‘I am unwilling, as a Southern man….’

EY Webb copy

“Nature destined woman to be the home maker, the child rearer, while man is the money maker.

“I am unwilling, as a Southern man, to force upon her any burden which will distract this loving potentate from her sacred, God-imposed duties. I am unwilling to force her into the vortex of politics, where her sensitiveness and her modesty will often be offended.”

— Congressman E. Y. Webb of Shelby, speaking against the proposed women’s suffrage amendment (1915)