Annual Suffrage Banquet set for Thursday

By Mike Steely

Senior Writer

steelym@knoxfocus.com

The Suffrage Coalition’s Annual Febb Burn Banquet and Fundraiser will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Foundry in the World’s Fair Park. Tickets are on sale for $104 each, one dollar for each year women have had the right to vote.

In August 1920, Febb Burn wrote a letter to her son, state Representative Harry T. Burn, encouraging him to vote “Yes” on the ratification of women’s right to vote. His one vote in favor of the Constitutional Amendment ratified it in Tennessee and, thus, ratified it across the nation.

That letter is held in the McClung Collection. Also housed in that collection are the papers of Lizzie Crozier French, who spearheaded the suffrage movement in Knoxville.

In the invitation notice, the coalition asks supporters to “consider helping us in the worthy cause of locating and preserving Tennessee’s amazing suffrage history.” Plans for the evening include an art show and sale, a silent auction, cutouts of famous Tennessee suffragists, new music by Candace Corrigan, a display of suffrage timeline from 1848 to 1920, and a sneak preview of “one or two items planned for display in the future museum.”

“A dynamic Suffrage Museum will serve as a resource for teachers, students, researchers and lifelong learners,” the coalition said in a promotion.

During the recent Neighborhood Resource Fair, members of the Suffrage Coalition chatted with The Focus on the effort to buy and renovate the Sterchi-Audigier Home at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Cherry Street. Efforts to preserve the grand old mansion, built in 1925, have been underway for several years with local non-profits involved. At one time Representative Sam McKenzie spoke of placing a parole office there but the upstairs fire in 2023 halted those plans. The old home may qualify for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The museum would serve as a meeting house for groups not only interested in the suffrage movement but also in social and political justice. It would also tell the story of the men who stood up for women suffrage.

Information on purchasing tickets for the banquet and the Suffrage Coalition can be found at suffragecoalition.org.

Sobieski talks about the Sterchi-Audigier residence

Wanda Sobieski, coordinator for the Suffrage Coalition, told The Focus the Sterchi-Audigier residence on Magnolia is a “terrific location” and has a large two-level auditorium behind the home. She said the goal of buying and placing a Suffrage Museum there is a dream of the organization.

“It’s large enough to have community and private events, for fundraisers, and we have an impressive collection of artifacts for a museum,” she said.

She said she has toured many suffrage sites around the nation and the local group may have more items dedicated to the women’s right to vote effort than those she visited. Sobieski said the property, which the coalition is beginning to raise funds for to purchase, is “structurally in good shape” and features many beautiful features. The historic home offers space for offices, Exhibits, and indoor and outdoor events.

She also said the coalition may seek city and state grant funding to help with the purchase and upkeep. She said it is even hoped, when open, the museum could become an early-voting place and help register voters.

The Sterchi Home may qualify for placement on the National Register of Historic Places and that’s one of the goals. She said acquiring the home and establishing a museum is the third part of the Suffrage Coalition’s goals, the first two already achieved: Placement of the Market Square statue and acquiring the Burn Scrapbook and papers which have been digitized and available on the internet.

Donations to the project can be made online at www.suffragecoalition.org or mailed to Suffrage Coalition, P. O. Box 14322, Knoxville, Tn. 37914. Information about the project and the Coalition can be obtained by calling 865-719-0597.