CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – County Mayor Jim Durrett and Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts want bells to ring out at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 18 in celebration of women’s voting rights.
The mayors have jointly proclaimed Aug. 18 as “Tennessee Women’s Suffrage Centennial Day” in Clarksville and Montgomery County and have requested that churches and community members join in by ringing their bells to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Tennessee General Assembly’s historic ratification of the 19th Amendment.
“Tennessee, as the final state needed for ratification, holds a special place in passing the 19th Amendment, which extended voting rights to women across America. State legislators came through with a two-vote victory margin on Aug. 18, 1920, with the law becoming effective eight days later,” said city spokesperson Richard Stevens.
While bell ringing will mark the day of the vote, Clarksville will begin the celebration on Saturday, Aug. 15, with a suffrage march from the County Courthouse to Public Square at 5 p.m., followed by dedication of the “Tennessee Triumph” statue and monument at 6 p.m.
The public is invited to attend and encouraged to wear yellow, purple, or white clothing – the colors associated with the suffragist movement. Organizers also remind everyone to wear face coverings and to social distance during the event, in keeping with COVID-19 precautions.
The statue, by Nashville sculptor Roy Butler, will make Clarksville a stop along the state’s Woman Suffrage Heritage Trail, stretching from Chattanooga to Memphis. Ellen Kanervo, executive director of the Clarksville Arts & Heritage Development Council, and local historian Brenda Harper co-chaired the Tennessee Triumph Steering Committee, a group of 20 local women who raised money for the monument and commissioned its creation.