August 18, 1920 The 19th Amendment Ratified

Which meant that universal suffrage now included women.  Tennessee, "the Volunteer State", brought the amendment over the bar.

It was a close vote, passing by a margin of four, and only after some last minute changes in position came about.

Which shows, I suppose, that people, and by that we can suppose that to principally be men, were still not fully convinced that women should vote.  On the same day, North Carolina declined to pass the amendment.

Given the monumental nature of the 19th Amendment, a person could be justified in believing that its passage was the only think on people's minds that day, but of course that view would be wrong.  On the same day the fate of Poland remained in the headlines, and very much in the minds of Polish Americans as well.

Joseph P. Tumulty addressing crowd of American citizens of Polish birth or extraction, who called at the White House to present resolutions to President Wilson asking him to continue the present national policy in support of Polish independence.

Polish Americans wanted the US to do something about the fate of Poland, but there was really little the country could in fact do.  Proposed military interventions had been considered by the UK and France, but Weimar Germany had blocked them. Therefore, the 1st Division, pictured below, didn't have to worry about imminent deployment.

1st Division, Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky.  August 18, 1920.