The program on Saturday began with a parade that included women
dressed as the suffragists dressed; girl scouts in uniforms from 1920;
automobiles from that era and women dressed in costume who rode
side-saddle on horses.  It was all very awe-inspiring and fun.

After the parade ended, everyone gathered in Market Square to hear
some great speeches and singing.  Representative Kim McMillan was there to
represent the Governor and presented a proclamation.  We truly admired
how she was able to sit on the stage, facing into the sun on that hot
and humid day and managed to stay looking fresh. I, for one, would
have wilted (and nearly did just standing in the shade!) - but not
Representative McMillan - cool as a cucumber!

The mayor of Knoxville was there and also spoke to the crowd.  He has
two daughters and said he was so grateful for the opportunities they
will have because of the sacrifices and hard work of the suffragists.
He sat next to Representative McMillan and we were impressed with his
chivalry as he kept jumping up to keep the American and Tennessee
flags from falling on the women who were seated on the stage.  There was
just enough breeze ......

The key-note speaker was Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey, who described
herself as "suffragist junkie".  To prove the point, she shared that
she has three dogs and they're all named after TN suffragists!  Judge
Daughtrey was the first female judge to sit on any of the Tennessee
courts of appeal, the first woman on the Tennessee Supreme Court and
is currently a highly regarded judge on the United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - and the perfect person to deliver the keynote
speech on this occasion.  In the conclusion of her speech, Judge
Daughtrey quoted Carrie Catt "Millions of dollars were raised, mainly
in small sums, and expended with economic care. Hundreds of women gave
the accumulated possibilities of an entire lifetime, thousands gave years
of their lives, hundreds of thousands gave constant interest and such aid
as they could. It was a continuous, seemingly endless, chain of
activity. Young suffragists who helped forge the last links of that
chain were not born when it began. Old suffragists who forged the
first links were dead when it ended..."  She noted that one of those who
forged the first chains and who was not there to see the victory was
Susan B. Anthony.

After the speeches, we moved to the monument where it was unveiled as
a crowd of women and men cheered.  The monument is beautiful and
beautifully done.  The three Tennessee suffragists selected for the
Memorial are: Lizzie Crozier French <honored_women.html>  of
Knoxville,
Anne Dallas Dudley <honored_women.html>  of Nashville, and Elizabeth
Avery Meriwether <honored_women.html>  of Memphis.  And each of these
women represent the hundreds of Tennessee suffragists from their
region in Tennessee.

I'll close this with another quote from Carrie Chapman Catt - "It is
doubtful if any man, even among suffrage men, ever realized what the
suffrage struggle came to mean to women before the end was allowed in
America. How much time and patience, how much work, energy, and
aspiration, how much faith, how much hope, how much despair went into
it. It leaves its mark on one, such a struggle . . . ."
I urge you all to honor these women and the 72 years of hard work and
sacrifices it took for them to give us the right to vote by exercising
your right to vote every time you have the opportunity to do so - and
to tell their stories as encouragement to your daughters, your friends
and family, to all the women who are the recipients of this great and
wonderful gift.

Sandra Bennett
August, 2006