A Passion For ...

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

November is National Novel Writing Month, commonly known as NaNoWriMo, where people work to write 50,000 words in thirty days. More importantly, it's National Native American Heritage Month. 

I do not have any Indigenous past relatives that I know of, but my departed ex did. Whenever we'd have conversations, he knew little to nothing about that heritage. From what I understand it came from both sides of his family. I always felt bad that his family couldn't or didn't talk about that heritage.

For myself, knowing where I came from, what has made me unique has been important. Much of my actions, philosophy, and even foods I ate, came from those ancestors. 

There has always been a fascination with the roots of civilizations. As a child, I was always reading about the Olmec, Aztec, Toltec, and Anasazi people. Later, after visiting the Cahokia Mounds I tried to find more about that group of people. To this day, I find myself reading anything I can on the history of the mounds and it's people. Overview of Cahokia Mounds

This naturally grew to include the lives and civilizations of later indigenous people. Illinois, where I grew up, as most know, got its name from the 'Illini' people. The Fox, Kickapoo, Sacs, were among the early people of that state. Here is a map to help illustrate:

In Colorado, where I now reside, the dominant group was the Ute, who primarily lived in the mountains. The other nations were the Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Apache, Pueblo, and Shoshone. Of course, there were earlier people. In Dinosaur National Monument there are petroglyphs plus Mesa Verde is in the southwest part of the state. Here is a link that offers more on that subject. https://www.uncovercolorado.com/native-american-tribes-in-colorado/

I have a copy of this map in my possession. I find it endlessly useful. I've also included the link that includes more information about the map.

https://www.aaanativearts.com/OLDus_tribes_AtoZ.htm

Thank you for allowing me to share my passion for these people and their history.

 An article on the creation of National Native Heritage Month 

Until next month, stay safe, follow your passion, and keep reading and writing.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

August 1 - Colorado Day

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Did you know that August 1 is Colorado Day? On this date in 1876, Ulysses S. Grant signed the paperwork to make Colorado the thirty-eighth state to join the Union. 

North Central Colorado

The journey to statehood was not a smooth one. Initially, what we know of as Colorado was claimed by various countries, and that does not include the native people who already lived here.

Spanish explorers visited the area in the 1500s and claimed the southern part of the state for Spain. The Spanish gave up their claim with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago that had ended the Spanish American War.

France had claimed the Eastern portion of the state which was part of the 1803 Louisana Purchase. Of course, the Spanish disputed that claim. It was allegedly part of the reason for Zebulon Pike's expedition in 1806.

A view of those High Mountains
Photo Property of the author

In 1850 Colorado was part of the Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory. In 1854 Colorado also became part of the Nebraska Territory and the Kansas Territory. Then during the gold rush of 1859 Colorado continued being part of the Kansas Territory and the Jefferson Territory.

Colorado's first 'permanent' settlement was not until 1851 when residents of Taos, New Mexico Territory arrived in the San Luis Valley and founded the town of San Luis.

Now you may wonder why so late. Many thought the Rocky Mountains in Colorado were unpassable because they were so high. Additionally, there were fur trading 'forts' in the 1820s and 30s but these were businesses and few had more than a few families in the fort or nearby.

Replica of Fort Vasquez - one of the Fur Trading Forts
photo property of the author

There are many other little-known facts about my adopted state that would make this post much too long. For those interested, I've included a link from the History Colorado site.

Additonal little known facts about Colorado

So, having celebrated Colorado Springs's 150th birthday on July 31, I'll be celebrating the state's 145th birthday on August 1. Can't pass up these kinds of 'history' parties. 

Until next time, keep reading, writing, and enjoying history.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

Post (c) Doris McCraw All Rights Reserved.

Abraham Lincoln: Little-known Facets of his Life

 

    Abraham Lincoln has fascinated me since I was a child. A few years ago, I went on a marathon of reading Lincoln biographies and those of his military and political contemporaries. I learned a lot of interesting facts about the man, outside of his presidency.

Abraham Lincoln on February 9, 1864. 

(Library of Congress; public domain via Wikimedia Commons.)

           It’s common knowledge that Lincoln was a lawyer but, prior to that, he had a number of other jobs. In April 1832, at age twenty-three, he signed up for a 30-day enlistment in the Illinois Militia. The men in his company elected him captain and he ended up re-enlisting. He served a total of 51 days.

      After this, he returned to New Salem, Illinois and resumed his first campaign for the elected office of representative in the Illinois State Legislature. Although he did well in New Salem, he was defeated in the rest of the district and lost the election.

Image via Pinterest

     He entered into a partnership with his friend William F. Berry in January 1833 to purchase a small saloon which they called Berry and Lincoln.  Berry was an alcoholic, and the enterprise did not go well. Lincoln sold his share to Berry in April 1833. Lincoln was left deep in debt and didn’t get that debt paid off until he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

     But May 1833, Lincoln received an appointment as Postmaster of New Salem and continued in this position until the post office was relocated to a different city three years later. During his tenure, he supplemented his income with a variety of jobs including helping farmers with their harvests, splitting rails, clerking in a store, and surveying land for the county. It was also during this period that he began seriously studying the law. He earned his law license in September 1836 and was admitted to the Illinois bar in March 1837 at age twenty-eight. Practicing law became Lincoln’s lifelong career, but his early experiences helped him relate to people from all walks of life. The New Salem State Historic Site preserves the village where he lived before moving to Springfield, Illinois.

     While in New Salem, Lincoln earned a reputation for being an elite wrestler eventually winning the county wrestling championship. According to Carl Sandburg’s biography of Lincoln, the future president once challenged an entire crowd of onlookers after dispatching an opponent in a match. There were no takers.  Lincoln was defeated only once in approximately 300 matches. His record earned him recognition in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Lincoln's Patent Sketches, Wikimedia Commons

     Lincoln was also a tinkerer and inventor. As a young man, he was aboard a steamboat that ran aground on low shoals. He had to help unload the cargo to free it. Subsequently, he developed a design to keep vessels afloat in shallow waters by attaching empty metal air chambers to their sides and later modified it to use four balloons, collapsed accordion-like, attached to the four “corners” of the craft.  If the boat encountered shallow waters, the balloons would be filled with enough air to raise the hull higher than the shoals or sandbar and keep the vessel afloat. For his invention, Lincoln was granted Patent No. 6,469 in 1849. He is the only president to hold a patent.

     According to accounts of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and many other contemporaries, Lincoln was an avid cat-lover. He had two cats while he was in the White House, Tabby and Dixie, and he would also bring in strays. There are some reports that he fed Tabby and Dixie on the dining table, a practice his wife did not approve of.

Lincoln family: From left to right: Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Lincoln, Tad Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln

By Currier & Ives [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

     Lincoln and his wife had a great interest in psychic phenomena. During his first term, their son, Willie, died of a typhoid-like disease and the Lincolns were overcome with grief. Mrs. Lincoln convinced her husband to hold séances at the White House to communicate with Willie and another son who had died prior to his presidency. It is believed that Abraham attended at least two of the séances, but didn’t find them gratifying.

      As a theatre-lover, Lincoln was a fan of actor John Wilkes Booth. Before going to Ford’s Theatre in the evening to see Our American Cousin on April 14, 1865, Lincoln signed legislation creating the U.S. Secret Service. The original mission of the law enforcement agency was to combat widespread currency counterfeiting.

     The president was guarded around-the-clock by one member of a four-man security unit. A new bodyguard, John Parker, was assigned to protect the president at the theatre but he went missing. No one knows for sure where Parker was, but he had a reputation for being unreliable, including drinking and frequenting a “house of ill repute” while on duty, according to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Shooting of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln

.Library of Congress / Reuters

     That evening, John Wilkes Booth assassinated the president. Lincoln died the next day. According to the report of Ward Hill Lamon, one of the president’s friends, Lincoln had dreamt of his assassination.

     It was not until 1901, after Garfield and McKinley were killed, that the Secret Service was assigned to protect the president.

   Ann Markim

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Sinspirations

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing fiction as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

So what is 'sinspiratioin'? Well, it's what I call my inspiration for most of my antagonists. Perhaps some of you might like to see how my mind works as I develop the best 'villain' I can.

In my first novella, "Home for His Heart", my antagonist, Oliver, came from my work with juvenile delinquents. We had young girls who'd been convinced to work as prostitutes by men who would pretend to love these young girls, many of who were desperate to be loved. We also had a person who was probably a psychopath, and lastly a person who'd killed their best friend and partner in what was defined as a homosexual rage. These traits were used to compose my villain.

In the short story for "Hot Western Nights", one of the antagonists was a land-hungry rancher. Although a common trope in Westerns, I used the man who wanted to buy my great-grandparents property. While he was a really nice man, he was determined to purchase the land. I just made him meaner and a bit larger than life.

Photo property of the author

There are also many news articles about crimes and criminals from the 1800s.  A  retired police officer, and friend, has been compiling the homicides in the newspapers for the Pikes Peak Region and it is a constantly growing resource. I have studied those pages many times. I've drawn on the descriptions of people, their crimes, and how the public perceived them. Sometimes the crimes are exactly what I'm looking for so they end up, with a bit of editing, in my work.

I am looking for a way to create a villain from a compilation of a young man who slept with his girlfriend's sister, and another who felt it was his boss's fault for giving him money to deposit in the bank. (He kept it.) I simply haven't found the right story, yet.

Of all the characters I developed, the villain is probably the easiest for me to create. Not because I'm a bad person, at least most don't think so, but due to my work with delinquents, my research, spending time in cemeteries, and my fascination with human nature. I've always thought, although not always successful in creating, the antagonist is what makes the story worth reading. I do love a juicy villain who believes he's doing no wrong. The person who believes in their own truth.

So how do you find your 'sinspirations'? 

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

AS I PONDERED

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

As I pondered what I might write about this month I decided to take a look at my walk/hikes, research, and writing to see what I could find.

A trail in Garden of the Gods
photo property of the author

As most know, I've been getting out on the trails and in the parks during this time of physical distancing. I'm fortunate that I have so many options available close to me. Although I try to combine errands with the walks, sometimes that hasn't been possible. My journeys have taken me over some challenging terrain and through fascinating cemeteries. The current novel has my heroine having to walk out of the area where she and her party were attacked. The trails in CMSP and Garden of the Gods are just the right kind of terrain she may have had to journey across. Talk about being able to be realistic. The trails are heaven, though somewhat challenging, and I get to use my experience in the story.

Landscape and trail in CMSP
photo property of the author

The cemeteries are a wealth of names, dates, and stories in stone. One stone told of how the couple met at a river here in Colorado, fell in love and married. Many times I can follow the stories of these pioneers via Ancestry, City Directories, Newspapers, and Google Books. Another couple I located were early pioneers in the Bijou Basin just east of what is now Colorado Springs.

Did you know Melinda has sometimes been spelled, Malinda? How about Charles N Green, born in Illinois in 1856 he had later moved to Colorado. In 1900 his occupation is listed as a mining broker, and he and his wife Mary had a three-year-old son. Both were forty-one at the time of birth if the math is correct. Christine McIntosh dies of uterine cancer at the age of sixty-four according to the death record I found in on the library's research website. She had been born in Canada but that's all I've found on her at this time.

Headstone in Evergreen Cemetery
Photo property of the author

My heroine is a doctor and in my research, the story of an early Colorado Springs doctor fits the profile I have of Pauline. (Her name at this time). Researching Esther's ancestry, her marriage, and information gleaned from papers and other sources is a way to add veracity to the story.

Sometimes I have found pieces written about people or an area in Google Books. The history of the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado is a rich source of what life and the land was like in the 1870s. I also found the autobiography of Harriot Kezia Hunt, an early doctor in Boston. It is called "Glances and Glimpses ..." and was published in 1856. A book published in 1912 even states she was the first woman to practice medicine in the United States, having opened a practice in Boston in 1835.

So you see my pondering and wanderings do lead to some interesting information. The last few months of 'staying away from people' has had its silver lining. And, yes, I am still out on the trails, still reading, still writing and still digging into the stories of those who came before me.

Triple Threat Trail in Ute Valley Park
Photo property of the author

The above photo would have been what my hero and heroine in my first novella, "Home For His Heart" might have had to traverse.

Here is a very brief excerpt:

     “Sam, Sam, saddle up.” shouted Paul. “All hell has broke loose. Where are you?”

     “I'm here by the barn,” answered Sam. “What do you mean all hell broke loose?”

     “Saddle up and I'll tell you on the way.”

     Riding toward town, Paul explained. “Shortly after you left this man came rushing into town, how he managed to stay on his horse is amazing. He was talking about dangerous men, warning, fire. It was hard to understand what he was saying. He was in bad shape.”

     “Any idea who he is or where he came from?” asked Sam.

     “No, and that isn't all. It may be coincidence, but as we were taking him to Sally's, Fred came staggering out of Clara's house. Said someone hit him and Clara's gone missing,” said Paul.

     “What do you mean missing?”

     “Sam, I mean Clara is nowhere to be found.” Paul stated. “I headed to Clara's and the house was in shambles as if there had been a fight,” said Paul.

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Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

Website: angelaraines.net

HOW CHOCOLATE WON OUR HEARTS By Sarah J. McNeal

LOVE

Traditionally, Valentine’s Day is celebrated by giving a loved one a heart shaped box of chocolates. Even as children, my sister and I received a little heart shaped box with chocolates inside from our parents every Valentine’s Day. Chocolate is one of the most popular and beloved treats in the world. It shows up for every special occasion and event. There are festivals in which every dish has chocolate in it.  Good grief, human beings without their chocolate might parish from the Earth. How did chocolate come into be such a widely consumed food in the first place?

Mayan and the Cocao Bean

It turns out chocolate was here before the birth of Jesus. Chocolate has been around for 4000 years. We owe it all to the ancient Mayans. It all began in southern Mexico. Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to 450 BC. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoati, the god of wisdom. The seeds held so much value that they were actually used as currency. Chocolate was used for everything from medicine to an aphrodisiac. The Aztec ruler, Montezuma called it the “divine drink”, so, of course only the important people could drink it. So, how did chocolate end up all around the 
world?

The Santa Maria

Columbus took cacao beans back to Spain after he began his explorations of the “New World.” He made more than one trip although we mostly give him credit for that first one. Anyway, no one cared about chocolate until the Spanish friars introduced chocolate to the Spanish court. At first, it was only served as a bitter drink used for medicine, but soon it was discovered that adding sugar or honey to it made it more palatable and then it was game on. By the 18^th century chocolate spread across Europe and then to the American Colonies. 


In 1760 the Chocolaterie Lombart chocolate company was formed. The Industrial Revolution in 1815  prompted Dutch chemist, Coenraad van Houten to introduce alkaline salts to chocolate which reduced the bitterness and in 1828 he created a press to remove half the fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor which made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. This Dutch Chocolate brought to the world the first solid chocolate.

Over the years improvements were made by adding back some of the cacao butter which gave it the ability to be molded into shapes. Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by adding powdered milk developed by Henri Nestle. Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine. A conching machine is a surface scraping mixer that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate and might act as a sort of “polisher” of the particles. It promotes flavor through frictional heat, release of volatiles, acids, and oxidation. Lower quality chocolate is conched for as little as six hours. 


Lindt and Sprungli started a Swiss based company with global reach to manufacture solid chocolate. Cadbury began manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868. In 1893 Milton S. Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and began to manufacture Hershey’s chocolates and chocolate covered caramels. Hello to Hershey Kisses and Snickers!

While men led the movement to mass produce chocolate for everyday people, women were targeted by ads and “were charged with providing wholesome cocoa for respectable consumption within the family”…sorta like providing our families with vitamins. Women were also targeted when chocolate became a courting ritual—like finally, men got something right. Over the years it has become a Valentine ritual for people to give their beloveds a box of chocolates to show their devotion and love. THANK YOU chocolate people!

My Upcoming release For February 12 Available On Preorder
  

QUEST FOR THE LIGHT OF VALMORA

Legends of Winatuke, Book 3

By Sarah J. McNeal

Fire Star Press

Buy Link:

Pre-order

A quest for a magical light...A Gypsy’s love…And a warrior’s sacrifice

Excerpt:

Without further comment, he scooped her up in his arms and waltzed with her to the place directly in front of the musicians. Falcon caught Peregrine's eyes and saw in them indifference. Anger swelled inside him. Peregrine could be such an ass. Didn't he care that Falcon danced with Izabelle much too close? What did Izabelle see in his apathetic brother who displayed nothing of the concern or interest he should in this astonishing woman?

Well, things are about to change.

Falcon dipped Izabelle low with only his arm to keep her from falling. He leaned over her body draped across his arm and inhaled her sweet essence floating on the night air. Her breath hitched and her eyes glittered in the dim light as she peered at him, those eyes wide and bright with surprise.

He lowered his mouth and touched his lips to hers.

Sarah J. McNeal

Diverse stories filled with heart

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CEMETERIES - STORIES IN STONE

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, Day of the Dead are now over. We are into November and heading toward the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a time of celebration, cold in the Northern Hemisphere along with shorter days. Personally, I live for Dec 21 for the days begin to lengthen again.

According to history.com the tradition of Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic Festival Samhain when people would like bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghost. By around the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. The day soon became All Saints Day. As a result, the night before became known as All Hallows Eve which then became known as Halloween.

The day of the dead is a Mexican holiday that generally runs from October 31 through November 2. This is viewed as a time when family and friends gather to pray and remember those who have died to help them on their spiritual journey. They view this time not as a time of sadness but as a day of celebration. It is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is very thin and the loved ones awake and celebrates their journey with the living.

Photo property of the author

This time of year and the holidays we've just celebrated are special to me for two reasons. One that life is brief and two the legacies we leave are part and parcel of all of those who came before. For that reason and probably many more I love visiting cemeteries. For me, a cemetery is like reading snippets of books as I walked past the headstones. Even as a young person I found the stories of those who lived before me fascinating. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I grew up in a farming community surrounded by multi-generations. I always loved listening to the stories of my great-grandparents, grandparents and yes even my parents. Many of those stories influenced and still continue to influence what I write about in both my fiction and nonfiction.

The history of cemeteries themselves, how they've changed over the years is also fascinating. Of course, there are the cemeteries that are associated with churches and hallowed ground. There are also the family cemeteries, those small plots at the ends of a road, or in the middle of a field of corn. In the case of those traveling west, the unknown graves of those who passed while on that journey from one destination to another. There were the cemeteries that were known as gardens, where people would come to picnic in the manicured settings. The commonality of all of these is the stories written on the stones. For that reason, cemeteries are a source of peace, quiet, and a place to help me understand where I stand in the stream of life and death. It is why when things feel out of kilter I will visit the gravesites of the people I've researched. Knowing something of their lives puts my own in perspective.

So when I visit Helen Hunt Jackson, Julia E Loomis, Harriet Leonard, and even Ernestine Parsons I feel connected to those women who ventured out and followed their dreams and in their own way left a mark on the world.

The novella "Lost Knight" came out from some of the ideas in this post. What happens when a man dies and wakes up centuries earlier? How does he navigate being in a time he knows nothing about?

$.99 on Amazon

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

The Liberty Bell and the Justice Bell

     “ … With liberty and justice for all.”

If you are a citizen of the United States or attended American public schools, you’ve probably repeated these words hundreds of times when saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Nearly every American, and many people around the world are familiar with the Liberty Bell, but how many know about the Justice Bell?

Here is a brief story about the bells that symbolize two of our pillars of freedom – Liberty and Justice.

The Liberty Bell

In 1752, the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned a tower bell to hang in the new State House in Philadelphia. The firm of Lester and Pack in London cast the bell with the requested lettering:

Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X
By Order of the ASSEMBLY of the Province of PENSYLVANIA [sic] for the State House in Philada

In those days, the spelling on Pennsylvania with one ‘n’ was widely accepted. ‘Philada’ was short for Philadelphia.

The Assembly was not pleased with the quality of the bell as it arrived from England because it cracked the first time it was rung. They had it recast twice by John Pass and John Stow of Philadelphia before its sound was deemed satisfactory. Their last names appear on the bell.

The bell was initially used to call lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations. Weeks before the British occupied Philadelphia in October 1777, the Liberty Bell and the city’s other bells were removed from the city and hidden. This was done prevent them from being melted down and used for cannon.

Philadelphia served as the nation's capital from 1790 to 1800. During that time, the bell called the state legislature into session and notified voters to turn in their ballots. It was also rung to commemorate Washington's birthday and celebrate the Fourth of July among other commemorations until the crack silenced it in the early 1840s.

In the early nineteenth century, the bell became the symbol for abolitionists. It was first called "the Liberty Bell" in an 1835 article that appeared in the New York Anti-Slavery Society's journal, Anti-Slavery Record. It has been know as the Liberty Bell ever since.

The Liberty Bell is now housed in Philadelphia at the Liberty Bell Center in the Independence National Historical Park.

The Justice Bell 

In 1915, a prominent member of the Pennsylvania Women’s Suffrage Association, Katherine Wentworth Ruschenberger, commissioned a company in Troy, New York to cast of a near replica of the Liberty Bell for promoting the cause of women’s suffrage. This replica became know primarily as the ‘Justice Bell,’ but it is also known as the ‘Suffrage Bell’ and the 'Women’s Liberty Bell.’

The Justice Bell doesn’t have a crack and its inscription is slightly different:

Establish JUSTICE
Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof

To symbolize how women were being silenced by being unable to vote, the bell's clapper was chained to its side so it couldn’t ring.

The Justice Bell was loaded onto the back of a modified pickup truck and taken on a tour of all counties in Pennsylvania (67). The truck also carried a sign proclaiming “Votes for Women.” It also appeared in other states in support of the cause.

Wherever it went, the Justice Bell was greeted with dignitaries, parades and marching bands. Huge crowds gathered to see it, especially in large cities. On October 22, 1915, just days before Pennsylvania’s November referendum on women’s suffrage, the bell appeared a parade of approximately 8000 people in support of votes for women. Despite this show of support, the referendum was defeated.

After Congress passed the 19^th Amendment, the Justice Bell toured other states to make people aware of the amendment which, if ratified. would give women throughout the United States the right to vote.

Thirty-six states needed to approve the amendment for it to become law. On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly voted on adding the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. By one vote, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Amendment and it became law.

The Justice Bell finally rang for the first time on September 25, 1920 at a ceremony held on Independence Square in Philadelphia. Katherine Wentworth Ruschenberger led the celebration attended by a large crowd. The bell rang 48 times, once for every state in the union in 1920, symbolizing that women throughout the country had finally won the right to vote – 72 years after the suffrage movement began.

The Justice Bell is on permanent display at the Valley Forge National Park in the Washington Memorial Chapel.

Ann Markim

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