One Vote Makes All the Difference
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will
attend this 10 a.m. August 17 event in support of the Centennial of women’s right to
VOTE.
Also attending will be three historic-character re-enactors: “Susan B. Anthony” (Dr.
Betsy Fulmer), “Sojourner Truth” (Dr. Mary Graham-Lawrence), and “Harry T.
Burn”(James Erwin).
The spirit of our suffragist foremothers and of Harry T. Burn—the young man whose one vote made all the difference 100 years ago — will rise again in downtown Orlando on Monday, August 17.
And you can be there —safely — via Facebook LIVE. (Watch at Facebook.com/lwvoc beginning at 10 a.m. Tune in early to possibly see arrivals of the suffragists, etc.)
Tuesday, August 18, will be the 100th anniversary of the day the 19th Amendment was ratified — by the one vote from Burn that made Tennessee the necessary 36th state for women’s suffrage to become reality. August 18 is also the day of Florida’s primary election.
The day before, on Monday, August 17, at 9 a.m., social-distancing, costumed Leaguers will carry signs and champion voting on Orlando’s Orange Avenue near Wall Street, in tribute to the suffragists of a century ago.
Then we’ll trumpet our message that “one vote makes all the difference” in a news conference nearby, outside the Orange County Regional History Center, 65 E. Central Blvd.
Speaking will be Gloria Pickar and Sandi Vidal, co-presidents of the Orange County League, and Linda Chapin, former Orange County mayor and the League’s Centennial chair. Special guests will include “Susan B. Anthony” (Betsy Fulmer), “Sojourner Truth” (Dr. Mary Graham-Lawrence), and “Harry T. Burn” (James Erwin).
It’s all part of the League’s “100 days to The Vote” campaign, celebrating the 19th Amendment and our precious right to vote with a series of events and reminders leading up to the November 3 general election.
Another Centennial milestone, August 26 — long celebrated as Women’s Equality Day — marks the 100th anniversary of the day the 19th Amendment became law. That evening, the lights at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando’s City Hall Plaza, and the Lake Eola Fountain are slated to glow with the suffragists’ colors of purple and gold. It’s part of a national campaign inspired by a suffragist motto, “Forward Out of Darkness, Forward into Light
Also see our “100 Days to the Vote” series at Facebook.com/lwvoc and Instagram.com/lwvoc.
For questions or to volunteer, write HistoryLWVOC@gmail.com.