U.S. Women Gain the Right to Vote

Setting the scene

Suffragists marched, picketed the White House, and endured arrest and force-feeding for decades after Seneca Falls in 1848. World War I shifted public opinion as women worked in factories and hospitals, while President Woodrow Wilson eventually backed a federal amendment.

What happened

Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on August 18, 1920, by one vote in the legislature; Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified it on August 26, granting women the constitutional right to vote nationwide.

Why it still matters

Millions of women voted in the 1920 presidential election, though many Southern Black women remained disenfranchised by Jim Crow laws until later civil-rights victories. Memorable detail: Tennessee ratifier Harry Burn changed his vote after receiving a letter from his mother Febb urging him to 'be a good boy' and support suffrage.

Background

Suffragists had marched and protested for decades.