The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine F. WeissMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It is the battleground of Memphis, Tennessee in August 1920 where Carrie Catt and Alice Paul, suffragettes, stand toe-to-toe with Josephine Pearson, an anti-suffragette. The fight for the 19th Amendment comes down to one more needed state to ratify, giving the vote to women in America. It is an election year and Tennessee governor Albert Roberts wants to make sure he is re-elected. His stance on the "Susan B. Anthony Amendment" could make or break his campaign. In the hopes that the "woman vote" will get him another term, Roberts calls a special session of the Tennessee legislature to consider the amendment.
The women of the suffrage movement are split between the Catt's National American Women's Suffrage Association and the more radical National Women's Party led by Paul. They both go after the men of Tennessee's House and Senate, while their opponent Pearson pulls some dirty tricks of her own to try to squash the vote. The days leading up to the vote are frenzied and stressful for all involved. Each side knows that whichever way the vote goes, it will be by a narrow margin. The savior of the day is one Harry Burn, who on the advice of his mother, makes a very last minute decision that heralds a monumental change in the lives of all American women.
This is one of those non-fiction books that reads like a novel. The constant changes in those days leading up to the final vote can, at times, be nail-biting. It is a story that all women need to read. Many women fought to get the right to vote. Many women fought against it as well. I think a lot of modern women take the ability to vote for granted. It shows in our polls with only about 63% of eligible women voting in the 2016 November election. This is an excellent book that will make you want to go out and join the League of Women Voters and stand as a proud voter.
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