Human beings can be very stubborn creatures. It’s very hard to change when we are set in our ways. Especially when it comes to social justice movements and enfranchising those who are disenfranchised.
The new non fiction book, The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote, by Elaine Weiss details the final nail-biting days that lead to the ratification of the 19th amendment. In the summer of 1920, 35 states have ratified the 19th amendment. 12 have either rejected the amendment or have abstained from voting. Only 1 more state is needed to add the amendment to the Constitution, and that is Tennessee. Groups on both sides of the argument are racing to Tennessee, using whatever means they have to influence lawmakers. For the suffragists, the vote is everything they have been working for more than a half century. For the anti-suffragists, it means the destruction of the family and home, if women win the right to vote. It’s going to be a battle to finish line, one which will forever change American history.
I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it because Ms. Weiss imbues the facts with intensity, taking the viewer on a heart pounding ride. I also very much appreciated that she spent time on African-American women, who were denied the vote because of skin color and sex. It can be read as a traditional history book, but the issues that our fore mothers were dealing with a century ago are not so far off from the issues we are dealing with today.
I absolutely recommend it.
Writergurlny 