We’re excited to start the “Dean’s Collection” showcasing CEHHS Dean Ellen McIntyre’s favorite picks! The theme of the Dean’s Collection is “Women Leaders and Changemakers.” Throughout history, women have played important leadership roles in their communities, nations, and across the globe, striving for social justice and change for the social good. The collection honors Dean Ellen McIntyre as the first female Dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee, and the many women in leadership positions whose accomplishments and service in the name of social justice and change for the social good often go unnoticed in history books.
Currently, we have two books in the collection—The Voice That Won the Vote: How One Woman’s Words Made History by Elisa Boxer and Vivien Mildenberger, and Turning Pages: My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor and LuLu Delacre.
The first book tells the story of Febb Burn, whose letter to her son Harry Burn, a Tennessee state legislator, played an important role in the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
In August of 1920, women’s suffrage in America came down to the vote in Tennessee. If the Tennessee legislature approved the 19th amendment it would be ratified, giving all American women the right to vote. The historic moment came down to a single vote and the voter who tipped the scale toward equality did so because of a powerful letter his mother, Febb Burn, had written him urging him to “Vote for suffrage and don’t forget to be a good boy.” The Voice That Won the Vote is the story of Febb, her son Harry, and the letter that gave many (but not all) American women a voice.
The second book tells the life story of the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Justice Sotomayor has notably fought for the defense of affirmative action, 
which she has credited in part for her admission to Princeton and Yale. She also ruled in the majority in Obergefell v. Hodges, calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Justice Sotomayor has inspired young people around the world to reach for their dreams. But what inspired her? For young Sonia, the answer was books! They were her mirrors, her maps, her friends, and her teachers. They helped her to connect with her family in New York and in Puerto Rico, to deal with her diabetes diagnosis, to cope with her father’s death, to uncover the secrets of the world, and to dream of a future for herself in which anything was possible. In Turning Pages, Justice Sotomayor shares that love of books with a new generation of readers, and inspires them to read and puzzle and dream for themselves.
A new book will be added to the collection at the end of each academic semester. Stay tuned to learn what new book will be added in May 2022!
