Women of the early twentieth century were faced with an endless number of hurdles and given little to no room to jump. It leaves us left to wonder how many of them succeeded so defiantly – one of those fiery personalities being the Lowcountry’s own, Anita Pollitzer.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1894, Anita was raised by her parents, Gustave and Clara Pollitzer. During that time, women were expected to maintain the home, have children, and do little more. Anita, however, refused to settle for anything less than everything.
After graduating from Memminger High School in 1913, Anita fearlessly fled to New York City, where she enrolled in the School of Practical Arts at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. It was there that she met her lifelong friend and fellow trailblazer, Georgia O’Keeffe. Her experiences in the city influenced her feminist values and social activism, so much so that she began working with the U.S. Suffrage Movement. Over the course of her many visits home to South Carolina, Anita and her sisters became the founding members of the South Carolina branch of the Congressional Union, which later became part of the National Woman’s Party (NWP).
The NWP supported a constitutional amendment to include women’s suffrage, and it was the first group to picket for women’s rights, which would eventually lead to Anita’s arrest in Washington, D.C. Though Anita was a member of the South Carolina branch, she chose to set her sights on the national level, knowing that women’s equality would have to be won through federal legislation. With her boundless energy and determined spirit, Anita was able to sway some politicians in power – making bold decisions that would change the course of history.
The last hurdle to finally have the 19th Amendment ratified and granted into law was the state of Tennessee. Anita became a member of the NWP Ratification Committee sent to Nashville in 1920, just before the Tennessee legislature voted on the Nineteenth Amendment for women’s suffrage. Anita wasn’t taking no for an answer. She travelled to Nashville, TN and met directly with the influential Republican legislator, Ben Hooper. She spent the entire day with him, so much so it made Hooper’s wife a little curious when he arrived home. She asked him what he had done that day, and this was his response:
“Suffrage that’s all. A little suffragist came into my office this morning and made me do everything except jump through a hoop and if she had asked me I’d have done that too.”
The Tennessee Senate approved ratification on August 13, 1920, by a wide margin. But, there was still the Tennessee House of Representatives to deal with, where there was more doubt. NWP lobbyists worked nearly around the clock, constantly checking in with legislators and comparing notes with each other every few hours. Among the legislators Anita was responsible for was a young man named Harry Burn. Though he had remained mum on which way he would sway, when it came time to put his vote in, he wore a red rose, which was the flower of the anti-suffragists. Much to everyone’s surprise, he voted “aye” in support of ratification. Although accounts of the famous vote often cite a letter from Burn’s mother as the reason he voted to ratify the suffrage amendment, many believe Anita made an impact on him, as well.
So, with just a narrow margin in favor, Tennessee’s House of Representatives ratified the 19th Amendment, thereby providing the final vote that ensured the passage of women’s suffrage nationwide. Not without the help and hard work, we believe, of the Lowcountry’s own Anita Pollitzer.
It was our goal to honor Anita by making some bold choices of our own. Through her spirit, we created our six-grain bourbon, Anita’s Choice, which is now available for purchase in Knoxville and Nashville, TN, where her story really got started. Like Anita, we believe that good is just not good enough. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating Anita and the groundbreaking women of that generation who gave us the foundation of hope we have today.
To find Anita’s Choice Bourbon near you, click here.