Tennessee provided the decisive ratification vote for the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
The Tennessee General Assembly ratified the amendment on August 18, 1920. Its approval supplied the 36th state ratification required at the time, making the amendment part of the U.S. Constitution and prohibiting denial of voting rights on the basis of sex.
The House vote was especially close: 50 of 99 representatives voted in favor. Representative Harry Burn initially opposed the measure procedurally, but he changed his vote after receiving a note from his mother urging him to support women’s suffrage.
The amendment had passed Congress in 1919 after decades of organizing, lobbying, demonstrations, and state-level campaigns. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified its adoption on August 26, 1920. The amendment was a major milestone, though many women of color still faced discriminatory laws and practices that blocked voting.