Women's Equality Day

Today is Women's Equality Day.
Established by Congress in 1973, Women’s Equality Day commemorates the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women’s franchise or better known as the right to vote. More importantly, we need to understand the historical term of franchise beyond voting rights. Franchise is defined by Meriam-Webster as the “freedom or immunity from some burden or restriction vested in a person or group.” In 1920, one Tennessee woman, who did not have the right to inherit her family home after her husband’s death, helped to change the course of history resulting in the lifting many legal restrictions placed upon women. With 36 of the 48 states needed for ratification of the 19th amendment, Tennessee historically emerged as the 36th state to ratify by a narrow vote of 50 to 49. Tennessee’s ratification vote came down to Harry T. Burn, a single 24-year-old Tennessee state legislator, whose vote was changed from a nay to aye after his mother, Febb Burn, wrote him a letter lobbying him to do so. Febb Burn was a college-educated school teacher who believed that every person should have a voice in making the laws by which every person had to abide. Febb Burn entreated her son, “Hurrah and vote for suffrage and don’t keep them in doubt.” Burn followed his mother’s advice and Tennessee’s ratification gave twenty-six million American women the right to a political voice. It is important to celebrate Women’s Equality Day and to remember that one woman’s voice, your voice, can have a far-reaching historical impact on the lives of others.
I have enjoyed slightly more equal treatment than my mother. My daughter has been allowed more than I have. Hopefully this trend continues until women of all ages, races, size and religion receive truly equal treatment.
Looking around our humble little boutique, I can't help but notice how many woman-owned brands we proudly carry. Women empowering women!