Harry T. Burn

Harry Thomas Burn, Sr. (November 12, 1895 – February 19, 1977) was a member of the Tennessee General Assembly for McMinn County, Tennessee. Burn became the youngest member of the state legislature when he was elected at the age of twenty-two. He is best remembered for action taken to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment during his first term in the legislature.

Education

Born in Niota, Tennessee, Burn graduated from Niota High School in 1911. In 1923, he was admitted to the Tennessee Bar. In 1951, he became President of the First National Bank and Trust in Rockwood, Tennessee.

Public career

Burn held public office for much of his adult life, including positions in the State House of Representatives, 1918–1922; State Senate, 1948–1952; state planning commission, 1952–1958; and as delegate for Roane County to the Constitutional Conventions of 1953, 1959, and 1965. Burn died in Niota.

19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment, regarding female suffrage, was proposed by Congress on June 14, 1919. The amendment could not become law without the ratificaton of a minimum thirty-six of the forty-eight states. By the summer of 1920, thirty-five of the forty-eight states had ratified the amendment, with a further four states called upon to hold legislative voting sessions on the issue. Three of the states refused to call special sessions, but Tennessee agreed to do so. This session was called to meet in August 1920.