Why Can't Mother Vote?: Joseph Hanover and the Unfinished Business of Democracy

On August 18, 1920, thirty-year-old State Representative Joseph Hanover of Memphis walked through the grand lobby of The Hermitage Hotel to be greeted by deafening cheers and jeers from women wearing yellow or red roses. Yellow roses symbolized their support for the proposed Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote; red roses opposed it. Joe Hanover had become the nation's leading male voice in the fight for woman suffrage. The most powerful forces in Tennessee politics opposed him. But Joe Hanover was not going to back away from the fight. Joe Hanover and his family had immigrated from Poland 25 years earlier to escape the Czar of Russia's tyranny. Joe asked: "Why can't Mother vote?" Pro-suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt summoned the freshman legislator to her suite in The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville on Aug. 8, 1920, to ask Joe Hanover to become the floor leader in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Hanover, a Jewish immigrant who won his election as an Independent, spoke passionately about his family's flight from oppression in Poland. He said he was a true conservative who believed deeply in the Bill of Rights and that the rights set forth therein should be afforded to all Americans. For this, he was threatened in phone calls and physically assaulted in a hotel elevator. Governor A.H. Roberts assigned Hanover a bodyguard. But Hanover was determined. He held together the pro-suffrage faction votes for woman suffrage when Tennessee became the Perfect 36, the last state that could possibly ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. Hanover, Banks Turner of Yorkville and Harry Burn of Niota were the votes in the end that made the difference. "Why Can't Mother Vote: Joseph Hanover and the Unfinished Business of Democracy" is a stirring account of the people who led the fight in Tennessee's pivotal vote to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote.

About the Author :
Bill Haltom is a father, husband, lawyer and award-winning writer. He is the author of eight books and has been a newspaper and magazine humor columnist for over 25 years. He has served as chair of the editorial boards for four magazines, including the ABA Journal, the flagship publication of the American Bar Association. A popular speaker, Bill has delivered commencement addresses and has been the featured speaker at conventions, banquets and leadership seminars. Bill lives in Memphis with his wife (Judge Claudia), his daughter (Princess Margaret) and his two beagles (Atticus and Scout). Senior Partner, HillHelen Group Publishing Co.; editor, award-winning journalist; former English teacher; graduate, Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy 2010-2011; Sterling Awards: 20 Most Influential Women in West Tennessee 2014.

Review :
"For a century, Joe Hanover has remained a forgotten hero of American democracy, but now his inspiring story is revealed in William Haltom's Why Can't Mother Vote? As a young immigrant to Memphis who believed in the American dream of equality and opportunity for all, then as a young legislator willing to stand up for justice against fierce opposition, Hanover became a champion of women's suffrage.. .Haltom helps us recognize Joe Hanover as a true patriot, and we need the lesson of his life more than ever."--Elaine Weiss, author of The Woman's Hour " 'To thine own self be true' is a timeless guiding principle, and Joe Hanover's energetic and courageous story is a wonderful example of what a difference integrity can make.. .!" --Tom Vickstrom, hotel historian, The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville ". . . Driven by his love for his mother and his veneration of America's founding documents, (Joe) Hanover uses his skills as an attorney and lawmaker to shepherd woman suffrage through the convoluted machinations of the political process. In telling the story, Haltom gives Hanover his rightful place in history."--Dr. Janann Sherman, co-author of The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage and retired University of Memphis history department chair "Bill Haltom's story of one lawyer's drive for fairness and equality for women should make each of us stand taller as we go about the unfinished business of democracy."--Judy Perry Martinez, president, American Bar Association ". . . One of Tennessee's favorite contemporary storytellers, Bill Haltom, brilliantly chronicles Hanover's journey from childhood to ratification leader. Haltom's compelling writing humanizes Hanover and other major players in this true tale of intrigue, racial bias, big business, and moral conflict that dramatically forever changed the face of democracy in America."--Sarah Sheppeard, president, Tennessee Bar Association ". . .Bill Haltom has crafted an engaging and inspiring read about a Southern Jewish immigrant and Tennessee state representative named Joseph Hanover whose courageous leadership in 1920 helped make America a more perfect union."--Micah D. Greenstein, senior rabbi, Temple Israel, Memphis "This story about Joe Hanover is heartening and a must-read for anyone valuing democracy . . . . With striking backdrops of the mighty Mississippi River, The Hermitage Hotel, and Tennessee's Capitol, Haltom describes the 'War of the Roses' and all the negotiating in the battle over whether or not a woman should be able to vote. . . .As an immigrant, a lawyer, a Memphian, and a legislator, Hanover was the hero who was needed at that moment." --Suzanne Craig Robertson, editor, Tennessee Bar Journal "Bill Haltom writes with the clarity of a beautiful crystal and the straightforwardness of an arrow to the target. He tells the story of Joseph Hanover from a frozen lake in Poland, where as a child he was smuggled to freedom, to the Pinch and Binghampton districts of Memphis. . . . Hanover's valiant efforts, legislative prowess, and gifted oratory resulted in Tennessee's vote as the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution." --Shirley C. Raines, first woman president of the University of Memphis