Pod Insights American History Tellers ENCORE: The Fight for Women's Suffrage | The 19th Amendment | 5 About this episode As America entered World War I, the suffrage movement split into a two-pronged attack. Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party took their protests to the White House gates. Meanwhile, Carrie Chapman Catt and her group, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, lobbied to prove the loyalty and patriotism of American women, hoping they would be rewarded with the ballot.
Together, these two groups would finally succeed in pushing a new amendment through Congress, granting women the right to vote. But before it could become law, it would have to be ratified by the states – leading to a dramatic showdown in the final state the suffragists needed, Tennessee.
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0:00 Lindsay Graham? Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
0:21 Lindsay Graham? Imagine it's June 1917 and you're standing outside the White House gates in Washington, DC. You're a mother of two from North Carolina, but a few months ago, you left your teaching job to devote all your time to fighting for suffrage. You and your fellow protesters from the National Women's Party have been silently picketing the White House for months, but this week, you've escalated the protest with a new extra-large banner. You hope it captures the attention of the president and the press. You turn to a fellow protester.
0:54 Speaker 01 I'll never understand how Wilson can boast about American democracy to our allies when half the country can't even vote.
1:02 Lindsay Graham? Your friend shakes her head as she helps you unfurl the 10-foot banner. You smile as you read the bold, black words criticizing President Wilson for his position against suffrage. You know the banner is provocative. You had to paint a new one yesterday after an angry mob shredded the previous one, but you want to be provocative. Politicians like Wilson have ignored women's voting rights for far too long.
1:26 Lindsay Graham? All of a sudden, a dozen men round the corner and run towards you on the sidewalk. Many of them are wearing sailor uniforms.
1:34 Speaker 01 Here we go again.
1:36 Lindsay Graham? One of the men picks up a rock and hurls it at you. You dodge. You lift your chin in defiance as the men get closer. One of them spits in your face. You grimace, but stand your ground.
1:51 Lindsay Graham? A police officer drives up in a patrol wagon and starts walking towards you.
1:56 Speaker 02 You ladies are under arrest.
1:58 Speaker 01 Us? What about these men?
2:02 Lindsay Graham? The officer grabs your banner and flings it to the ground. He points to a phrase on the torn fabric.
2:08 Speaker 02 "America is not a democracy." "How can you insult the president like that when we're at war? They should lock up traitors like you."
2:16 Speaker 01 "We're simply exercising our First Amendment rights. We're doing nothing wrong."
2:21 Speaker 02 "Leave that to the judge to decide."
2:24 Lindsay Graham? The officer forces your hands behind your back and snaps a pair of handcuffs on your wrists.
2:29 Speaker 01 "But why are you arresting us? On what charge?"
2:33 Speaker 02 "You're obstructing sidewalk traffic."
2:36 Speaker 01 "Sidewalk traffic? I don't see any pedestrians. Just a mob of thugs who attacked us. This is outrageous."
2:45 Lindsay Graham? But the officer just sneers as he shoves you toward his patrol wagon. You knew that when you joined the picketers, you would be putting yourself in danger. But now you think of your daughters at home and wonder when you'll see them again. Then you remind yourself, you're doing this for them. You don't want them to grow up in a world where they're treated like second-class citizens. As the officer slams the police wagon doors, you wonder how many more years it will take, how much more suffering women will have to endure before you finally bring the nation to your side.
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4:12 Lindsay Graham? From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story.
4:33 Lindsay Graham? In the summer of 1917, dozens of protesters at the White House were arrested and thrown in jail for peacefully demanding a federal suffrage amendment. The nation was in the midst of World War I, and there was little room for dissent in the charged atmosphere. As American soldiers fought in Europe, both wings of the suffrage movement were determined to use the war as a new weapon in their struggle for the vote. Alice Paul and her National Women's Party took their protests to the White House gates. Paul wanted to expose the hypocrisy of a government crusading for democracy abroad, while denying it to half its population at home. But Carrie Chapman Catt and her group, the National American Women's Suffrage Association, took a different tack.
5:17 Lindsay Graham? Cat was determined to prove the loyalty and patriotism of American women, hoping they would be rewarded with the ballot. For 70 long years, generation after generation of fearless women had petition, lobbied, and protested for the vote. Their grueling struggle was nearing its climax. But few imagined the lengths women would have to go to to finally reach the finish line. This is episode 5, The 19th Amendment. In June 1917, the first transport ships carrying American troops left New York Harbor and sailed to the battlefields of France. Two months had passed since the United States officially entered World War I, joining Britain,
6:01 Lindsay Graham? France, and Russia in the fight against Germany. During that time, Alice Paul and her supporters in the National Women's Party had resumed their picket outside the White House gates. They continued demanding that President Woodrow Wilson take action on a federal suffrage amendment. But in the hyper patriotic climate of the war, Paul's criticism of the government smacked of disloyalty. Newspapers criticized the picketers, known as the silent sentinels, for protesting during wartime. A June New York Times editorial linked militant suffragists with socialists and draft dodgers, branding them as inciters of rebellion. And then on June 20th, the picketers unfurled a 10-foot banner directed at a Russian delegation visiting the White House.
6:45 Lindsay Graham? Russia itself had recently given women the vote, and the NWP wanted to embarrass the president by highlighting the contrast between the United States and its ally. The banner declared, "The women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. 20 million American women are denied the right to vote. President Wilson is the chief opponent of their national enfranchisement." For many, the Russian banner took the call for suffrage a step too far. The nonviolent protesters were seen as traitors. Furious onlookers lashed out and tore down the banner. And over the next week, crowds continued to harass the protesters. Police arrested 27 picketers on charges of obstructing traffic.
7:29 Lindsay Graham? Initially, President Wilson reacted to the picketing with amusement, often tipping his hat as he drove past. But after the Russian banner, he lost his patience. He wrote to his daughter Jessie complaining, "They certainly seem bent upon making their case as obnoxious as possible." But while Paul antagonized Wilson, Carrie Chapman Catt cozied up to him. Cat was determined to shield the National American Women's Suffrage Association from any accusations of disloyalty. She and her allies put out more than 250 editorials against the picketing. And Cat issued a public statement urging Paul to stop the protest, insisting it was hurting the cause of suffrage. She called the picket "an unwarranted discourtesy to the president and a futile annoyance to Congress."
8:15 Lindsay Graham? Though Kat personally opposed the war, she had pledged to Wilson the NAWSA's support. The National Association was the largest women's organization in America, boasting 2 million members. Kat's strategy was to prove the patriotism of the mainstream suffrage movement and American women at large. And throughout 1917, Kat and President Wilson exchanged letters, and her colleagues became friendly with various White House advisers. That spring, with Wilson's support, the government's Council for National Defense formed a women's committee and asked former NAWSA President Anna Howard Shaw to serve as chair. The women's committee was dominated by suffragists from the National Association.
8:58 Lindsay Graham? It focused on mobilizing America's women's groups in support of the war effort. The committee supported the Red Cross, encouraged housewives to conserve food, raised funds to maintain a hospital in France, and fought for safety standards for women war workers, because all across America, a growing number of women were powering the nation's factories and farms, filling the jobs left by men fighting abroad. The National Association's publicity arm pushed out articles celebrating women's patriotism and sacrifice. Kat hoped the nation and Wilson would recognize women's service by granting them the vote. But even though Wilson approved of the NAWSA's war efforts, he remained opposed to a federal suffrage amendment.
9:40 Lindsay Graham? He maintained that women's suffrage should be left to the states to decide. So as the months wore on, Kat continued to press her case behind the scenes. But to her frustration, Alice Paul escalated her protests in public. In August 1917, one of the silent sentinels branished a banner with bold black letters addressing the president as Kaiser Wilson. This provocative banner called out Wilson's hypocrisy for waging a war against Germany to promote democracy abroad while still denying the vote to women at home. The Kaiser Wilson banner sparked violent outrage. For several days, angry mobs rushed the protesters, kicking, punching, and dragging them.
10:23 Lindsay Graham? Picketers retreated to the balcony of the National Women's Party headquarters, but the crowds followed them. Soldiers and sailors scaled the building and hurled rocks and eggs at the protesters. One man fired a bullet through a window. But despite the violent response, the NWP refused to stop picketing. But it wasn't easy. Police allowed the attacks to continue, and instead of rounding up the violent mob, arrested the protesters. They caught up immigrants and labor radicals, middle-class teachers and nurses, and the wives and daughters of America's elite. Given the choice of jail or paying a fine, dozens of women chose jail. Many were locked up in the dark, cramped cells of the Okeechobee Workhouse, a bleak prison in northern Virginia.
11:07 Lindsay Graham? There, inmates endured maggot-infested food, unsanitary conditions, and hostile treatment from the guards. At first, sentences ranged from 30 to 60 days. But by fall, women were being jailed for six months, simply for protesting peacefully outside the White House. All throughout this time, Paul had overseen the picketing from NWP headquarters. But in October, she decided it was time to join her allies in jail. She came to the protests at the White House gates, where she was quickly arrested and sentenced to seven months at Okeechobee. Soon after her arrival, Paul broke a window to let in air for her fellow inmates, and was punished for it with transfer to solitary confinement in Washington DC's City Jail.
11:50 Lindsay Graham? While there, Paul became weak and feeble, fed nothing but rotten pork and stale bread. After two weeks, she was placed in the prison hospital, where she joined forces with a fellow inmate, a suffragist named Rose Winslow. This pair decided to revive a tactic Paul had first used eight years earlier in Britain: a hunger strike. Paul and Winslow were determined to protest their conditions by doing something to capture the nation's attention, but their act of defiance would trigger a brutal response. Imagine it's November 1917. You're a Polish-born factory worker and member of the National Women's Party.
12:32 Lindsay Graham? You're in the jail in Washington DC after being arrested for peacefully protesting the White House. You've been enduring worm-infested food and poor sanitation for weeks, but now you and Alice Paul have decided to begin a hunger strike in protest. It's been three days since you last ate, and you're curled up in the corner of your cell, feeling disoriented and weak.
12:55 Speaker 02 Time for breakfast.
12:58 Lindsay Graham? You look up as the guard slides a plate of raw, salted pork across the floor. Even though the sight of it makes you nauseous, there's a gnawing hunger in the pit of your stomach that's hard to ignore, but you refuse to give in.
13:11 Speaker 06 I'm still not eating.
13:13 Lindsay Graham? The guard rolls his eyes.
13:14 Speaker 02 Lady, you better stop this nonsense. Are you trying to starve to death?
13:18 Speaker 06 I demand to be treated as a political prisoner. My fellow protesters and I have been put behind bars simply for exercising our First Amendment rights.
13:27 Speaker 02 I don't care what kind of prisoner you are. This can't go on.
13:32 Lindsay Graham? You try to stand up, but you sway, and for a moment, your vision turns cloudy, feel like you could faint.
13:38 Speaker 06 A political prisoner has rights, like the right to real food, the right to send and receive mail, and the right to meet with a lawyer. We won't stand for this treatment any longer.
13:52 Speaker 02 Keep dreaming. Listen, if it was up to me, you could starve yourself all you want, but we can't have you women dying on our watch. Too much legal trouble.
14:02 Lindsay Graham? Guard walks towards you and grabs your elbow.
14:04 Speaker 06 Let me go.
14:06 Lindsay Graham? You try to fight him, but you're too weak. He drags you out into the hallway, where a second guard is waiting with a stretcher. They lift you onto it and begin tying you down.
14:16 Speaker 06 Stop this!
14:17 Speaker 02 If you refuse food, we're just gonna have to make you eat.
14:22 Lindsay Graham? You struggle against the straps as the guard wheels you down the hallway. You know this can only mean one thing. It's what you feared ever since you began this hunger strike. They're gonna hold you down and force-feed you.
14:38 Lindsay Graham? In November 1917, Alice Paul and Rose Winslow launched a hunger strike. As punishment and to convince the public that she was insane, Paul was carted off to the prison psychiatric ward. The hunger strike continued, though, for three days, until the prison guards decided they had had enough. They began subjecting Paul and Winslow to force-feeding. Twice a day, they jammed a rubber tube down their nostrils and forced raw eggs into their stomach. Paul and Winslow often choked and vomited during the procedure. But Winslow managed to smuggle notes out of the prison with an account of the ordeal. She wrote, "Miss Paul vomits much. I do too. My throat aches afterward, and I always
15:20 Lindsay Graham? weep and sob to my great disgust, quite against my will. We think of the coming feeding all day. It is horrible." Newspapers across the country described the force-feeding in gruesome detail. Outraged over Paul's treatment, the National Women's Party responded with more picketing at the White House. Arrests followed, and 33 female picketers were jailed at Okeechobee. The youngest was 19, the oldest was 73. And while behind bars, these inmates followed Paul's protest and demanded status as political prisoners. When they were refused, they began their own hunger strikes. Force-feeding them soon followed too. The guards were determined to crack down on the resistance. On the night of November
16:05 Lindsay Graham? 14th, 1917, male guards flung the women off their feet, handcuffed them, and dragged them through the corridors. NWP co-founder Lucy Burns was chained to the bars above her cell door and forced to stand all night. A guard smashed one woman against an iron bed, knocking her unconscious. Another suffered a heart attack but was denied medical care. The NWP called the brutality "The Night of Terror." The shocking mistreatment sparked public outcry. Most Americans believed the punishments were far too heavy-handed for the crime. Even one of Wilson's advisers resigned over the issue. Two weeks after "The Night of Terror," NWP lawyers convinced a judge to
16:47 Lindsay Graham? release Paul and the other inmates. By then, 168 women had served time for their participation in pro-suffrage protests.
17:00 Lindsay Graham? But while Paul was in prison in the fall of 1917, Carrie Chapman Catt was busy leading a campaign in New York to add women's suffrage to the state constitution. It had been just two years since New Yorkers had rejected a previous suffrage referendum, but Cat felt the time was right to give it a second try. New York was the largest and most powerful state in the nation, and it remained Cat's top strategic target. Her campaign was relentless and highly organized. Kat's allies raised huge amounts of money to pay organizers who knocked on doors across the state, collecting petition signatures. Campaigners established suffrage schools to teach volunteers how to canvass and speak to the press. And the fight was led by a diverse coalition, including working-class immigrants and
17:44 Lindsay Graham? black activists. Kat had spent months carefully nurturing her relationship with President Wilson, but he had still not endorsed a federal amendment. Still, she felt he was inching closer, especially when he publicly expressed his hope that New Yorkers would grant women the ballot. And even though New York City's powerful Democratic Party machine, Tammany Hall, had long opposed suffrage, Kat's partner, Mary Garrett Hay, persuaded them that the political winds were shifting. Ten days before the election, Tammany Hall declared neutrality on the issue, announcing that New Yorkers should feel free to vote as they wished. The climax of the campaign took place on October 27, 1917, when 20,000 suffragists
18:28 Lindsay Graham? marched down Fifth Avenue, holding signs with the signatures of "One Million New Yorkers." That election day, New York became the first eastern state to grant women the right to vote. Kat called the victory "the Gettysburg of suffrage." She knew that the win of the nation's most populous state, with the largest congressional delegation, could be the tipping point they needed. Suffragists could feel the momentum building. Now they would renew their push for a federal amendment. But to succeed, they would have to win over two-thirds of all sitting senators and congressmen. They knew the margin of victory would be razor-thin. Every last vote would count.
19:11 Lindsay Graham? By 1779, Benedict Arnold had sacrificed more for the Revolution than almost any other man in America. One of George Washington's most effective commanders, he had nearly lost a leg in the Second Battle of Saratoga. But in return, Arnold believed he had been humiliated by Congress and cheated of his glory by lesser men, so he decided to make them pay. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham. I am the host of the podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, Benedict Arnold turns his back on his comrades in the Continental Army and secretly defects to the British. With the help of his wife, he plots to hand over the most important colonial fortress
19:55 Lindsay Graham? to the enemy and doom the revolution he once served. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
20:12 Speaker 07 Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce, the host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries, but he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
21:02 Lindsay Graham? By the end of 1917, suffragists had a real chance of pushing through their ultimate goal, a federal amendment to the Constitution that would give all American women access to the ballot. Since 1914, it had been commonly known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, named in honor of one of the key founders of the suffrage movement. But the Anthony Amendment had stalled in Congress for nearly 40 years. Still, recent victories now gave suffragists the chance to change that. They had a key ally in the House, too, Montana Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin. In 1916, Rankin became the first woman elected to the US House of Representatives. She was a potent symbol of the growing political power of women, and she fought hard to put
21:46 Lindsay Graham? suffrage on the congressional agenda. Her efforts paid off in December, when the House formed a new Woman Suffrage Committee to restart work on the amendment. The committee was made up of representatives from suffrage states, including Rankin. More members of Congress than ever before now counted women and suffrage supporters among their constituents. There were 12 states now where women had full access to the polls, and another six where women could vote in the presidential or primary elections. And even outside those states, public opinion was shifting. The violence directed toward Alice Paul and her allies in the National Women's Party generated a wave of sympathetic press coverage. And while America's men fought in Europe, women had proven their patriotism by supporting
22:31 Lindsay Graham? the war at home. Their service gave new legitimacy to the argument that women deserved a voice in government. So the House Woman Suffrage Committee got to work quickly. Just a month after being formed, the committee conducted hearings on the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. Over five days in early January 1918, the committee heard testimony from opponents and supporters. The suffragists prevailed when the committee made a favorable report on the amendment on January 8th, clearing the way for a floor vote. But they feared that unless they won President Wilson's full-throated support, they would ultimately fail. That same day, Wilson delivered his 14-point speech to Congress, outlining his grand plans for lasting global peace once the war was won.
23:16 Lindsay Graham? Wilson had his own political calculations to make. To secure his peace plan, he needed the Democratic Party to keep control of Congress in the midterm elections, and for that, he needed women's support. His opponents in the Republican Party were starting to rally around the amendment, and Wilson feared that come November, they would use Democrats' opposition to suffrage against them. So the next day, Wilson summoned a dozen key House Democrats to the White House. He had a surprising announcement to make. He urged the congressman to vote for the Anthony Amendment. At last, Wilson had finally endorsed changing the Constitution to give all American women the ballot. The congressman walked out of the White House and delivered the news to a small crowd of
23:59 Lindsay Graham? reporters and suffragists waiting outside in the snow. Among them was Alice Paul, who later took credit for changing Wilson's mind. She reflected, "Suffrage was not in Wilson's thought at all until we, ourselves, injected it there, and it was not in the center of his thought until the picketing was well along." The picketing did put public pressure on Wilson, as did the jail time and force feeding that followed. Paul's activism pushed the suffrage agenda forward and made votes for women a matter of urgent debate. But Carrie Chapman Katz's quiet diplomacy was equally responsible. Katz had carefully courted Wilson for months, and the organization she led had proven its loyalty. But suffragists from both organizations
24:42 Lindsay Graham? were thrilled to finally have Wilson in their corner. Still, his support alone would not be enough. For the amendment to win passage, they needed the approval of two-thirds of both the House and the Senate.
24:58 Lindsay Graham? On January 10, 1918, suffragists packed the galleries of Congress to watch the House vote. Congresswoman Rankin opened the floor debate. She gave a passionate speech, asking, "How shall we explain the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted for war to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?" Everyone knew the vote would be close. One pro-suffrage congressman held off from having a broken shoulder set so he could be there to cast his ballot. Another made it just in time despite being caught in a train wreck. Yet another left the bedside of his dying wife so he could vote in her honor. And when the House clerk announced the final tally, the galleries erupted in cheers.
25:42 Lindsay Graham? The amendment passed by a single vote. After the House approved the amendment, suffragists turned their focus to the Senate. The next day, Katz gave marching orders in a letter to her staff. She declared, "The woman's hour has struck. Start a campaign of letters and telegrams and keep it up. We won by a single vote in the House. We may be beaten by a single vote in the Senate. Leave no stone unturned. Put on your armor, mobilize your army, and be ready." But pushing the suffrage amendment through the Senate would prove far more difficult than Katz ever thought.
26:20 Lindsay Graham? Imagine it's May 1918 and you're in your office on Capitol Hill. You're a Democratic Senator from New Mexico and the Chair of the Women's Suffrage Committee. For the past few months, you've been working without rest to get the votes you need to get this amendment through the Senate. But you've just hit a major stumbling block.
26:39 Lindsay Graham? You look up from your desk to see Carrie Chapman Catt burst into your office.
26:43 Speaker 06 What is the meaning of this, Senator?
26:46 Speaker 02 Mrs. Cat, I thought you might drop by. Please, have a seat.
26:49 Speaker 06 I prefer to stand. You better explain yourself, Senator. I thought you were supposed to be holding a floor vote today. And now I hear at the last minute you've pulled the bill?
27:00 Lindsay Graham? Cat is literally trembling with rage, push away from your desk, throwing your arms in the air.
27:06 Speaker 02 I don't know what you want me to say. When I scheduled the vote, I thought we had a chance. We were only two votes short. I've moved heaven and earth to get my colleagues back to Washington. But it hasn't been enough. I just don't have the votes we need.
27:22 Lindsay Graham? Cat starts pacing your office.
27:24 Speaker 06 My lobbyists are doing everything they can. They work day and night persuading your colleagues. But I need you to meet me halfway. I thought I could count on you.
27:34 Speaker 02 To tell you the truth, Mrs. Cat, I don't like your tone. I'm just as frustrated as you are.
27:39 Speaker 06 Oh, is that right? You're frustrated? Senator, I am nearly 60 years old. I have devoted my entire life to this cause. To see it get tossed aside by a handful of obstinate old men...
27:52 Speaker 02 Mrs. Cat, need I remind you? I am your most important ally in this fight. Get out of my office and don't come back until you've improved your attitude.
28:01 Lindsay Graham? Cat laughs bitterly. You can almost feel the anger radiating from her.
28:08 Speaker 06 Believe it or not, I've had a lifetime of men telling me to improve my attitude. Get your house in order, Senator. I'm sick and tired of waiting for the ballot.
28:21 Lindsay Graham? You rub your temples as she storms out. You have no idea where you're gonna find the remaining votes you need. And after this hysterical outburst from Cat, you have half a mind to give up the fight altogether.
28:36 Lindsay Graham? The suffrage amendment faced an uphill battle in the Senate. Twice in the winter and spring of 1918, anti-suffrage senators blocked and delayed the amendment vote. Kat’s initial optimism quickly turned to anger and frustration. After a delay in May, she barged into the office of Suffrage Committee Chair Senator Andreas Jones, railing at him with such fury that her colleague had to go smooth things over. But Jones could only do so much. Opposition in the Senate was strong among Southern Democrats, who were fiercely against giving the vote to Black women. Making matters worse, 10 sitting senators died in office in 1918, seven of whom supported suffrage.
29:17 Lindsay Graham? Despite the challenges, the two wings of the suffrage movement kept up the pressure. Lobbyists with both the National Women’s Party and National American Women’s Suffrage Association made the rounds on Capitol Hill. The National Association pumped out letters and petitions, while the NWP took to the streets, staging demonstrations in Washington parks in August. Again, many of the protesters were arrested and sent to prison, sparking another cycle of hunger strikes and forced feeding. But at long last, the Senate finally scheduled a vote in late September 1918. Kat urged President Wilson to go to the Senate in person to rally support. The United States and its allies were on the verge of victory in Europe, and Wilson
29:58 Lindsay Graham? was eager to boost suffrage and with it, his own leadership on the global stage. So on September 30, he arrived on the Senate floor and delivered a speech urging the amendment’s passage as a war measure. He declared, “I tell you plainly that this measure which I urge upon you is vital to winning the war.” But it wasn’t enough. The next day, the amendment was struck down, falling short by just two votes. Still, suffragists kept fighting and organizing as the midterm elections loomed. Even when the Spanish Flu pandemic ravaged America in the fall of 1918, activists kept working tirelessly to defeat their opponents in Congress, mostly Democrats. Their efforts paid off.
30:40 Lindsay Graham? When America went to the polls, Republicans took the majority in both the House and Senate. It was a breakthrough. Republicans were more inclined than Democrats to support the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, and suffragists now had a fighting chance of pushing it through. On May 21, 1919, the new Republican-controlled Congress took their seats. They wasted no time acting. On its opening day, the new House held a vote and once again approved the Anthony Amendment. Then, on June 4, the amendment finally passed in the Senate, with just two votes more than a two-thirds majority. But celebrations were brief. The fight in the Senate had taken longer than anyone expected, and there was still much work to be done.
31:23 Lindsay Graham? What was now known as the 19th Amendment still needed to be ratified by the states to become law. Suffragists needed the approval of three-quarters of America's 48 states. This meant they had to convince 36 individual state legislatures to grant voting rights to women. They rushed back to their districts to campaign. In state capitals across the nation, from Springfield to Sacramento, both wings of the movement swung into action. Over the next year, suffragists waged 36 separate battles for ratification, all with their own complex political issues. They were determined to get the amendment ratified before November 1920, so that women could participate in the next presidential election.
32:06 Lindsay Graham? By the end of June 1919, the amendment had sailed through nine state legislatures. With each new victory, Alice Paul sewed a new satin star onto her purple-and-gold ratification flag, circulating images to publicize the campaign. But after these early wins, the remaining states proved more difficult. As the months wore on, activists fought with hostile legislators across America, racking up hard-won victories and crushing defeats. After a year of lobbying and campaigning, by June 1920, 35 states had ratified the 19th Amendment. Suffragists needed only one more state to make it the law of the land. But the final state would prove to be their biggest challenge yet.
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33:55 Speaker 03 A trucker merges onto the I-10 in New Orleans. He checks his mirrors. The lane is clear. And then, boom, impact. A pickup truck, seemingly out of nowhere, scrapes down the side of his 18-wheeler, multiple passengers inside. One man flees the scene, and the driver of the pickup? He doesn't seem all that upset. It didn't feel like a regular accident, because it wasn't. Across the city, truckers are getting sideswiped, all on the same stretch of the same freeway. And behind many of the cases is one person, a Hollywood stunt woman turned personal injury lawyer named Vanessa Moda. This podcast is a story about fake accidents that lead to real consequences, and a scheme that ends in betrayal and murder.
34:40 Speaker 03 Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app, or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
35:00 Lindsay Graham? In the summer of 1920, the Tennessee state legislature became the final frontline of the decades-long struggle for the vote. By then, 35 states had ratified the 19th Amendment. Of the remaining 13, eight had rejected it. Another three refused to even consider it. That left only two openings on the map: North Carolina and Tennessee. In North Carolina, defeat seemed likely. But Tennessee had recently given women the right to vote in presidential elections. Suffragists felt they had a chance. Still, Tennessee was a southern state where opposition to full suffrage was strong. Activists flocked to the state, pouring all their resources and energy into winning ratification. Alice Paul remained in Washington,
35:44 Lindsay Graham? where she focused on raising funds. But in mid-July, Carrie Chapman Catt arrived in Nashville, the state capitol. She brought just a small suitcase, expecting only to stay for a few days. But opposition was so strong, she extended her stay to lead fieldwork. In the sweltering first week of August 1920, suffragists, anti-suffragists, reporters, and corporate lobbyists all descended on Nashville in anticipation of a vote. Their headquarters was the Grand Hermitage Hotel, located across the street from the state capitol building. Suffrage activists faced tough opposition from major industries such as oil, manufacturing, and railroads. Many corporate leaders feared that reform-minded women voters would enact laws to help labor and hurt their businesses.
36:29 Lindsay Graham? And by this time, prohibition was in effect. So suffrage opponents opened what was called "The Jack Daniel Suite" on the eighth floor of the hotel, where they supplied legislators with bootleg liquor around the clock. And flowing just as freely as the Tennessee whiskey were threats and bribes. Then on August 9th, the state legislature opened a special session. It was the start of the most chaotic showdown of the entire suffrage movement. Anti-suffrage legislators used procedural devices to delay the vote until the end of the week. Finally, on Friday, August 13th, the Tennessee Senate voted in support of ratification. But a more challenging battle lay ahead in the House. Over the weekend, suffragists struggled to maintain the support of drunken legislators
37:14 Lindsay Graham? stumbling through the halls of the Hermitage. And on Monday, suffragists learned that Seth Walker, the powerful Speaker of the House and friend of the governor, had switched sides. He was now leading the opposition. Suffragists blamed corporate money for the double-cross. Kat described her frustrations to a friend, writing, “It is hot, muggy, nasty, and this last battle is desperate. Even if we win, we will never remember it with anything but a shudder.” Two days later, on August 18th, the House finally met to vote on ratification. Walker made a motion to table the amendment, which would effectively kill it. But the vote on Walker’s motion ended in a tie. The amendment would not be tabled.
37:55 Lindsay Graham? And finally, the suffragists would find out if Tennessee would become their 36th and final state. Still, Speaker of the House Seth Walker was not worried. If the legislature deadlocked on his motion to table, it would almost certainly deadlock on the amendment itself as well, which meant it would be defeated. And among the legislators who voted to table the amendment was 24-year-old Harry Byrne, the youngest representative in the House. Suffragists had believed Byrne to be on their side, but now, his last-minute hesitation made them worry he would be the deciding vote against ratification. But earlier that day, Byrne had received a letter from his mother, telling him, “Don’t forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Kat.”
38:39 Lindsay Graham? After the motion to table was defeated, next came the motion to ratify. When the vote got underway, Byrne shocked the galleries when he abruptly decided to take his mother’s advice and voted aye. The amendment passed on a razor-thin margin, 49 to 47.
38:56 Lindsay Graham? After a long, 72-year struggle, women's suffrage had finally become the law of the land. In an instant, more than 26 million American women joined the electorate. It was the largest mass enfranchisement in American history. As word reached Washington, Alice Paul staged a celebration at National Women's Party Headquarters. She unfurled her massive ratification flag, now emblazoned with 36 stars. She spoke triumphantly about the victory, while urging women to continue fighting for equal rights. She insisted, “Our work cannot end. Women are not yet on an equal basis with men.” Meanwhile, Kat spoke at a victory reception at the White House.
39:37 Lindsay Graham? She delivered a short, emotional speech, urging women not to take the vote for granted, declaring, “That vote has been costly. Prize it. The vote is a power, a weapon of offense and defense, a prayer. Understand what it means and what it can do for your country.” Of the 68 women who signed the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls, only one lived to see the ratification of the 19th Amendment. In 1848, glove maker Charlotte Woodward Pierce was just a teenager. She remained an active suffragist for the rest of her life, and by 1920, she was 91 years old. On election day, she was too ill to go to the polls herself,
40:18 Lindsay Graham? but she celebrated the achievement, declaring, “My heart is with all women who vote.” That November, all across America, millions of women went to the polls for the first time in their lives, ready to use the freedom that had been denied them for so long.
40:37 Lindsay Graham? Imagine it’s the morning of November 2nd, 1920. It’s election day in Baltimore, Maryland. You’ve lived through a dozen presidential elections, but for the first time, you are walking into a polling station, ready to vote. As you march up to the doors, your mind flashes to an image of your late mother, who was born into slavery in Virginia. You wish she were here to witness this moment.
41:02 Lindsay Graham? A group of smiling women rush past you as you enter the polling place. Red, white, and blue banners hang from the ceiling. A dozen people wait to vote at booths on the opposite side of the room. You approach an older white man at the back of the line.
41:15 Speaker 01 Excuse me, is this where we line up to vote?
41:19 Lindsay Graham? He looks you up and down and scowls.
41:21 Speaker 02 Don't see any other lines, do you?
41:23 Speaker 01 I suppose not.
41:25 Lindsay Graham? You rummage nervously through your handbag.
41:27 Speaker 01 Ah, my voter registration card must be around here somewhere. I was in such a rush this morning, I almost walked out the door with mismatched shoes. I wanted to get here early, so I wouldn't miss too much work.
41:42 Lindsay Graham? The man shrugs and takes a step forward as the line shortens.
41:45 Speaker 02 To tell you the truth, I never understood the point of giving women the vote anyway. Especially your kind.
41:52 Lindsay Graham? Ignoring the stares of the other voters, you smile at the man.
41:56 Speaker 01 No, I suppose you wouldn't. You don't know anything about what it's like to be a second-class citizen in your country. To be denied any voice in your government.
42:06 Speaker 02 Who says women have a voice worth listening to? Only thing I care to hear is the news, the dinners ready.
42:13 Lindsay Graham? The man laughs, looks over your shoulder at the man in line behind you, searching for validation. You hear a few awkward chuckles.
42:21 Speaker 01 As it turns out, the president, congress, and thirty-six state legislatures say so. Us women have the ballot now. And we're going to use it. Just you watch.
42:35 Lindsay Graham? That shuts the man up. When it's your turn at the front of the line, you take a big stride forward and hand the clerk your registration card. As he scans the voter rolls for your name, you try not to fidget. You don't want the men in line behind you to see how nervous you are. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the clerk hands back your card and a blank ballot, gesturing to a voting booth to your right. You stride in, close the curtain behind you, and fight back tears as you exercise your right to vote.
43:10 Lindsay Graham? Ten million women voted in the 1920 election. It was a landmark number, the most that had ever cast a ballot, but it was only a third of the eligible female electorate. Just nine weeks had passed since the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Steep obstacles remained, including the challenge of registering millions of new voters. It would take time for women to exercise their power at the polls. And no one faced more challenges than Black women and other minority groups. In the South, Black women found their access to the ballot restricted long after the amendment passed. They struggled against the same disenfranchisement tactics that had long targeted Black men. And all around the country, Native American women could not vote until Congress granted
43:53 Lindsay Graham? them citizenship in 1924. In the years after ratification, the leaders of the suffrage movement continued their activism. Carrie Chapman Catt transformed the National American Women Suffrage Association into the League of Women Voters, aiming to educate women on how to exercise their voting rights. Alice Paul turned her focus to fighting for a complete end to gender discrimination. In 1923, she traveled to Seneca Falls to propose an equal rights amendment to the Constitution. Paul was 87 years old by the time Congress passed the amendment in 1972, but efforts to ratify it in the states ended in failure. Suffragists knew that winning the vote was not the end of their fight, but only the beginning.
44:37 Lindsay Graham? The 19th Amendment did not instantly reshape America or transform gender roles. In 1920, equality between women and men in the public sphere was still far out of reach. It would take another feminist movement a half-century later to further push the boundaries of women's rights. But none of these gains would have been possible without the endurance and sacrifice of three generations of women who bravely fought for the vote. Their movement was only the start of an ongoing struggle to achieve gender equality, political power, and true democracy for all. In our next season. In 1976, Jimmy Carter, a Navy veteran and peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, was elected
45:19 Lindsay Graham? president with the promise of restoring trust in the government after the Watergate scandal. What economic stagnation, high inflation, and a crisis in Iran would threaten to bring his presidency down?
45:33 Lindsay Graham? American History Tellers is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American History Tellers on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com.
46:08 Lindsay Graham? If you'd like to learn more about the suffrage movement, we recommend Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote by Ellen Carol Du Bois, and The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsay Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach, sound design by Derek Perrins, music by Lindsay Graham. Voice acting in this episode by Ace Anderson, Kath Peoples, and Cynthia San Luis. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton, edited by Dorian Marina. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louie for Wondery.
46:49 Speaker 03 There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and the Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead, the president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership, and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create. Audible subscribers can listen
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