xt70rx937t9n_446 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4.dao.xml unknown 13.63 Cubic Feet 34 boxes, 2 folders, 3 items In safe - drawer 3 archival material 46m4 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Laura Clay papers Temperance. Women -- Political activity -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- Kentucky. Women's rights -- United States -- History. Women -- Suffrage -- Kentucky. Women -- Suffrage -- United States. The National Suffragist text The National Suffragist 2020 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70rx937t9n/data/46m4/Box_17/Folder_25/Multipage19489.pdf 1916 August 1916 1916 August section false xt70rx937t9n_446 xt70rx937t9n  

 

 

 

I GO FOR ALL SHARING THE PRIVILEGES OF THE GOVERNMENT
WHO ASSIST IN BEARING ITS BURDENS
Abraham Lincoln

 

  

 

 

 

@112 Natinnal $ufi‘ragiat

Q30 cgo

Foreword

E present THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGIST to the

awakened womanhood of America, with the firm

conviction that this magazine will play a Vital
part in the struggle for a freer and nobler civilization.

This magazine will be published in the interest of the
woman’s movement in its broadest sense—its duties and its
responsibilities as well as its rights and its privileges. It is
not attached to any sect or set, nor the adherent of any party.

It will endeavor to provide an open forum for all views
tending to strengthen the woman’s movement. Pledged to
tolerance and dedicated in a free spirit, it is hoped that
women of modern ideas and the highest ideals will give it
their hearty support and co—operation.

The size of the magazine Will be enlarged as the occasion demands

and circulation permits, so that every phase of the woman’s movement
may be touched upon.

Besides articles on the suffrage movement of National and Inter-
national interest we hope to add departments on hygienics, styles,
cooking, child-welfare and various other departments. THE NATIONAL
SUITII‘RAGIST will be published on the 15th of each sucdeeding month.

The extent in which you aid us by your subscriptions and co—operation-

will determine the extent to which we can become a power‘v'for constructed
good in our nation. lContributed articles will be gladly accepted and
a question department relating to the suffrage moverrient will be an
important part of our magazine. We earnestly bespeak your cordial
support with the certainty that we will prove worthy 0€ your trust in
us. With 0111 face toward the rising sun; With the heartbeat of aroused
womanhood 1inging in our ears, we sincerely greet you. i

5" JUDITH W. Lo’EWENTHAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1

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N 11$..."

 

 fiNAflONAL. firmware
6)

Publication Office 1006 The Hearst Building
C H I C A G 0

Published Monthly

BY THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGIST (INCORPORATED)
CANADA POSTAGE 50 CENTS EXTRA, ALL OTHER COUNTRIES $1.00 EXTRA.
Err/cred as Second—Class [Waller July mm, 1.910, at [he I’nsl Office a! Chicago,
Under the Act! of March 3rd, 157.9

All subscriptions begin With current issue, unless ordered for a future date. The expimt Jon
date of current subscriptions is shown on the wrapper.

' EDITOR, JUDITH W. LOEWENTHAL

$1.00 the Year 10 Cents the Copy

 

 

i . 23.;

@248
Vol. 1 , ' August, 1916' NO- 3
CONTENTS

Equal SufTrage By Helen Todd 4'
Cheyenne Greets Sufl'ragists 5
Eminent People Declare For Suffrage 7
A Historial Review By Ida IIusted Harper 8

I Ten Questions Answered By Dr. Anna Howard Shaw 12
Status of Suffrage in Illinois By Charles C. Roe . I 14
Chicago Woman’s Peace Party By Emma M. Loeb L 16
A Reason For Full Suffrage By Carl D. Thompson .‘ ’ 1‘8
Onward, o Ye Women By Edna Dinwiddle I 19
What Is Infantile Paralysis 3) By George Rubin; M: D. 20
Is Internationalism Dead 9 By Mary Sheepshanks 21
The Question of Fitness By Florence W. Richardson Usher . 26
Mothers and Mothers . By Charlotte Perkins Gilman . 27 .
Recollections of Susan B. Anthony By Eugene V. Debs 28 I.
Save Mothers, IS Crusades Call . By Judge Henry Neil - . . .‘ 30 I
TIle Straight Girl On A Crooked Path By. Louise De Koven Bowen 31

 

  

Equal Suffrage
The Kinds of Men Opposed to Equal Suffrage
By Miss Helen Todd of California

N CALIFORNIA there are only
three kinds of men who voted
against giving the vote to women.

They were, first, the men who
make money out of vice‘; second, the
very rich, the men who look upon women
simply as ornaments, and third, the very
ignorant and illiterate.

One man of the last type, when I
asked him if he would vote for our‘suf-
frage amendment, answered:

“‘I cannota read, and I cannota write,
so I cannota vote. Next year I reada,
next year I learna to write, then I vote

77
no.

I said, “Why do you want to do
that? We are willing in this country to
give you all that we have—liberty, de—
mocracy, why will you not have at least
what we are willing to give you?”

And he said “Because God had not
given women any sense.”

And on election day the most illiterate
citizens voted no; and on Pacific avenue,
where the rich live, they voted no; but
the great mass of the men in between
voted yes. From all the ordinary walks
of life, from shops and factories, down
from our lumber camps, and from our
mines and from our farms, came the vote
of the average man. The kind of man
who, when asked, “Will you vote for a

  
 
 

‘3“ 9 "(:3 ‘3',“
. w. -
1/29 «sax/.4 -

suffrage amendment?” had answered
something like this:

“Sure, I will; you know the grass-
hoppers ate up all our crops in Kansas,
and my father had to come out here. He
had no money, but he bought a little
farm, and my mother just worked like a
slave and pulled us through, and now
the mortgage is paid off, and we are all
right. ,.

“And if that woman ain’t good
enough to vote in this state, show me a
man that is.”

And another man would tell us about
his daughter—how she taught school
and had the education which he
had not and could not get, how he
wanted her to be, given as fair a chance
in her struggle with life as his sons; and
he would say, “If she is not good enough
to vote, where is the man who is good
enough?”

And that is the feeling of the Western
man, that the women who have helped
to build up the West are his equals and
companions. Instead of cheap and ful-
some flattery they are glad to give us
justice, to recognize us as comrades and
equals.

While there is a lower class I am in it;
While there is a criminal class I am of it;
While there is a soul in prison I am not free.

    

 

.4 _ 1'...» .4 A, i.-_-

 

  

.— ‘ffimzm. . -.—.__...____._~ -

 

 

Cheyenne Greets
“ Suffragists

Cheyenne, during the last week in
July, gathered Within her gates' a dis-
tinguished company of women, repre-
senting many of the states in the
Union who were delegates to the con-
vention of tlie National Council of

 

 

 

 

EMMA SMITH DEVOE

Women Voters. Delegates began arriv-
ing early in the week. Homes were
opened to them and pleasant social
courtesies arranged which added
greatly to the pleasure of the trip and
effectiveness of the work accomplished.

Mrs. Emma Smith Devoe, the na-
tional president, called the first meet-
ing to order in Carnegie library.

The gavel fell at eight o’clock. Rev.
Oympia Brown of Racine, Wisconsin,
gave the invocation. Rev. Mrs. Brown
is an octogenarian, and her words fell
like a blessing upon the women assem-
bled in the.interests of the cause in
the service of which Mrs. Brown has
grown old and honored. The address
of the (wening was given by Mrs. Mary
C. C. Bradford of Colorado. Iler sub-
ject was “A Trained Woman’s Citi-
zenry.” Her theme was that women
should study, think, educate them—
selves in the craft of wise citizenship.

. Other distinguished women were
called upon for brief talks. Among
them were Mrs. Walter McNab Miller
of Washington, D. C.. representing
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president
of the National Woman’s Sufi’ 'age As-
sociation. Mrs. Miller brought to the
Council of Women Voters an invitation
to become affiliated with the Suffrage
association. The discussion, in which
Dr. Lucy Waite of Chicago, Mrs. A. M:
Brown, Chicago; Mrs. Wolstenholme,
Utah; Mrs. Foster, and Miss Bosse,
Washington; Rev. Olympia Brown,
Wisconsin; Mrs. Bellamy; Laramie;
Mrs. Hart, Idaho; Mrs. Bradford, and
others, joined, was continued until the
morning’s session for conclusion and
action. '
Mrs. Devoe named the following com-
mittees. .
General Arrangements—Mrs. Mary
Bellamy, Laramie. .
Reeeption—Mesdames R. A. Morton,
G. A. Fox, Charles Bristol, J. D. Clark.
Baerresen.——Gibs0n Clark and others ._
of Cheyenne.
Courtesy—Same as above.

 

  

Literature—Mrs. Etta Cummings,
Washington. -

Resolutions—Dr. Lucy Waite, Chi-
cago; Mrs. Foster, Washington; Mrs.
Wolstenholme, Utah.

Credentials—Mrs. Laura G. Fixen,
Chicago.

“Vanguard”——Miss Bertha Bosse,
Washington.

Voluntary offerings—«Mrs. A n n a
Swan, Washington; Mrs. Ione Hart,
Idaho.

Mrs; Morton was introduced and
spoke briefly in happy vein, welcom-
ing the visitors to Cheyenne. Her ap-
pearance was greeted with applause
and she was given a rising vote of
thanks for the committee of which she
was head, that had so generously ar-
ranged for the entertainment of the
guests of the week.

The second session of the council of
women voters was promptly called to
order in the women’s club room at Car-
negie library, convening at half after
nine o ’.clock

The delegates were all present, and
following the invocation addresses of
welc0meb were made by IIon.l \Iary Bel—
lamy membei of the Wyoming legisla-
turc,1cp1esenting the women of Wy-
oming, and Gov. John B. Kendrick, who
welcomed the visitors in the name of
the state. ~

The la11s iii different states for the
benefit 01 otherwise, of women and
childien 11 ere discussed, the 1eports be-
ing given by M1s. Bellamy, Wyoming;
M1s. Bradford Colorado; M1s. Wol-
stenholme, Utah, and Miss Margaiet
Roberts, Idaho.

Dr. Grace Raymond chard of La1a—
mie, member of the faculty of the Uni-
versity of Wyoming, gave an interest-
ing address 0n the history of woman
suffrage in this state.
the author of a history of Wyoming.
A copy of her review of suffi age evo-
lution in Wyoming 11111 be filed in the
rec01ds of the council.

The afternoon session was devoted
to the discussion of questions vital to
the council, and which will bear fruit
beneficial to the women of the entire
Union.

At 5 o’clock Rev. Olympia Brown
delivered a memorial address in honor

Dr. Hebard is ‘

THE NATIONAL SUFFRAGIST

of the memory of Mrs. Abigil Scott
Duniway.

Gov. John B. Kendrick opened the
doors of the executive mansion to the
visiting delegates to the council of
women voters, extending his invitation
to the citizens of Cheyenne to attend
and assist in giving the distinguished
visitors a cordial welcome. The plans
for the reception were formulated and
carried to a happy conclusion .by the
ladies of the local committee, of which
Mrs. R. A. Morton was the chairman.

The faiiest of summer flowers 11 ere
used in the decorations, a coteria of
replesentative women of Cheyenne as-
sisted in receiving and ente1taining the
guests. Mrs. Burke H. Sinclair offici-
ated as hostess in the absence of Mrs.
Kendrick. Standing in the receiving
line with the governor were Mrs. Rob-
ert B. Forsyth, wife of the state audi-
tor; Mrs. Devoe, Mrs. Bellamy, Mrs.
Harrison G. Foster, officers of the coun-
cil and Rev. Olympia Brown.

Assisting in the drawing-room were
Mesdames Sinclair, R. A. Morton, W.
C. Mentzer, J. M. Carey, Wilfrid
O’Leary, W. E. Hinriehs, E. W.
Glafcke, CharlesBristol, A. L. Putnam,
Archie Allison, N. S. Thomas.

Refreshments were served in the din-
ing room by Mrs. G. A. Fox, Mrs. R. C.
Shanklin of South Bend, Ind., Mrs.
Bruce Jones and Mrs. Donald Forsyth.

The affair was quite informal, and
the guests gathered' in constantly
changing groups to chat, to discuss the
eve1— important topic which had brought
them together, and to cement acquaint—

. ances that will ripen with the years

into enduring friendship.

The visiting ladies were most charm-
ing, individually and collectively, and
the Cheyenne women cherish a secret
hope that the admiration may be
mutual.

The visitors one and all expressed
the greatest pleasure in their visit to
Cheyenne, and appreciation of the
many courtesies extended to them.

Among the distinguished visitors were,
noted Judge and Mrs. Joseph M. Carey,
Bishop and Mrs. Thomas, Judge and
Mrs. W. E. Mullen, Mr. and M1s. H. E.
Henderson, Mrs. Effie R. Dodds, Mrs.
Ammon of Kansas City.

 

 

 

 

 

  

.«Ln .__M _ '

 

n.

AUGUST, 1916

EMINENT PEOPLE DECLARE FOR
EQUAL SUFFRAGE

Abraham Lincoln—I go for all shar-
ing the privileges of the gove1 111nent who
assist in bea1 111g its bu1 dLns by no means
excluding women.

Dr. Harvey W. \\'iley.—If woman suf—
frage were not desirable for any other
reason, it would be worth'while merely
because it would ensure better pure-food
legislation.

Jane Addams—City housekeeping has
failed partly because women, the tradi—
tional housekeepers, have not been con—
sulted as to its multiformactivitics.

William Dean Howells—Everything
in the movement to give women the suf-
frage appeals to my reverence and sense
of justice.

Lawrence Abbott—I have not always

been a suffragist, but I have become c011-
vinced since the movement became so
widespread and such excellent results
have come from it.

M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn
Mawr College—It is only necessary for
generous and unprejudiced women to
realize the present economic independ-
ence of millions of women workers, for
woman suffrage to seem to them inev-
itable.

Mrs. Florence Kelley—Until women
are enabled to perform their full duty
in the selection of officials who enforce
laws, their efforts to persuade legislators
must remain in a large degree fruitless.

Ben B. Lindsey—Outside the corrupt
and self-seeking, the vile and venal, the
man cannot be found in Colorado who
would do away with equal suffrage.

Francis E. Clark, President of the
United Society of Christian Endeavor.—
I have seen t11e7‘ope1ation of woman suf-
frage in NewZ ealand and other parts
of the world, and my belief in it has been
strengthened.

William Jennings Bryan—I ask no po-
litical rights for myself that I am not
willing to grant to my wife. The objec-
tions raised to woman suffrage appear to
me to be invalid while the arguments ad-
vanced to the support of the proposition,
are, in my judgment, convincing.

Alice Freeman Palmer—The higher
duties of women will be assisted, not
hindered, by intelligent discipline in the
others.

Charles Edward Russell—I believe in

7

votes for womén just as I believe in votes
for men, and for the same reasons.

Maud Ballington Bootl1.~~All the evils
that affect the home are largely depend-
ent upon politics. "\Vomen should have
the power to deal with these.

Theodore Roosevelt—It is the right of
woman to have the ballot; it, is the duty
of man to give it; and we all need
woman’s help as we try to solve. the
many and terrible problems set: before
us.

Julia \Vard Ilowe.———'l‘he claim of
woman to an equal opportunity with
man was seen 'to be just when Plato so
stated it, in terms which the subtlest. of
his hearers could .not gainsay.

Rev. Charles Akcd.—Nothing since the
coming of Christ ever promised so much
for the ultimate good of the human race
as the political emancipation of women.

Mary E. VVoolley, President of Mt.
IIolyoke College—l t seems almost; inex-»
plicable that: changes. surely as radical
as giving women the vote, should be ac.
cepted as perfectly natural, while the
political right is still viewed somewhat:
askancc.

Brand \Vhitloek. —I believe that
Women should vote because they are
women, just as I believe that. men should
vote because they are men. ,

David Starr Jordan, President of
Stanford University—1%]ual suffrage
would tend to broaden the minds of
women and to increase their sense of
personal responsibility.

Sophonisba Breekinridge, of the Uni—
versity of Chicago—A woman has not
the power she needs as a housekeeper
unless the officials of the city are as
much responsible to her as the domestic
servants she selects.

Julia Lathrop.——Woman suffrage, in-
stead of being incompatible with child-
welfare, leads towaid it, and is, indeed,
the next great service to be rendered for
the welfare of the home.

Thomas Edison—Woman should cer-
tainly have the vote. It is only right,
and it is expedient, too.

Florence Nightingale—That women
should have the suffrage, I think no one
can be more deeply convinced than'l. It
is so important for a woman to be a
“person.” I entirely agree that woman’s
political} power should be direct and
open, not indirect.

 

  

 

A Historical Review

By Ida Husted Harper

S AMERICA was the first coun-
try in which was made the
experiment of a representa-

tive government by men, it
is natural that it should be the first
in which women asked a representation.
The very first woman to make this de-
mand, so far as known, was Mistress
Margaret Brent, of Maryland, in 1647.
She was heir of Lord Calvert, the broth-
er of Lord Baltimore, and executor of
the estates of both in the colony, and,
as representation in the legislature was
based on property, she demanded “place
and voice’ ’——two votes—in that body.
I—Iei petition was hotly debated for sev-
eral hours and finally denied. The prec-
edent was then established which legis-
latures have been following ever since
when women have petitioned for “place
and Voice.’

The colonial records of Massachusetts
show that women property holders voted
under the old province charter from
1691 to 1780 for all elective officers.
When a constitution was adopted they

were excluded from a vote for governor.

and legislature but retained it for other
officials. Under the close restrictions not
one-fourth of the men could vote. .

In March, 1776, Mrs. Abigail Adams
wrote to her husband, John Adams, in
the Continental Congress: “I long to
hear that you have decla1ed an inde-
pendency, and, by the way, in the new
code of laws which I suppose it will be
necessary for you to make, I desire you
would remember the ladies and be more
generous and favorable to them than
were your ancestors. Do not put such
unlimited power into the hands of hus-
bands. Remember all men would be ty-
rants if they could. If particular care
and attention are not paid to the ladies
we are determined to foment a rebellion,
and will not hold ourselves bound to

obey any laws in which we have no voice
or representation.” As Mrs. Adams
used the plural “we” she undoubtedly
spoke also for Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren,
Mrs. Hannah Lee Corbin and other
women of influence who were closely as—
sociated with the leading men of the

‘ Revolution. In 1778, Mrs. Corbin, sis-

ter of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia,
presented her own petition for the right
to vote.

The Continental Congress left the suf-
frage to be dealt with by the states in
their constitutions and New Jersey was
the only one which conferred it on
women, its constitution giving the fran-
chise ,to “all inhabitants worth $250,
etc.” . In 1790 a revision of the election
law used the words “he or she,” thus
emphasizing the inclusion of women in

the electorate. Enough women voted to

gain the enmity of politicians, and in

_ 1807 the legislature passed an arbitrary

act limiting the suffrage to “white male
citizens. This was clearly an usurpa-
tion of authority, as the constitution
could be changed only by action of the
voters.

In 1826, Frances Wright, a young
Scotchwoman of beauty, education and
wealth, came to the United States to

carry out ideas similar to those put into \'

practice by Robert Dale Owen in his
colony at -New1 Harmony, Ind. - She
joined Mr. Owen in the publication of a
paper putting forth many advanced
theories and claiming entire equality of
rights for women. For several years

’she presented these also on the lecture

platform and was the first to bring the
question of a woman suffrage thus be-
fore the public, where it met with al-
most universal derision.’

In 1836, Ernestine L. Rose, daughter
of a rabbi in Poland, banished from
her native country because of her pro—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

MUST, 1916

gressive ideas, came to this one. She
was but 26 years old, and handsome and
eloquent, and her lectures on the sci-
ence of government drew crowded houses
in all parts of the country. She advo-
cated the full enfranchisen'ient of women
and was the first to urge them to secure
the repeal of laws which affected their
interests. I11 the winter of 1836—7 she
circulated a petition in Albany, N. Y.,
for a law that would enable a married
woman to hold property, and could get
only five signatures, including men and
women, but she carried these to the leg-
islature and addressed that body in be-
half of such a law. She kept up this
work steadily, and by 1840 she had asso-
ciated with her Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Paulina Wright Davis and Lydia Mott.
They continued their petitions and ad-
dresses to the legislature until 1848,
when for the first time the common law
was changed to give property rights to
married women, and thereafter they de-
voted themselves to working for the suf-
frage.

While these individual efforts were be-
ing made the great anti-slavery question
was growing more momentous. In 1828
Sarah and Angelina Grimke, of South
Carolina, emancipated their slaves, came
north and by their impassioned speeches
aroused public sentiment. Garrison soon
entered the contest, and the American
Anti-Slavery Society was formed. From
the beginning women were prominently
identified with this movement, and the
names of Lucretia Mott, Lydia Maria

'Child, Maria Weston Chapman, Abby

Kelly, Abby Hopper Gibbons and many
others soon became widely known. The
whole question of human rights was
thoroughly canvassed and women soon
began to recognize their own, and to
take part in the business meetings and
public debates of the society. This
aroused Violent opposition, and in 1839
the society was rent in twain on this
point, the half that sustained the rights
of the woman comprised Garrison, Phil-
lips, Pierpont, Pillsbury, Thompson,
Foster, Stanton, Gerrit Smith—nearly
all of those who carried the abolition of
slavery to success. Thenceforth these
men became the champions of woman’s
rights, including the right to the ballot,
and the women added to their appeals

9

for the slaves, others for their own legal
and political liberty.

The question of woman’s rights to
take public part in this movement was
carried to the \Norld ’s Anti-Slavery Con-
vention in London, in June, 1840, which
refused to recognize the women dele-
gates from the United States. who in-
cluded Lucretia Mott and Mrs. \Vendell
Phillips. It was at this time that Mrs.
Mott and Mrs. Stanton, a bride, decided
that on their return to the United States
they would organize a movement. espe—
eially for the rights of women.

In may localities there began to be
signs of an awakening on the part of
women. Margaret Fuller, one of a
coterie of thinkers in Boston, in her
writings and semi-public addresses in
1840 demanded political rights for
women. In 1845 the Rev. Samuel J.
May, a leader of thought in New York
State, preached a sermon in his church
in .Syracuse declaring that the wrongs
of women could not be redressed until
they had political power. In 1847, Lucy
Stone, just graduated from Oberlin Col-
lege, began speaking on woman’s rights.
Soon afterwards Lucretia Mott pub-
lished a “Discourse on Woman,” in an-
swer to a lecture which Richard II. Dana
was giving in many cities ridiculing the
idea of political equality for women. In
various parts of the country women be-
gan establishing papers, writing books
and giving lectures for the purpose of
promoting the rights of women. The
thought was slowly working like a
leaven, quickened by the interest women
were feeling in the questions of tem-

, perance and slavery.

Mrs. Stanton had been prevented by
family cares from putting into effect her
resolution made in London until. 1848.
In July of that year Lucretia Mott and
her sister, Martha C. Wright, of Auburn,
N. Y., were attending the yearly meet-

ing of friends in Western New York,

at Waterloo, where Mrs. Stanton joined
them in the home of Mrs. Mary Ann Mc-
Clintock,~and here they decided to carry
out the long-cherished idea. One Sun-
day morning the four prepared their
declaration and resolutions; and sent a
call, which they did not dare sign, to
the county papers for a two ldays’ con-

.vention to be held in the Wesleyan

\

 

  

  

10

Chapel, at Seneca Falls, Mrs. Stanton ’s
home, “to'discuss the social, civil and
religious condition and rights of
woman.”

On the 19th and 20th of July the
church was filled with people curious
and interested to know What the meet-
ing was for. James Mott presided and
addresses were made by the four callers
of the convention, by Frederick Doug—
lass and several men prominent in the
locality The declaration and resolu—
tions were discussed, the latter adopted
and the former signed by one hundred
men and women, some of whom with-
drew their names when “the storm of
ridicule began to break.” There was so
much interest in the convention, and so
much remained to be said, that it ad—
journed to meet in Rochester, N. Y.,
August 2nd. Heie the Unitarian chur eh
was eiowded and many fine addresses
weie made by men and women. Among
the signeis of the declaration were
Susan B. Anthony’s father, mother, and
sister, Mary, but she herself was at this
time teaching in the academy at Cana—
joharic, N. Y., and knew nothing of
these meetings. This declaration stated
the whole case for woman as compre-
hensively as it ever has been stated
since; the resolution comprisbd prac—
tically every demand that ever after-
wards was made for women, and taken
together they formed a remarkable docu-
ment.

Miss Anthony first met Mrs. Stanton
in 1851, and from that time 01 n“ani7ed
work for woman’s iights began to take
shape in New York. The first conven-
tions were principally in the interests of
temperance but in these the rights of
women at once took the lead. In 1852 a
bona fide Woman’s Rights Convention
with delegates present from eight states
and Canada, was held in SyracuSe. It
brought to the front the wonderful gal-
axy of women whose names were hence-
forth connected with this movement, and
here began its fifty-four years’ leader-
ship by Miss Anthony‘. From time to
time until the present, with the interim
of the Civil War, the work has actively
continued in this state.

On April 19 and 20, 1850, a Woman’s
Rights Convention was held in the Sec-

THE NATIONAL SUFFBAGIST

011d Baptist Church of Salem, Ohio.
Frances Dana Gage and the anti—slavery
speakers had been for several years sow-
ing the seed in that state, and the call
for this meeting was signed by ten pub—
lic-spirited women who were impelled
to action by the approaching convention
to revise the state constitution. Emily
Robinson, J. Elizabeth Jones and J osc—
phine S. Griffing were three of the lead—
ing spirits. Letters of encouragement
were read from Mrs. Stanton, Lucretia
Mott, Lucy Stone and others in the cast
who were 110w becoming known as ad-
vocates of the rights of women. The
Memorial to the Constitutional Conven-
tion and the address to the women of
Ohio have not been surpassed in elo-

quence and force in the years that have .

since elapsed. It is said that nearly
8,000 signatures to this memorial were

secured. In 1852 the first State Suffrage

Association was formed. VVoman’s
Rights Conventions were held annually
in Ohio thereafter until the approach of
the Civil. \Var and resumed after it
closed.

I11 May, 1850, during an Anti-Slavery
Convention in Boston, a few women in
attendance decided to call a convention
to discuss exclusively the rights of
women, and the time and place were
fixed for October 23 and 24 in Worces-
ter. The arrangements were made prin-

‘cipally by Lucy Stone and Mrs. Paulina

Wright Davis, and from the holding of
this convention the Woman’s Rights
movement may be said to have assumed
a national aspect. Nine states were rep—
resented by speakers and among these
were Garrison, Phillips, Pillsbury, Fos—
ter, Burleigh, Douglass, Charming, Mrs.
Mott, Mrs. Rose, Abby Kelly, Lucy
Stone, Antoinette Brown, Dr. Harriet
K. Hunt, and many more of note, and
letters wereiread from Emerson, Alcott,
Whittier, Gerrit Smith, Joshua R. Gid-
dings, Mrs. Swisshelm, Elizur Wright,
Mrs. Stanton and others. Mrs. Davis
presided. A national committee was
formed, under whose management con-
ventions were held annually in various
cities, while the question was always
thereafter a leading one in Massachu-
setts.

‘ An account of this Massachusetts con—

 

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-0. - «as.

AUGUST, 1910

vention in the Westminster Review,
London, by Mrs. John Stuart Mill,
marked the beginning of the movement.
for woman suffrage in Great Britain.

I11 1850 the constitution of Indiana
was revised and, under the leadership
of Robert Dale Owen, chairman of the
revision committee, the laws for women
were liberalized beyond any then exist-
ing. The question of the rights of
women was widely discussed and at an
anti-slavery meeting in Greensboro, in
the spring of 1851, a resolution by
Amanda M. Way was adopted to hold a
Woman’s Rights Convention. This took
place in Dublin in October; Mrs. Han-
nah Hiatt presided and the large audi-
ences of the two evening sessions were
addressed by Henry C. Wright, the
noted abolitionist. Dr. Mary F. Thomas
sent a strong letter; a permanent Wom—
an’s Rights Society was formed and a
convention appointed for the next year
at Richmond. Thereaftei these meet—
ings became annual. -

In June, 1852, the first Woman’s
Rights Convention of Pennsylvania was
held in West Chester, and was largely
under the auspices of the Friends, or
Quackers, among them James and Lu-
cretiaMott. Prominent speakers came
from New York and Massachusetts, and
the next convention was appointed for
Philadelphia.

From 1852 Woman’s Rights Conven-
tions were held in many parts of the
country. Leading men and women sup-
ported the movement for the rights of
women, but as most of them were also
leaders of the movement for the aboli-
tion of slavery, the former had to suf-
fer the odium and opposition directed
against both. It was slowly gaining
ground, however, when the breaking out
of the Civil War banished all other
questions from the public thought. When
the war was ended and the women again
took up their cause they met the vast
complication of the rights of the emanci-
pated negroes, and were compelled even
by those who had been their strongest
supporters to yield their claims to those
of negro men. The civil, legal and p0-
liticalb results of the fourteenth and fif-
teenth amendments to the National Con-
stitution tended still further to obscure

ll

and hinder the etlforts to obtain the tran-
chise for women. .

An Equal Rights Association had been
formed to promote the interests of both
negrocs and white women, but in 1869
the latter were forced to recognize the
necessity for a separate organization it'
they were not to be entirely sacrificed.
At the close of a meeting ot.‘ this Equal
Rights Association in New York, women
who had come fiom nineteen states to
attend it met at the \\ omans sBureau 111
Bast Twenty- thiid st1eet, May 15, 1809,
and formed a National \Voman Suffrage
Association, whose object should be to
secure a sixteenth amendment to the Na-
tional Constitution which would enfran-
chise women. Mrs. Stanton was made
president and Miss Anthony was put on
the executive committee. As there was
some division of sentiment at this time,
a call was issued by Lucy Stone, Julia
Ward Howe and others for a convention
to meet in Cleveland, Ohio, the follow—
ing November, and here the American
Woman Suffrage Association was
formed, with Henry Ward Beecher,

president, and Lucy Stone, chairman of

the executive committee. It worked
principally to obtain the suffrage
through amendments to state constitu-
tions. Both societies held national eon—
ventions every year thereafter.

In 1890 the two bodies united under
the name of National American Woman
Suffrage Association and since then both
methods of work have been followed.
Mrs. Stanton was elected president of
the new organization; Miss Anthony,
vice—president-at-large; Lucy Stone,
chairman of the executive committee.
In 1892 Mrs. Stanton resigned her office
because of advancing age; Miss Anthony
was elected president and the Rev. Anna
Howard Shaw, vice—president. Miss An-
thony resigned the presidency in 1900
at the age of 80, and Mrs. Carr