Mary May Special to the Tallahassee Democrat July 4, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET The 19th Amendment — the Women’s Suffrage Act — had passed the U. S. House and Senate in 1919, and had been slowly making its way through the state legislatures. On August 26, 1920, Tennessee was the 36th state to approve it, and the last one needed for ratification. As the country prepared for the national elections in November, on Sept. 7, Florida Secretary of State H. C.