Harry T. Burn

Harry T. Burn, Sr. (born November 12, 1895 in Niota, Tennessee, USA - February 19, 1977), was a member of the Tennessee General Assembly for McMinn County, Tennessee. Burn became the youngest member of the state legislature when he was elected at the age of twenty-two. He is best remembered for action taken to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment during his first term in the legislature.

Biography

Burn held public office for much of his adult life, including positions in the State House of Representatives, 1919-1923; State Senate, 1949-1953; state planning commission, 1952-1958; and as delegate for Roane County to the Constitutional Conventions of 1953, 1959, 1965.

19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment, regarding female suffrage, was proposed by Congress on June 14, 1919. The amendment could not become law without the ratificaton of a minimum thirty-six of the forty-eight states. By the summer of 1920, thirty-five of the forty-eight states had ratified the amendment, with a further four states called upon to hold legislative voting sessions on the issue. Three of the states refused to call special sessions, but Tennessee agreed to do so. This session was called to meet in August 1920.

Burn had originally planned to make clear his intention to vote "nay" in any session. However, a letter from his mother asking him to vote in favor of the amendment helped to change his mind. Mrs. J. L. Burn (Febb Ensminger) of Niota, Tennessee, had written a long letter to her son, a copy of which he held during the voting session on August 18, 1920. The letter contained the following:

Dear Son:Hurrah and vote for suffrage! Don't keep them in doubt! I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the "rat" in ratification.Your mother

After much debating and argument, the result of the vote was 48-48. Burn's vote broke the tie in favor of ratifying the amendment. He asked to speak to the House the next day and told them he changed his vote because his mother asked him to and that she had always taught him that "a good boy always does what his mother asks him to do."

As anti-suffragists had been fighting and preparing for this moment over the summer, they became very enraged when they discovered the news of Burn's decision. After the vote was ratified, angry anti-suffragists chased Burn through the Tennessee Legislature Hall, and Burn was forced to conceal himself for a short time until the tense situation had been diffused.Fact|date=March 2008

ources

*"Battle Began for Suffrage Many Years Ago." The Nashville Tennessean. 19 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 100
*"Suffrage Amendment Adopted by House." The Nashville Tennessean. 19 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 100
*"Tennessee Ratifies Amendment Giving Women of U.S. Vote." The Commercial Appeal. 19 August 1920. Vol. 104: No. 50.
*Hiers, Cheryl. “The Nineteenth Amendment and the War of the Roses." BlueShoe Nashville Guide. [http://www.blueshoenashville.com/suffragehistory.html] (8 August 2001).
*"Decisive Action Taken Today in Suffrage Battle." The Nashville Tennessean. 21 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 102
*"Battle Began For Suffrage Many Years Ago." The Nashville Tennessean. 19 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 100
*"New Election Laws May Be Necessary." The Nashville Tennessean. 19 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 100
*"The Case of Harry T. Burn.” The Nashville Tennessean. 21 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 102
*"Word From Mother Won For Suffrage." The Nashville Tennessean. 20 August 1920. Vol. 14: No. 101
*"Burn Changed vote on Advice of His Mother." The Commercial Appeal. 20 August 1920. pp. 1