Modern Times

New Ms. in Ole Miss

On Jan. 6,1920, Governor Theodore G. Bilbo urged the Mississippi legislature to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Departing from his usual bilious bigotry, Bilbo requested “recognition to the intelligence, sweetness, character, ability and worth of the fair womanhood of Mississippi.” But the legislators, reluctant to enfranchise black women also, voted no.

Last week, by a unanimous senate vote, Mississippi became the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment. The action came a mere 64 years after it became the law of the land. When State Senator Howard Dyer called the resolution up for a vote, he rivaled the condescending chivalry of Bilbo. The measure, drawled Dyer, was drafted by “some lady legislators who take great pride in the fact that they are authors.”