On August 18th, our state and our nation recognize the 100th birthday of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which was the number needed to mark the three-fourths required for ratification of what was then the 48 states.

This historic vote was taken in the same House Chamber that we use today and the one in which I once served. Congress had proposed the amendment the previous summer in June...