{"id":779,"date":"2020-10-19T13:45:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T17:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=779"},"modified":"2020-10-26T12:04:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T16:04:34","slug":"illumination-night-lights-the-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/illumination-night-lights-the-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Illumination Night Lights the Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A look back to 100 years ago when women\u2019s suffrage and the right to vote began a long, winding road to end female repression. What was happening at UTC then?<\/em> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We know all the big-name women voting activists: Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. But what about the local college activists in 1920, at what was then the University of Chattanooga? While we may not know all of their names, their activism made news\u2500from debates, to wanted ads, to campus outcries.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 1916, The University Echo <\/em>reported an Illumination Night where women students at the University of Chattanooga lit lanterns on campus. Among the groups in attendance were female sophomore suffragists wearing yellow sashes and shouting, \u201cDown with the tyrant man!\u201d Quickly, they were ushered away by a group of male sophomores–not the first occurrence of suffragists voices being repressed by men on campus. Though women on campus had the opportunity to speak out about the suffrage movement, their voices were often quickly silenced or rebutted by men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
National Archives, 1918; Women suffragettes enrolling their willingness to aid their country when hostilities broke out between Germany and the United States. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In November 1907, the Franklin Lookout orators, a student organization, held a debate about women\u2019s suffrage. Secretary Ruth Evans began the discussion in favor of women\u2019s rights, and her speech was described by a reporter from The University Echo <\/em>\u201cas a pretty piece of composition.\u201d In contrast, the same reporter described a \u201cMr. Tyler\u201d as making a speech on women\u2019s suffrage that was \u201cfluent, earnest and, at times, humorous,\u201d in which he argued that women should not go into politics because of their \u201cfickle and emotional nature.\u201d This would not be the first or last time that \u201ca fickle and emotional nature\u201d would be used by men, or even women, as an argument against women having the right to vote.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1910, female student and suffrage opponent Ruby Wolfe declared, \u201cWomen\u2019s suffrage is simply a spark set aglow by only old maids and fanned into flame by wives of henpecked husbands.\u201d Other female students, like Orva Cleveland, questioned why women would even want to vote: \u201cWomen have as much right to vote as men, but why do they want to?\u201d\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question arose at the beginning of the movement, stemming back to the 1800s and the abolition movement. \u201cSuffrage is intertwined with coverture; so is slavery. When we finally see the first case that begins to overturn coverture, it is based in slavery,\u201d says Michelle Deardoff, Adolph S. Ochs Professor of Government at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. \u201cCoverture comes from English common law, and it is the notion that when a man and woman marry, the two become one, and the one becomes male.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without independence, women were unable to make their own decisions\u2500having the right to vote would allow women to amplify their voices. Women activists have paved the way for decades for all women to have the right to vote, including multiple generations working together.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women activists have paved the way for decades for all women to have the right to vote, including multiple generations working together.  <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed and it did give the right to vote to all women, Deardoff says, \u201cAlmost immediately we see a shift with Jim Crow.\u201d Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the southern U.S. until the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 lifted those restrictions.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

So, 100 years since the Constitution was amended to ensure the right of women to vote, how is the women\u2019s suffrage movement being recognized at UTC? For this 100th<\/sup> anniversary year, English composition students have a common reader, The Women\u2019s Suffrage Movement<\/em>, a compilation of essays and speeches written mostly by women before and since the movement began. This collection teaches students\u2019 personal accounts. The 19th Amendment centennial is not only a celebratory milestone, it\u2019s a time to reflect on the country\u2019s progress\u2014how far we\u2019ve come, and how far we still have to go.\u202f<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A look back to 100 years ago when women\u2019s suffrage and the right to vote began a long, winding…\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":1155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101011,115746],"tags":[101023],"coauthors":[100996],"class_list":{"0":"post-779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fall-2020-edition","8":"category-feature","9":"tag-right-column","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"\nIllumination Night Lights the Spark - UTC Magazine Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illumination Night Lights the Spark - 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