Today marks National Voter Registration Day. How fitting that this day falls during Constitution Week! If you have not already done so, please register to vote. For more information on elections in Tennessee and voter registration please visit the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website. Considering this year is the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, I believe as women it is one of the easiest ways to honor the sacrifices of our patriot ancestors and the women that fought so hard for us to have the right to have our voice heard during elections.
Tennessee has done a wonderful job promoting the 19th Amendment and our special place in history as the Perfect 36th, but there is one more special production planned in Nashville that you can enjoy from home. The celebration of our constitutional right to vote will continue later this week with a special premier of One Vote Won. On September 25, the Nashville Opera will be releasing an on-demand streaming link of this work. For more information on the opera or to purchase access links please visit their official website. A trailer of the work can also be found on their YouTube channel. If you are an opera fan, or just interested in the subject, I believe you will enjoy this opportunity and presentation.
I trust you have learned a lot this Constitution Week. It has been a pleasure to see the educational posts that have been made on Facebook by daughters across the state and the country. As I noted last week in my kick off post, the 39 signers of Constitution were a varied and unique group of gentlemen. To promote your own research into these men and their lives, I posed a few questions about the signers and answers to my riddle are as follows:
Seven Signers were Immigrants: Pierce Butler, Thomas FitzSimons, James McHenry, William Paterson, Robert Morris, James Wilson, and Alexander Hamilton.
Six Signers also Signed the Declaration of Independence: Roger Sherman, George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, James Wilson, and George Read.
Three Signers were Bachelors: Daniel of St. Thomas Jennifer (note the super unusual name), Nicholas Gilman, and Abraham Baldwin.
Two Signers Died in Duels: Alexander Hamilton and Richard Dobbs Spaight.
One Signer signed by Proxy: George Read acted as John Dickinson’s proxy. Dickinson had been ill during the convention and was unable to attend the signing ceremony.
This week gives us the chance to encourage others to read the Constitution and to dig deep into this historical document and the men that signed it. However as daughters it doesn’t have to end on September 23 each year. We can promote this document year round and inspire others to learn more about the freedoms and liberties it provides.
In Service, Cecile
