Ratification remembered
Niota lawmaker played key role in suffrage movement
A century ago this month, a 24-year-old McMinn County lawmaker cast a vote that changed the world, a moment in history that will be recognized this weekend in his hometown of Niota, Tennessee.
Niota native Harry T. Burn on Aug. 18, 1920, cast the deciding ballot for Tennessee to become the 36th and final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, formally giving women the right to vote.
Burn’s legacy lives on in his hometown, where a ceremony set for Saturday hosted by the Niota Depot Preservation Committee will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, its link to Niota and Burn, who was born there in 1895.
The U.S. Postal Service will conduct the ceremony, according to Niota Mayor Lois Preece. Because of COVID-19 concerns, an invitation-only unveiling ceremony for a commemorative stamp is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday followed by a public exhibition at 12:30 p.m.
State, federal and local government officials, Burn family members and the county historian will be among the speakers. A mask and social distancing are required.
The event will be among the last of local events in August recognizing the centennial anniversary of the culmination of the suffrage movement.
Saturday’s ceremony recognizes a moment frozen in time, sometimes described as the largest single democratizing event in American history, and Burn had an obligation to one woman he respected above all others: his mother back home in Niota.
Burn broke a 48-48 deadlock after receiving a letter from his mother, Febb Ensminger Burn, known as “Miss Febb,” who urged him to take the side of suffrage.
Miss Febb’s letter contained the following remarks regarding the amendment: “Hurrah and vote for suffrage, and don’t keep them in doubt. I noticed Chandler’s speech, it was very bitter. I’ve been waiting to see how you stood but have not seen anything yet … Don’t forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt with her ‘Rats.’”
Carrie Chapman Catt was the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, nicknamed rats because they wanted the 19th Amendment ratified.
After the tie-breaking vote, Burn defended his decision, saying, “A mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”
Tyler L. Boyd is Burn’s great grandnephew, one of Saturday’s speakers and author of the biography, “Tennessee Statesman Harry T. Burn: Woman Suffrage, Free Elections and a Life of Service.”
Burn’s life and role in the community was inspiring, particularly “coming from someone who lived right down the road in Niota,” Boyd said on Friday.
“He gets engaged in local politics. He keeps up with things, he’s well-read and he runs for office and he gets elected and he finds himself in a position to do what most legislators aren’t doing on a daily basis, voting for an amendment that changes the country in a massive way,” Boyd said.
Boyd said Burn, even as a young man, understood this role.
“I know it’s cliche but it shows you that one vote makes a difference. One vote matters in a body of 99 people,” Boyd said.
And Burn had the best of support at home.
“Even though his father passed away and [Burn] was the man of the house, the oldest boy, he deferred to his mother,” Boyd said. “He deferred to her wisdom and her advice and he gave her the credit and respected her a lot.”
Boyd’s book tells the story of Burn’s life and career after suffrage, which included serving as state senator, a stint on the state planning commission and a failed run for governor, but it also seeks to correct some of the myths surrounding Burn’s role in the suffrage movement and the day of the tie-breaking vote, he said.
There were wild accounts of kidnapping and bribery penned in some stories about the day of the vote, and Boyd said many stories were inaccurate or even fabrications.
“There’s this idea that after the vote an angry mob of the anti-suffragists chased him around the capital and he jumped out a window and was scared for his life,” he said.
“There’s some truth in this story,” Boyd said. “He did go out the window, but he wasn’t fearing for his life. He didn’t want to be under house arrest because they were going to protect him and he didn’t want to be protected.”
Boyd said the governor had ordered the sergeant-at-arms to protect Burn
from anyone aiming to hurt him, but Burn really just wanted to leave.
Another myth, Boyd said, was that Burn first voted against the amendment and changed his mind. But Boyd said Burn was voting to table the amendment as a delaying tactic to allow a later vote. On the second roll call, the 48-48 deadlock led to Burn’s deciding vote on the third roll call when he historically voted yes on the amendment itself, Boyd said.
“He didn’t really switch his position or change his mind, it’s just that when it really mattered, he cast that deciding vote,” he said.
The third myth comes from Miss Febb’s letter to her son. Some people have the wrong idea that Burn’s mother admonished or browbeat her son to vote for suffrage, Boyd said.
“She respected him as an adult making his own decisions, but she noticed how conflicted he was,” Boyd said. “He goes over there planning to vote yes, and all of a sudden he’s got his most prominent constituents from both parties … they all send him telegrams lying to him, saying ‘everyone here is against this, you’ve got to vote no,’ which wasn’t true. The county, I think, was about split down the middle, maybe a little bit more against suffrage.”
That would change with the ratification of the 19th Amendment and 900 McMinn County women registering to vote in September 1920, numbers that tilted the community from a slight anti-suffrage majority to a slight pro-suffrage majority that for Burn “saved his career,” Boyd said.
Boyd noted the Burn family is still making waves in Niota, where Febb Burn’s husband, James L. Burn, founded Crescent Sock Co. in 1902. In recognition of the anniversary, the company now features a line called “Febb’s Boutique” with products to celebrate her legacy, according to Boyd.
In Niota on Saturday, lots of Suffrage-related memorabilia and commemorative items will be available, organizers said. Yellow roses, the symbolic bloom of Suffrage that vied with anti-suffragists’ red roses, will be plentiful for the celebration.
The unveiling at 11 a.m. will be livestreamed on the Niota Depot Preservation Committee’s Facebook page, so those who can’t attend can see the commemorative stamp, organizers said.