Today, I am thankful for those who follow what their mothers taught them.
In a few weeks’ time, we will be celebrating Father’s Day here in the United States and many other countries around the globe. I attribute many wonderful life lessons to my own dad, but I credit my mother for teaching me the virtues of kindness, civility, and inclusivity. These days, society espouses to create a culture of diversity, wherein individuals with different backgrounds are appreciated for their unique viewpoints. However, diversity is only part of the solution. Even in a diverse setting, we also need to ensure inclusivity, namely the practice of guaranteeing that diverse individuals are heard, respected, and acknowledged. In other words, we need to ensure that no one is effectively marginalized.
Historically, one can point to many examples where a diverse society was still not inclusive, but a particularly salient example, and one that is notably relevant on this day, is the suffrage movement in the United States. It’s both astounding, and somewhat frightening, for me to acknowledge that our country, soon to be celebrating its 250th anniversary, will only celebrating the 100th year since women were granted a right to vote in our country. Oddly, the exclusion of female voting in the United States was never outlined in our Constitution. In fact, when the US Constitution was ratified in 1789, the document made no mention (either way) of the privilege to vote based on gender. For the most part, suffrage laws were handled at the state level. In fact, many colonies prior to 1776 permitted female suffrage, and, even after the Constitution went into effect, New Jersey permitted the right to vote to single and married women up through 1807. Then, it was disallowed.
Fortunately, a movement began burgeoning in the 1840s to bring the right to vote to all women in all states. The famous 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York called out the right (and duty) of women, who represented half the country’s population, the right to “elective franchise.” For the next 7 decades, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Carrie Chapman Catt, as well as a host of men, advocated for female and African American suffrage, but to no avail (even though African American men would secure this right in 1870). Amazingly, women could and would hold seats in US Congress, but none of them had secured the right to vote.
Several factors eventually moved the tide in favor of women. First, in the last decade of the 19th Century, numerous states in the West began to include suffrage for both genders in their state charters. Secondly, starting in 1914, the incredible support women provided to the World War I effort, both in regard to the military effort itself and a depleted labor force at home, left the national leaders in a bit of a quandary regarding its duplicitous view of women. Finally, in early 1918, Woodrow Wilson changed his mind and advocated that an amendment be brought forth to allow for women’s right to vote.
However, for the next 18 months, repeated votes for such an amendment in the House and Senate failed. Finally, following a mandate of a special session whereat Wilson made a personal appeal for woman suffrage, the House approved the 19th amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate soon followed on this day (June 4) a few weeks later.
Despite this achievement at the federal level, the amendment still required the ratification by 75% of the states (48 existed in the Union at that time). With 35 state approvals in hand by this time 100 years ago (in May 1920), only one further state was needed. The Volunteer State, Tennessee, had approved the amendment in the Senate, but a positive vote was still needed in their House of Representatives. With the Tennessee House staring down a tie, the cause appeared lost. Finally, a few minutes before the House vote, one Republican, Harry Burn, who had appeared set to reject woman suffrage, received a note from his mother. Although no one is exactly sure what words the letter contained, I’m sure Burn’s mother had some choice words for her son and a reminder of what she taught him as a child. With the note clutched in his hand, Burn changed his vote to yes, and the amendment was finally secured.
Let’s never forget the important life lessons our mothers taught us. One day, those words of wisdom might actually help change the world.
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