William Torrence of the State Library staff in Virginia removes the original vouchers of the public printers from the auditor's storage rooms.

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1917

 For the first time, a time limit is imposed for ratification of a constitutional amendment. Section 3 of the 18th Amendment states that: "This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified ... within seven years from the date of submission, to the States by Congress." The time limit affects only this particular amendment, but the habit of time limits is adopted for future amendments.

 Published by Dr. Earl G. Swem, Librarian, College of William and Mary, "A Bibliography of Virginia" is issued in two parts, under the heading "Bulletin Virginia State Library". Part II reads: "Containing the Titles of the Printed Official Documents of the Commonwealth, 1776-1916." The compilation is executed by William Torrence of the State Library Staff, but Dr. Swem adds considerable cachet to the publication with this statement, quoted as is, from the Introduction: "It would have been impossible to clear up the uncertainty about many items printed from 1776 to 1820, if the original vouchers of the public printers had not been found. These vouchers were among the manuscripts which the compiler of this volume removed from the auditor's storage rooms in 1913."

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1920

 In a habeas corpus petition concerning a man convicted under the National Prohibition Act. In Ex parte Dillon, 262 F. 563 (N.D. Cal. 1920), the court holds that the amendment became effective upon ratification, and not on the date of the Secretary's proclamation.

 In United States ex rel Widenmann v. Colby, 265 F. 998 (1920), aff., 257 U.S. 619, 42 S.Ct. 169 (1921), In a case concerning the proclamation made by the U. S. Secretary of State that an amendment (the 18th) had been ratified, the court holds that the Secretary of State was merely performing a ministerial act in making such proclamation and that an amendment becomes a part of the U. S. Constitution when ratified by the requisite number of states, and not when the Secretary's proclamation is made.

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1921

In Dillon v. Gloss, 256 U.S. 368, 41 S. Ct. 510 (1921) the court again holds that amendments are effective upon the date of ratification, not the date of announcement of ratification.

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In Dyer v. Blair, 390 F. Supp. 1291 (N.D. Ill. 1975), concerning whether the Illinois legislature had adopted the Equal Rights Amendment. The conflict revolved around an Illinois constitutional provision which required a three-fifths vote of both houses to ratify a federal amendment. Rules in both houses required the same vote. The court held that legislative houses could set their own rules for adoption of an amendment. Since both houses had adopted the amendment resolution only by a majority, the court held that the Illinois legislature had not ratified the E.R.A. (i.e., the ratification only had to be consistent with the legislature's own rules on the subject)

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1983

David Dodge and Tom Dunn discover an 1825 edition of the Maine Civil Code which contains the U.S. Constitution and the original 13th Amendment which no longer appears in the Constitution.

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1999

TONA Committee of Correspondence Researcher Suzanne Nevling discovers compelling evidence of Virginia's ratification of the 13th Amendment at the University of California at Davis.

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2000

The TONA Committee of Correspondence, consisting of 9 researchers in 8 states, issues a press release notifying the public of discovery and verification of full ratification of the 13th Amendment.