[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 69 (Monday, April 29, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





     RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUNT CORD'S HISTORIC VOTE

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                           HON. MARK E. GREEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 29, 2019

  Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, Mary Cordelia Beasley Hudson, 
affectionately known as Aunt Cord, was the very first woman to ever 
vote in the state of Tennessee. Legend has it that Aunt Cord got up 
extra early on April 22, 1919, 100 years ago now, to be the first in 
line to cast her ballot at the courthouse in the city of Camden. She 
hurried down the half mile from her home through town along what is now 
South Forrest Avenue to Court Square to wait for the courthouse to 
open. She must have been excited. Just days before, the Tennessee 
legislature had passed a measure making it legal for women to vote. We 
remember Aunt Cord as a participant in a suffragette movement that 
forever changed our beloved United States. Just over one year later, 
Congress and the states ratified the 19th Amendment in August 1920, 
bringing us one step further toward realizing our Founding principle 
that all are created equal. I am proud to honor Aunt Cord and reflect 
on Tennessee's history today.

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