitution, and really the last battle came down to tennessee. There was not another obvious state that could ratify the 19th amendment. And if women were going to have the right to vote in the 1920 election, it all came down to tennessee. Tennessee and also one key vote. This is the headline from the washington post, a mothers letter, a sons choice and the incredible moment women won the right to vote. The letter that was written by the mother of harry t. Burn. Who was he . Yes. Harry burn was a legislator in the Tennessee State house. He was actually the youngest legislator in the Tennessee Statehouse. He represented east tennessee. His district was not particularly supportive of the 19th amendment. And the governor had called a special session for tennessee to consider the 19th amendment. So harry burn returned to nashville for that session. Truth be told, on august 18th, 1920, the vote counters, suffragists, who were vote counters, really good vote counters, did not believe they had the votes to pass the amendment in the Tennessee Statehouse. They were shocked, when harry burn, who have been voting against them for all the other procedural votes, changed his vote unexplainably at that point in time, to an aye vote, which is really what pushed it over the top. What they didnt know is that he had received a letter from his mother that morning, delivered to him on the Tennessee Statehouse floor, that asked harry to vote for womens suffrage and to be a good boy and listen to mrs. Catt, the leader of the Suffrage Movement there in nashville. Harry burn decided to listen to his mother. He was, himself, supportive of womans suffrage but was torn because his constituents were n not. As he said later on, he decided that he would listen to his mother and vote for womans suffrage which put the vote over the top and gave them the win. Who is harriet catt, what was her background and why did she play such a big role . She is one of the most important figures in women suffrage history. Carrie catt was growing up in rural iowa, she was the daughter of farmers. And it was the 1872 president ial election, and her mother and father were both, as she thought, politically engaged. The day of the election came. Her father got ready to go into town to vote along with some of the farm workers who worked on the farm for their father, and she didnt understand why her mother wasnt getting ready to go into town to vote. And she asked, arent you going into town with dad to vote . And everybody laughed at her and said, dont be silly, carrie, women dont vote. And thats probably the moment in time, when she was 13 years old, that Carrie Chapman catt became a suffragist. She started her career in iowa, worked at the state level. Eventually she was married and moved to the northeast and became involved with the National American women Suffrage Association. She became the protege of susan b. Anthony. Susan b. Anthony knew at a certain period of time that she would probably not live to see women voting all across the United States. So, at that point in time, susan b. Anthony decided she needed to recruit women that would take her place, and Carrie Chapman catt was the person who susan b. Anthony recruited to take her place. She played a pivotal role, several times, in the womens Suffrage Movement, certainly as a strategist and definitely in nashville, tennessee, for the final fight. We have pictures from outside the white house. What role did president Woodrow Wilson play in all of this . Did he have a view . Yes, he absolutely had a view. Woodrow wilson, when he came to the white house in 1913, was not a supporter of womens suffrage. In fact, he tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. As time went on, he did grow and change his opinion when he realized that actually it would hurt him, it would hurt the Democratic Party for a long time in the future if he didnt change his opinion. But the suffragists, led by alice paul, were the first United States citizens ever to protest in front of the white house. And they started in 1917. At first, Woodrow Wilson was luke warm at their presence. He might tip his hat at them or politely nod at them when he would exit the north gate of the white house, but things really changed when the you state entered world war i. After the United States was involved in the war effort and the suffragists still remained outside the white house protesting, Woodrow Wilson grew very angry. And at a certain point in time he ordered from the white house that they be removed. So the d. C. Police started arresting women outside of the white house. As it ended up, approximately 168 women were arrested outside the white house for the two years in which they protested and served prison time, either in the d. C. Jail or in the workhouse 22 miles south of washington, d. C. Prison for what . What was the charge . It was obstructing traffic. And, of course, they werent obstructing traffic. They were standing on the sidewalk in front of the white house. It was a false charge. They were acting on the orders of the administration to remove the women from the area outside the white house. They werent breaking any laws. They were exercising free speech. Just because they couldnt vote at the time didnt mean they werent citizens and didnt have the right to free speech. And im curious, as we look at this movement that really be in earnest in early 1910, 1912, demonstrations reaching a fever pitch in new york city. We have pictures of that as well. What was the argument against giving women the right to vote . There were numerous arguments. There was opposition from many men, as you might imagine, but there was also a number of antisuffrage womens organizations as well. Really what it was that a lot of men and women viewed womens role as being head of the family, being involved in some civic organizations but private civic organizations. They did not view women as having a role in the public sphere. And many women who were opposed to suffrage thought if women did have the right to move and moved into the public sphere that they would lose their authority within the private sphere and the family. And those women didnt want to give up that status. But at that time period 100 years ago there wasnt the conception that women could play a role in both spheres, that women could have powerful positions within government but also play a role within the family and the private sphere. That wasnt really viewed as being an alternative for the women in the antiSuffrage Movement. They thought of it as either or. Colleen shogan is the Senior Vice President of the White House Historical association. Our phone lines are open. 2027488000 and out west, 2027488001. Suffragists versus suffragettes. Its one of the first things that you learn when you study the womens Suffrage Movement. Suffragette is a british term. In the early 1900s, a british journalist for the uk mail wrote a very negative article about the british women who were advocating for the right to vote. And he came up with the term suffra suffragette adding the ette to the end of it to make them sound small, in a way to say the work is to be minimized of these particular individuals. What the women did, they espoused that term. They made it their own. They made it their own powerful term. Alice paul who was an american living in Great Britain at the time and became part of the british womens Suffrage Movement really didnt like the term suffragette. She thought it made women seem not as powerful as they should be. When alice paul returned to the United States and became a leader in the womens Suffrage Movement in the United States, she said it would only ever be suffragist and never suffragette. When she created her own publication for the National Womens party, it was called the suffragist. When we talk about american women who advocated for the right to vote, we use the term suffragist. When we talk about british women, the correct term is suffragette. Tennessee becomes the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment 100 years ago this week. What happened next . Well, women did vote in the 1920 election. They voted probably probably the turnout, we can estimate somewhere between 33 and 36 . Of course womens turnout increased over time and by 1980 the proportion of women voting in the United States surpassed the proportion of women of men voting in the United States. 100 years ago, one of the cartoons with the caption skys the limit as women look at the right to vote, what that means for them politically. In 2020 and africanamerican on a major party ticket. The third time theres been a woman on the ticket since 1984. Your reaction . I think its all in a continuum of history. Thats why i like the cartoon so much. It shows women moving up the ladder. Certainly we have seen an historic nomination with Vice President ial candidate Kamala Harris and she stands on the shoulders of many women that came before her. Not only the suffragists but many black women who advocated for the right to vote, fought for the right to vote even after 1920 up until 1965 and all the women who have served as members of congress and have ran for president as well. Lets get to your phone calls. Carol is first up from oregon. Good morning. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. Im really enjoying this conversation. Im a daughter of the American Revolution and we talk about these things when we have our meetings. And the one subject you just happened to mention was the African Women. I would like you to point out the fact that when African Women wanted to join the other womens group, they said, well, you might hurt us a little bit. But they still went on and like you said still got that right to vote. If i could hear a little bit more about that that would be very great. Thank you very much for bringing this up. I just love all of this. This is great. Thank you. Thanks for the call. Africanamerican women, unfortunately, were often shut out of leadership positions in the two major womens suffrage organizations in the United States, the National Womens party and the National American womens Suffrage Association run by Carrie Chapman catt. They could be involved. They spoke. They were members. But they were not powerful within these organizations and institutions. However, that didnt mean they stopped advocating for the right of all women to vote. They formed their own clubs, their own organizations and were heavily involved. Some africanamerican women even picketed and protested in front of the white house as well and alice paul could call upon them to do so. Lets go to patrick jioining us from kentucky. Caller back in 1992 or 93, i knew a lady named lucy stevens. She was a suffer ramparagist, i saying that right. I was about 51, 52 years old and i used to see her on the street every morning walking to a Neighborhood Grocery store and she would carry a little sack of groceries. And i would say, hello, how are you this morning . And she would be so spry and she would talk just the way youre talking on tv now. She was very alert and very intelligent. And she was a caucasian lady. And she was just a little lady, about 55, about 100, 105 pounds and she was just a sweetheart. And i just wanted to relate that to you. She would talk about her times when she was a young woman, when she was in that movement and, oh, and i really i was blessed just to know her. She was a wonderful saintly person. And i just wanted to reveal that to you. Patrick, thank you. Any reaction or comment . I think this is part of the reason why we have the centennial celebration celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment is really to recall the stories of these women. There may be a little bit of a mythology, i think, with the womens Suffrage Movement. If its taught at all in American History or civics classes, it might be Something Like women advocated for the right to vote. They held their signs. They donned their para sols and pant loons and they were granted the right to vote. And thats not the accurate history that were trying to tell at the White House Historical association. These women really had to fight hard for the right to vote. The movement lasted 72 years from 1848 to 1920. And there were a lot of bumps along the way. There were a lot of men in power who told them no and they figured out a way they would go back, restrategize and figure out a way to come back at it again. I think its a tremendous point in American History that we can all learn from. But why did it reach that crescendo from 1912, 1913 until the summer of 1920 . Well, theres a number of reasons. Other countries were starting to grant women the right to vote. So there was a worldwide pressure that this was coming and then also in that particular era world war i ended up actually helping women in the United States because women participated in the war effort as nurses and then also taking over as jobs from men who were deployed over in europe. It was very hard for Woodrow Wilson and for others to advocate for democracy abroad and then realize they were disenfranchising over 20 million americans at home. The hypocrisy of that rhetoric became very apparent. And in fact Woodrow Wilson had to admit, theres no way that we cant acknowledge that women should have the full rights as citizens given the civic participation and how they have participated as leaders in this war effort. And Woodrow Wilson had three daughters from his first wife. Did they put pressure on him to support the 19th amendment . Theres not too much evidence for that. One of Woodrow Wilsons daughters was a very supportive of the Suffrage Movement and did appear at several womens suffrage conventions. Theres not too much of a record whether he petitioned Woodrow Wilson. One woman that was not supportive of womens suffrage was Woodrow Wilsons second wife edith wilson. She was an antisuffragist. She did not think women should have the right to vote. She was not supportive of the 19th amendment so she would have definitely not been a force in favor for Woodrow Wilson. The other factor is that the president at the time was in poor health, very suffered a stroke. Thats correct. He was. And at that period of time carrie catt actually had to go to him at certain periods of time during ratification to enlist Woodrow Wilsons help with other democratic governors around the United States so they would call their legislatures into session so the ratification could move forward across the United States. She had to go and work through edith wilson to do that. At that point in time, Woodrow Wilson had stated publicly he was in favor of the 19th amendment so edith wilson did not stand in the way. Lets go to connie joining us from florida. Good morning. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. I have a question about the first women to break ground as far as being elected to congress and as a u. S. Governor. My understanding is Jeanette Rankin was the first woman elected to congress. Are you saying that all voted for her and also the same thing for the first woman