NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The city of Nashville dedicated a monument to the Women's Suffrage movement at Centennial Park Tuesday, marking 100 years since the 19th amendment was ratified.
Everything from the hats and the dresses, to the scorching August heat, took Nashvillians back into the footsteps of some of the better angels of our nature.
"When they said 'We the People' back in those days, they left out a big part of the people," said Yvonne Woods, the President of the Tennessee Woman's Suffrage Monument Committee.
The statue, featuring five key leaders of the Tennessee movement, is dedicated to how the vote was won. "We’re celebrating today as the day that Tennessee signed the legislation to make the 19th amendment an amendment to the Constitution," said Pat Pierce, the Treasurer of the monument committee.
It's no coincidence the statue ended up at Centennial Park. More than a century ago, Anne Dallas Dudley led a march from the State Capitol to the park. Historians say it was the first of its kind in the south.
The speeches and rallies eventually pressured Tennessee lawmakers to finally take a vote on suffrage.
"We like to talk about the celebration but let me tell you, it was a do or die moment," said Dr. Carole Bucy, an historian for Metro-Nashville.
The deciding vote was cast by Harry Burn, who was poised to vote against suffrage, until his mother wrote him a letter.
"My great-great grandmother had read a speech in the newspaper and she had noticed he had not taken a stand trying to make everybody happy, so she wrote him a letter and asks him to Hurrah vote for suffrage, don’t keep them in doubt," said Tyler Boyd, Burn's great-grandnephew.
But even after that consequential vote, there was no massive celebration.
"There was no bell ringing, because the suffragists knew the antis were not going to be very lady-like in their concession," quipped Dr. Bucy.
Bucy explained there were several legal and legislative efforts to overturn the Tennessee suffrage vote, so organizers held off on any celebrations.
It's safe to say this generation of women made up for lost time. At noon, the crowd at the dedication gathered around the monument to ring their bells in celebration of the centennial.
An all-women skydiving team also performed a breath-taking landing in honor of the anniversary.
All of this, to mark the day Tennessee listened to the better angels of our nature. "It changed the lives of women forever," said Pierce.
If you'd like to see the statue for yourself, it's on a new walkway in front of the Parthenon in Centennial Park.
