More than 400 community leaders, supporters, and advocates came together for the sold-out 16th Annual Febb Burn Banquet, East Tennessee’s premier celebration honoring the legacy of the women’s suffrage movement and supporting the future Women’s Suffrage Museum – Events & Cultural Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The annual event celebrates the courage and determination of the generations who fought for women’s right to vote while helping ensure that their extraordinary stories continue to educate and inspire generations to come.
Broadway’s Suffs Comes to the Febb Burn Banquet
This year’s keynote speaker was Rachel Sussman, two-time Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway musical Suffs. Through theater and storytelling, Sussman’s work has helped introduce a new generation to the people, sacrifices, conflicts, and victories that shaped the American women’s suffrage movement.
Award-winning WBIR-TV anchor Robin Wilhoit served as master of ceremonies, guiding guests through an evening filled with music, poetry, and performances honoring the women whose determination helped forever change American democracy.
In her keynote address, “Keep Marching: How We Honor the Past to Shape the Future,” Sussman reflected on the enduring relevance of the suffrage movement and the responsibility of carrying its lessons forward.
72 Years of Perseverance—and a Story That Must Continue
The message was particularly fitting for an event dedicated to the history of a movement that required 72 years of organized struggle before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
The Febb Burn Banquet takes its name from Febb Ensminger Burn, whose famous letter to her son, Tennessee legislator Harry T. Burn, urged him to “be a good boy” and help the suffrage amendment succeed. Tennessee’s ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920, made the state pivotal in achieving the required number of states for ratification.
“I am honored to be celebrating the Febb Burn Banquet and sharing the resonance of the musical Suffs at the event,” said Sussman. “The suffrage movement and the many suffragists who fought relentlessly for the right to vote over 100 years ago are proof that ‘progress is possible, not guaranteed.’ And that message of hope remains paramount as we continue to fight for progress against impossible odds today, as we look forward.”
The story of that long struggle—and the determination required to overcome seemingly impossible odds—resonated throughout the evening.
Giving These Stories a Permanent Home
Wanda Sobieski reflected on the connection between Sussman’s determination to bring Suffs to the stage and the perseverance demonstrated by the suffragists themselves.
“Rachel is a true modern-day suffragist,” said Sobieski. “She refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, and through Suffs, she has helped bring the courage, determination and sacrifice of these extraordinary women to audiences in a powerful new way. Just as the suffragists persevered through a 72-year battle for the right to vote, Rachel pushed forward against the odds to ensure their voices would be heard by a new generation.”
Sobieski also emphasized why preserving these stories in a permanent museum is so important.
“I am so proud of what she has accomplished. Now, through this museum, we have the opportunity to give these stories a permanent home and ensure this history is not simply a lesson from the past, but a living spark for the future.”
More Than 400 People United by One Mission
The sold-out attendance at the 16th Annual Febb Burn Banquet demonstrated the tremendous enthusiasm surrounding the Women’s Suffrage Museum and its mission.
More than 400 guests gathered not only to commemorate the past but also to support what comes next: the creation of the Women’s Suffrage Museum – Events & Cultural Center in downtown Knoxville.
Through immersive exhibits, historical storytelling, educational programming, special events, and cultural experiences, the Museum will provide a place where visitors can discover the complex and deeply human stories behind the American women’s suffrage movement.
The goal is not simply to tell visitors what happened.
It is to help them understand what it took to make it happen—and why those stories still matter.
Keep Marching
More than a century after Tennessee played its decisive role in the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the story of the women’s suffrage movement continues to resonate.
The 16th Annual Febb Burn Banquet celebrated those who marched before us, recognized those carrying their stories forward today, and looked toward a future in which those stories will have a permanent home in Knoxville.
We remember the struggle. We celebrate the victory. We preserve the stories. And we keep marching.
