Friends,

Today, we mark an important day in our nation’s history: the day the 19th Amendment was ratified.

Although it happened in Tennessee and not Texas, one of my favorite stories of political change is the story of how Harry T. Burn and his mother were responsible for ratifying the 19th Amendment in Tennessee — the ratification that made the amendment law all over the land.

Harry Burn was a freshman legislator in the Tennessee House. He’d long been on the side of the anti-suffragettes until his mother wrote him a letter encouraging him to vote to ratify the 19th Amendment.

So, on the day the vote was to be cast, 100 years ago today, Harry strolls into the chamber, like normal, with a red flower affixed to his lapel — a signal that he was against the amendment.

Two times that day, Harry voted to table the amendment, in votes he knew would fail. He hides his time until the final vote came.

The final vote came, and Harry Burn voted for suffrage.

One historian noted this caused pandemonium to break out in the Tennessee House because the anti-suffrage forces thought they had the vote sewn up.

But they underestimated Harry Burn and his mother, Febb, and the power of a mother’s words.

I love that story because it encapsulates the hope I have today for our nation: I believe that one determined person can change the course of history.

That’s what we must do here in East Texas to get rid of Louie Gohmert. Can you pitch in to help make that happen?

Thanks,

Hank