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FIFTH GRADE Part Four: Changing the world This part of the Fifth Grade text amplifies several things that occurred in Tennessee between 1880 and 1930.
Wells PHOTO: Univ. of Chicago 1. You'll read more about the political struggles of the Reconstruction Era when you get to high school (if you are dying to read ahead, click here). But for now, we would like you to learn about Ida Wells, an African-American woman, born into slavery, who was forced to leave Memphis because she had the courage to write about horrible things she saw. Click here to read more about her.
York PHOTO: Library of Congress 3. You should also know that World War I changed Tennessee. The most vivid example of this was the creation of the town called Old Hickory.
The military needed a lot of gunpowder for the war. In 1917 the federal government decided to build a large gunpowder plant northeast of Nashville, at a place surrounded on three sides by the Cumberland River (security is important when you are creating explosive powder). The place became known as Old Hickory (after Andrew Jackson). 
The Old Hickory plant in the 1920s PHOTO: Tennessee State Library and Archives The construction of the Old Hickory plant was a huge undertaking. It took two thousand men, five hundred mules, and twenty-nine days to build a railroad spur to the site. After that came men, bricks, lumber, steel, concrete and more men, lumber, steel, and concrete. Some of the men worked on the factory itself. Others built houses for the estimated 30,000 people who would be working there.
At the height of the construction phase about 50,000 people were working around the clock on Old Hickory. Many of the workers slept in shifts, ten to a room, in tiny shacks called tar babies. Others stayed in hotels and boardinghouses in Nashville or Gallatin and commuted by train every day. 
The War Memorial Building, where many state legislators have offices, is dedicated to the Tennesseans who died in World War I.
On July 1, 1918 -- less than six months after the project had been announced -- Old Hickory began producing gunpowder. By November it was producing a million pounds of gunpowder a day. But by that time, the war had ended, and the government didn't need all that gunpowder. The government abandoned the plant, but it a few years later it was converted to a factory that produced chemicals. The town of Old Hickory, and the factory, are still there today.
A suffragist protest in Chicago in June 1920. PHOTO: Library of Congress 4. Now let's talk about the women's suffrage movement.
Women didn't used to be allowed to vote in this country. In 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and decisive state to ratify one of the most important amendments ever added to the Constitution -- the one extending the right to vote (or "suffrage") to women. And there was plenty of drama when the Tennessee General Assembly met in August 1920 to consider the Nineteenth Amendment. 
Dudley
On
This sculpture, commemorating the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, hangs in the State Capitol.
That month, roses were in high demand in downtown Nashville. People opposed to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment wore red roses (or ribbons). Those in favor of its passage wore yellow roses (or ribbons).
As the special session began, supporters and opponents of the measure set up their bases in Nashville's Hermitage Hotel. For the next several days they met with legislators in an attempt to get the support of their causes. And during the next few weeks both sides would accuse each other of foul play. The state senate approved the measure first, passing it by a vote of 25-4. This sent the measure to the 99-member state house. 
Burn, after his historic vote PHOTO: Sewall Belmont House Museum People on both sides knew it would be close. In advance of that roll-call vote on August 18, 1920, both sides appeared to be deadlocked. But when the name of "Representative Burn" was called, suffragist forces were thrilled to hear him respond with "aye" instead of "nay." Harry Burn, a little-known state representative from A few days later Governor Roberts signed the certificate of ratification and sent it to Washington. And on August 26 -- eight days after Burns' historic vote -- the U.S. Secretary of State issued a proclamation declaring the Nineteenth Amendment ratified. American women could now vote. 
Governor Austin Peay PHOTO: Austin Peay State University 5. We should all be able to recognize the name of Austin Peay, the only governor in Tennessee history to die in office.
Peay was governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927 and is often regarded as the man who did more to reform state government than any other governor in
Peay reorganized state government. He created the schools now known as UT-Martin and
 Governor Austin Peay also signed into law the infamous "monkey bill," and Tennessee History for Kids has produced a video about the famous trial that occurred because of it. In "A Teacher in Trouble," History Bill turns up in Dayton in 1925 and gets an earful from William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Click here to see it in Windows Media Player; here using Quicktime.
QUIZ
1. (TRUE OR FALSE) Ida Wells was elected mayor of Memphis because of the articles she wrote. 2. Tennessee's most famous World War I hero was _____ _______. 3. The factory at Old Hickory was originally created to produce what product? 4. Anne Dudley was a leader in what movement? 5. The only Tennessee governor to die in office, and a governor associated with reforming state government in the 1920s, was ______ _______. |
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All photographs taken by Bill Carey for THKF unless otherwise stated.
All photographs taken by Bill Carey for THKF unless otherwise stated.