The Legacy and Challenge of Suffrage: Votes for Women in Tennessee | Brown Bag Lecture with Wanda Sobieski

In November 1917, Knoxville was scene to a tense showdown between activists for women’s votes, local law enforcement, and Tennessee lawyers. Wanda Sobieski uses this story of controversy and courage as a starting point to explore the struggle over voting rights in our region. Tennessee was deeply divided on the suffrage issue, but eventually the final vote to make the 19th Amendment a reality was cast by Harry Burn, a young state legislator from McMinn County. Ms. Sobieski is an experienced Knoxville attorney, an adjunct professor with the University of Tennessee College of Law, and a frequent lecturer on issues related to the history of women’s legal status. 

The Brown Bag lecture is sponsored by Harriet Z. Albers Memorial and the lecture and corresponding activities are free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824.