How Febb Burn of Tennessee changed America in 1920

By Alma Sanford on 08/18/2010 @ 02:00 PM

With next week being the 90th anniversary of women being granted the right to vote, it is fitting to take time to honor Tennessee's place in that event. However, no recitation of the history of Tennessee's role in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution would be complete without recounting the part played by Febb Ensminger Burn. Pharabe King Ensminger, nicknamed "Febb", was the well educated widow of a farmer from McMinn County, TN. She was the mother of four children, one of whom, Harry, at the age of 24, was the youngest member in Tennessee's 61st General Assembly of 1919.

Rep. Harry Burn arrived on Nashville's Capitol Hill in August of 1920 when the call came from Tennessee Governor A. H. Roberts for a special session of the legislature to consider ratification of the 19th Amendment. As he walked into the House of Representatives, he wasn't wearing one of the yellow roses from the suffragists, but a red rose signifying his support for the "anti's." In the first two roll call votes taken that day, Rep. Burn voted against suffrage, but he was sorely conflicted. He had just that morning received a letter from his mother that included the words, "Dear Son. Hurrah and vote for suffrage! I notice some of the speeches against. I have been watching to see how you stood but have not noticed anything. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. (Carrie Chapman) Catt put the "rat" in ratification. Your Mother."

As the third roll call vote was taken, the young legislator from McMinn County, still wearing his red rose, changed his vote. And so it was that advice of a mother to her son changed the course of history. With that one vote, women from all across the United States were given the right to vote. When called upon to explain his change of heart, Representative Burn said, "I know a mother's advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification."

Representative Harry Burn's vote, along with the rest of the Tennessee General Assembly, was cast on August 18, 1920, making Tennessee the 36th and final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. The U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the 19th Amendment into law one week later on August 26, 1920.

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