That Last Stubborn Button

Suffragetteback Saturday celebrates the centennial of ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment this month!

"The Last Few Buttons Are Always the Hardest" by Archibald Chapin in St, Louis Star, ca. May, 1920

When last we checked in back in March, West Virginia had become the 34th state to ratify the amendment; Washington added to the list later that month. Several states had rushed to be among the first to approve ratification; but 36 were needed, and that last one was proving very elusive.

"The Hesitating Heroes" by Harry Westerman in Ohio State Journal, ca. June, 1920

Even with ratification so tantalizingly close, neither the Republican nor Democratic party platform committed whole-heartedly to it (frankly, they both offered weak tea on most issues). Southern states in particular opposed the amendment; legislatures in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and South Carolina had officially rejected it.

"What Makes the Suff Rage" by Albert T. Reid in The National Republican, by July 14, 1920

Republican Albert Reid pointed out that those southern states (here portrayed by "'Kunnel' Democracy") were dominated by Democratic legislators and governors. Overall in 1920, Republicans held majorities in 32 state legislatures; Democrats had the majority in only half that number.

"Will He Get Away with It?" by Wimmer in various Tennessee newspapers, ca. August 13, 1920

Who was going to get credit for giving women the vote must have been at issue.

"Yes Or No?" by Ernest Burtt in Knoxville Journal and Tribune, ca. Aug. 13, 1920

Connecticut, Vermont, Florida, and North Carolina hadn't taken action on the Susan B. Anthony Amendment; so the deciding vote would come down to Tennessee, where Democratic Governor Albert Roberts called the legislature into special session on August 9. (Here's another one of those ouija board cartoons, and by no means the only one I've seen addressing this specific topic!)

"The Anxious Moment When the Ball Rimmed the Cup" by Archibald Chapin in St. Louis Star, August, 1920

Ratification passed easily in the Tennessee Senate, 25 to 4. Knowing that the Governor and state Attorney General supported women's suffrage, opponents in the Tennessee House pulled out all the stops to prevent passage.

A.E. Kromer in Pittsburgh Gazette Times (?), August 19, 1920

The vote in the House was very close — tied, in fact — until 24-year-old legislator Harry T. Burn (R-Niota) changed his vote from nay to aye at the urging, it is said, of his mother.

No caption, by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, August 19, 1920

But wait! Don't uncork that champagne — er, sparkling grape juice — just yet, ladies!

"Drat That Boy" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, August 23, 1920

In an effort to throw a monkey wrench into the works 37 members of the Tennessee House hopped a train to Decatur, Alabama to deny a quorum for reconsideration of the resolution, a parliamentary maneuver necessitated by the Speaker of the House. When that ploy failed, they returned and managed to pass a bill nullifying the ratification vote. Tennessee Attorney General Thompson, however, citing a moot attempt in 1870 by the New York legislature to revoke its ratification of the 15th Amendment, declared that reversing a ratification vote was illegal. Gov. Roberts signed the ratification resolution on August 24.

"Legal Technicalities" by Bob Satterfield, for Newspaper Enterprise Assn. (Cleveland) ca. July 15, 1920

One of the groups opposing the amendment, the American Constitutional League, was still not ready to give up. In a case filed in court immediately after ratification, the ACL argued that all 36 ratification votes by the states were invalid and that the Tennessee Secretary of State was ineligible to perform the constitutionally required step of signing the legislature's action.

The plaintiff was Charles S. Fairchild, acting on behalf of the American Constitutional League, and the case was argued by attorney Alfred D. Smith. Justice Frederick L. Siddons first raised the question of whether he even had the authority to issue such an order, and asked Smith to go find references and citations to show that he could do so. Smith returned to court a few hours later with the required documentation, but the judge still refused Smith’s request to summon the Secretary of State to show cause why he should not be restrained from signing the proclamation, and would not issue an order forbidding the Secretary from signing:
“I hold that the act of promulgating the ratification of the suffrage amendment is purely a ministerial act. I am averse to issuing a ruling ordering the Secretary of State to show cause why he should not be enjoined on the grounds presented here.”
The judge also seemed rather surprised to see that the “antis” were not just attacking Tennessee’s ratification, which at one time was the subject of controversy, but all 36 ratifications: “Do you attack the validity of every legislative act of the States with reference to ratification ?”
Smith replied: “We do on the grounds, first that Congress had no right to propose such an amendment, and secondly, because the acts of ratification were in some instances invalid because the legislatures which voted favorably were elected before Congress proposed suffrage ratification.”
A number of Southern States – Tennessee being the only one that actually ratified – have a rule that a Statewide election must take place between the time a Constitutional amendment is passed by Congress and the State legislature can vote on ratifying it. But in June, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in regard to Ohio’s ratification of the 18th Amendment (Hawke v. Smith, 253 U.S. 221), which has been interpreted by virtually all legal authorities and scholars as invalidating all restrictions on any State legislature’s right to ratify a Constitutional amendment at any time.

"Southern Chivalry Isn't What It Used to Be" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, August 24, 1920

Fairchild v. Hughes made its way to the Supreme Court in January, 1922, and was quickly disposed of. Mr. Fairchild, wrote Justice Brandeis, "is not an election officer; and the state of New York, of which he is a citizen, had previously amended its own Constitution so as to grant the suffrage to women, and had ratified this amendment. Plaintiff has only the right, possessed by every citizen, to require that the government be administered according to law and that the public moneys be not wasted."

"Hats Off, Boys" by Donahey in Cleveland Plain Dealer, August, 1920

Meanwhile, U. S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued a proclamation on August 26, 1920 that officially declared the 19th Amendment ratified. As far as everybody but the poor sports in the American Constitutional League was concerned, women's suffrage was thenceforth guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

"We Suppose the Disintegration of the Home..." by Jay N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, August 29, 1920