The annual meeting in 1920 took place in Orlando. Mrs. Fuller was re-elected and plans for extensive work were made but the association was not quite ready to merge into a League of Women Voters. This was done April 1, 1921, and Mrs. J. B. O'Hara was elected chairman.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. Before the State Association was organized the Equal Franchise League of Jacksonville decided to ask the Legislature, which met in April, 1913, to submit to the voters a woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution. A bill was prepared and an appeal for assistance made to the National American Association. In response it sent its very capable field worker, Miss Jeannette Rankin, who went with the executive officers of the league to Tallahassee. Its president, Mrs. Roselle C. Cooley, said in her report: "The House of Representatives decided to hear us in a Committee of the Whole, at an evening session. In this case it meant the whole House, the whole Senate and the whole town. Seats, aisles, the steps of the Speaker's rostrum were filled, windows had people sitting in them and in the hall as far as one could see people were standing on chairs to hear the first call for the rights of women ever uttered in the Capitol of Florida. Four women and three men spoke, the vote of the committee was publicly called at the close of the speaking and the bill passed into the House of Representatives without recommendation. Weary days and weeks of waiting, time wasted on petty legislation, members going home for week-ends and not returning for Monday work kept us still anxious. At length the bill was called and the vote was 26 ayes to 38 noes.

"As we were leaving for our homes on Saturday evening a Senator said: 'If you will come into the Senate we will show those men how to treat ladies.' So we went back on Monday and were fortunate in having for our sponsor Senator Cone of Columbia county, the leader of the Senate. He took up our bill, placed it on the special calendar and advised us in our procedure, the bill having come into the Senate with favorable recommendation from the committee. Again the weary waiting, the petty legislation, the filibustering of the 'corporation' members and the whisky men, and at last a motion to postpone indefinitely was carried by one majority, 15 to 16, the sixteenth man being one who had been with us from the first until this moment."

The Legislature meets every two years and in 1915 the State association, which had now sixteen well organized branches, was sponsor for the bill, or resolution, and a large number of legislators had promised their support. Hearings were granted by both Houses, but it was defeated.

In 1917 strenuous efforts were again made in behalf of a State constitutional amendment. Mrs. William Jennings Bryan, who now had a winter home in Florida, was among those who addressed the Legislature in favor of it, and on April 23 the resolution to submit the amendment passed the Senate by 23 to 7. The struggle was then begun in the House but the corporate and liquor interests combined with the non-progressive character of many of the members accomplished its defeat.

In April, 1919, the State Federation of Women's Clubs, which now had a suffrage chairman, co-operated with the State Equal Suffrage Association in the effort to obtain a Primary Suffrage Bill, such as had been passed by the Legislatures of Arkansas and Texas. Mrs. McMahon, a national organizer, and Miss Skinner did organizing and legislative work from March 6 to April 22. The former was sent to work for Presidential suffrage, but the State Board believed that Primary suffrage had a better chance. This, however, met with so much opposition that it was never brought up. The moment the Federal Amendment was submitted by Congress a delegation of women—Mrs. Frank Stranahan, chairman of the Legislative Committee; Dr. Safford, Mrs. W. S. Jennings, Mrs. Edgar A. Lewis—went to Tallahassee to try to have the Legislature ratify it, arriving one day before adjournment. They quickly canvassed the members and found a small majority willing to vote for it but there was no time. Governor Sidney J. Catts could have called a special session for the next day but insisted that there was no assurance of ratification, as some of the men listed as favorable were in the habit of changing their vote, and he did not want to put the members on record. Some of them who were alleged to be supporters declared that they would not stay over even for one day. It was impossible to persuade the Governor to call a special session at any time afterwards, but in 1920 Florida women were enfranchised by this amendment.

SUFFRAGE. By special acts of the Legislature, charters were granted to various cities giving Municipal suffrage to women and the voters accepted them. Sixteen towns had such a charter: Felsmere, Aurantia, Cocoa, Orange City, Deland, West Palm Beach, Delray, Florence Villa (where Dr. Anna Howard Shaw had a winter home for a number of years), Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Moore Haven, Orlando, Clearwater, Dunedin, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs. Felsmere was the pioneer, receiving its charter in 1915.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] The History is indebted for this chapter to Alice G. (Mrs. George) Kollock, prominent in the work for woman suffrage in Florida, with thanks to others who assisted.



CHAPTER X.

GEORGIA.[33]

The first suffrage society in Georgia was formed at Columbus in 1890 and the second in Atlanta in 1894. Here the first State convention was held in 1899 and the State association, auxiliary to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, never ceased its labors until the year following the ratification of the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment.

Mrs. McLendon became an officer in 1892 and held official position during the entire twenty-nine years. For thirteen years she was vice-president or honorary president and for the remainder of the time president of the association. Mrs. Thomas was second honorary president for five years before her death in 1906. The following served as presidents: Miss H. Augusta Howard, 1890-1895; Mrs. Frances Cater Swift, 1895-1896; Mrs. Mary L. McLendon, 1896-1899; Mrs. Gertrude C. Thomas, 1899-1901; Miss Katherine Koch, 1901-1904; Mrs. Rose Y. Colvin, 1904-1906; Mrs. Mary L. McLendon, 1906-1921.[34]

In 1900 the same suffrage measures presented the year before were again offered to the Legislature with the same barren result. The Southern Chautauqua invited the association to hold an all day meeting and also engaged Miss Frances A. Griffin of Alabama to lecture. F. Henry Richardson, editor of the Atlanta Journal, and Lucian Knight, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, brought the "woman's rights movement" as prominently before the public as they were permitted to do by the managers of those newspapers.

On Nov. 25, 26, 1901, the State convention was held in the Universalist Church of Atlanta. Addresses were made by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National Association; Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Alice Daniels and Mrs. McLendon. The meeting adjourned early in the afternoon to go to the Atlanta Women's Club room, where Mrs. Catt was invited to address that body. The night meeting was held in the hall of the House of Representatives, where Mrs. Catt, Mr. Richardson and the Hon. Robert R. Hemphill of South Carolina addressed a large and appreciative audience. The convention decided to employ a State lecturer and organizer.

With but two exceptions State conventions or conferences were held every year, always in Atlanta until 1919, in the Congregational and Universalist churches, in the Grand Building, the hall of the Federation of Labor, the Carnegie Library, the Hotel Ansley and the Piedmont Hotel. The membership gradually increased, a series of literary meetings in the winter of 1902 adding fifty names. This year a committee was appointed to revise the charter of Atlanta and the officers of the association appeared before it and asked that it include Municipal suffrage for women. The sub-committee on franchises recommended that instead it provide for women on school, hospital, park and health boards, but the general committee reported adversely. The Atlanta branch protested to Mayor Livingstone Mims against the injustice of not allowing women taxpayers to vote on the proposed $400,000 bond issue. He expressed himself in favor of woman suffrage and promised to bring the matter before the city council, but there was no result.

Miss Kate M. Gordon, national corresponding secretary, gave a most convincing address in the Carnegie Library the next year, 1903, on how the taxpaying women of Louisiana won the right to vote on questions of taxation; strong articles were published, but all the women were able to do was to post large placards at the polls, "Taxpaying women should be allowed to vote at this bond election." Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, national vice-president-at-large, came to assist at the State convention and delivered her famous lecture, "The Fate of Republics." This year the association distributed 10,000 pages of suffrage literature at the Interstate Fair. It attempted to bring a bill before the Legislature for police matrons but not a member would introduce it.

During these years the suffragists found it very difficult to persuade a legislator to present a bill for raising the age of consent or compulsory education in order to take the young children out of the factories or for the enfranchisement of women. In 1905, at the request of the National Association that fraternal greetings should be sent to various organizations, Mrs. McLendon, who had been a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union since 1890, carried them to its convention and made an earnest but unsuccessful effort to have it adopt a franchise department. Thousands of pieces of suffrage literature were distributed at the State Fair. In 1906 memorial services were held for the great leader, Susan B. Anthony, and the association carried out to its full power all the State work planned by the National Board, including a petition to the Legislature to pass a resolution asking Congress to submit a Federal Suffrage Amendment.

The membership of the association was increased in 1907 by the addition of three prominent W. C. T. U. officials, Mrs. J. J. Ansley, Mrs. Jennie Hart Sibley and Mrs. L. W. Walker, who were promptly appointed superintendents of Church Work, Legislation and Petition and Christian Citizenship. Miss Jean Gordon of New Orleans and Mrs. Florence Kelley of New York made splendid addresses in favor of woman suffrage when they came to Atlanta in April to attend the Child Labor Convention. Dr. Shaw gave a stirring suffrage speech in the hall of the House of Representatives on May 4.

The evening sessions of the annual convention in 1908 were held in the Senate Chamber of the Capitol. Miss Laura Clay, Mrs. Sibley, Miss H. Augusta Howard and W. S. Witham were the speakers, with Mrs. McLendon presiding. Miss Clay's address, entitled Who Works Against Woman Suffrage? created a profound impression and she was of much assistance. Mrs. McLendon was invited to speak before the convention of the Georgia Agricultural Association, one of the oldest in the State, on Woman's Education and Woman's Rights. A rising vote of thanks was accorded her and the address ordered printed in the minutes. The State Prohibition convention placed a strong woman suffrage plank in its platform and the delegates to the national convention were instructed to vote for one if it was offered. Mr. Witham, the Rev. James A. Gordon and Mr. Barker, editor of The Southern Star, worked faithfully for this plank.

In 1909, at the request of the National Association, letters were written to Georgia's Senators and Representatives in Congress, asking them to vote for a Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment. Polite but non-committal replies were received from Senators Clay and Bacon and Representatives Griggs and Lewis. The other eight evidently did not consider disfranchised women worthy of an answer. The city council of Atlanta decided that its charter was forty years behind the times and again a committee of forty-nine men was appointed to draw up a new one. The Civic League, an Atlanta auxiliary to the State Suffrage Association, set to work to have this new charter recognize the rights of the women taxpayers. It was discovered that the women paid taxes on more than $13,000,000 worth of real and personal property in the city. Several hundred personal letters were written to leading taxpaying women asking their opinion of the league's movement; only favorable replies were received and many friends of the cause developed among the influential women. Strong articles were published in the city papers and widely copied throughout the State, but the charter entirely ignored the claims of women. Many letters were written to Republican and Democratic delegates asking them to vote for a suffrage plank in their platforms. The annual convention was not held in Macon, as intended, because there was so much sentiment against it in that city. This year women in the Methodist Church South became active to secure laity rights, which had been granted to women members in the North, East and West after they had worked years for it, but the bishops in the South were bitterly opposed to it. Mrs. Mary Harris Armor, the well-known national organizer and lecturer for the W. C. T. U., and four years president for Georgia, joined the suffrage association.

The National Association's petition to Congress had been distributed throughout the State for signatures and returned to Washington. In 1910 letters were written to President Taft, to the members of Congress from Georgia and to Governor "Joe" Brown, as requested by Dr. Shaw, national president. Senator Clay and Representatives W. C. Brantley, S. A. Roddenberry and W. C. Adamson were the only ones who could spare time to answer. Atlanta was to have an election for a three-million dollar bond issue on February 15, Susan B. Anthony's birthday, and the Mayor and president of the Chamber of Commerce had appealed to the City Federation of Women's Clubs to "make the men go to the polls to vote for bonds." The suffragists distributed broadcast a poster headed by a cartoon by Louis Gregg representing women of all sorts, armed with brooms, umbrellas, rolling pins, etc., driving the men to the polls.

Over 6,000 pages of suffrage literature were distributed in the State, a considerable amount of it to young people engaging in debates or writing essays. Dr. James W. Lee and Dr. Frank M. Siler, Methodist ministers of Atlanta, fearlessly expressed themselves in their pulpits as in favor of the enfranchisement of women, regardless of the fact that Bishop Warren A. Candler was bitterly opposed to it. Dr. Len G. Broughton of the Baptist church and Dr. Dean Ellenwood of the Universalist also declared themselves as favoring equal rights in Church and State for women. Judge John L. Hopkins, one of Georgia's foremost lawyers, who codified the laws, proclaimed himself a believer in equal rights for women in a letter to the Constitution. In June when it was again proposed to revise the charter of Atlanta, a committee from the Civic League went before the charter committee and presented a petition asking Municipal suffrage for women. Later at a meeting of the city council the petition was brought up for consideration and was treated with ridicule and contempt. On August 8 the association held its convention in the hall of the Federation of Labor, its true friend. Walter McElreath of Fulton county offered a resolution that the House of Representatives should be tendered for the evening session, but Joe Bill Hall, a noted anti-prohibitionist and anti-suffragist, marshalled the liquor men and they defeated it.

In 1912 the State association conformed to the plan of the National and appointed a committee of education, who would offer money prizes for the best essays on woman suffrage by the seniors of the high schools, with Mrs. Helmer chairman and Miss Koch secretary. It worked vigorously for the bill to permit women to practice law. Mrs. Rebecca Latimer Felton became a member and was elected a delegate to the national suffrage convention in Philadelphia. Attorney Leonard J. Grossman joined the association and was made general counsel.

In 1913, while Mr. Grossman was attending the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association as a delegate, he was requested by James Lees Laidlaw, president of the National Men's League for Woman Suffrage, to undertake the organization of a Georgia Men's League. He did so immediately on returning home, with the following officers: President, Mr. Grossman; vice-presidents, the Rev. Fred A. Line, the Rev. J. Wade Conkling, C. W. McClure, Dr. Frank Peck, E. L. Martin, ex-president Macon Chamber of Commerce; S. B. Marks and L. Marquardt, ex-presidents of the State Federation of Labor. Mr. Grossman toured the State on behalf of woman suffrage under the joint auspices of the Men's League and the State association. He drafted, at their request, proposed bills and ratification resolutions; appeared before the annual conventions of the Federation of Labor, obtaining their formal endorsement of woman suffrage; secured also the endorsement of the Civic Educational League, comprising a great majority of the Jewish citizens of Atlanta; occupied church pulpits and addressed women's clubs, civic bodies, city councils and legislative committees. The members of the Men's League gave whatever assistance was required.

The many State victories in 1912 put new life into the movement in 1913. The Georgia Young People's Suffrage Association was organized with Miss Ruth Buckholz as president. To represent the association Mrs. Amelia R. Woodall, corresponding, and Miss Katherine Koch, recording secretary; Miss Mamie Matthews, treasurer of the young people's society, Mrs. Landis Sanna, Mrs. Margaret Gardner, editor Trox Bankston of West Point and J. J. Williams of Chatterton, were sent to Washington to march in the parade on March 3. They carried the suffrage flag made for the national convention in Atlanta in 1895, with two handsome yellow banners prepared especially for the parade. Five bills before the Legislature were supported this year as well as the Federal Amendment. When Presidential suffrage was given to Illinois women in 1913, the Atlanta Constitution was so impressed with the "nearness" of woman suffrage that it created a suffrage department and offered the editorship to Mrs. McLendon. U. S. Senators Hoke Smith and Augustus O. Bacon had been obliged to present the petition of Georgia suffragists asking for the Federal Amendment, but no beautiful speeches were made by them. Senator Smith had been on record all his life as being "unalterably opposed to woman suffrage" and voted against it whenever he had opportunity, adding insult to injury by declaring, "Our best women do not want it." Senator W. S. West, who succeeded Senator Bacon, was more amenable to reason, but Senator Thomas W. Hardwick, who followed after Mr. West's death, has been an implacable opponent. For the second time the Atlanta Federation tendered the use of its beautiful Temple of Labor for the day sessions of the State convention which met July 9, 10. The Legislature was persuaded by John Y. Smith of Fulton county to permit an evening session in the House of Representatives. Senator Starke opposed the use of the Senate Chamber "because Christ did not select women for his Disciples" but saner counsels prevailed and it was opened for a session.

During 1914 there were 275 meetings in Atlanta, Rome, Athens, Decatur, Macon and Bainbridge by the auxiliary societies, with five open air meetings. On March 1 a mass meeting was held in the Atlanta theater to which members of the Legislature were especially invited. The speakers were officers of the National Association, including the vice-president, Miss Jane Addams. To enlarge the scope of the work there was organized in February the Woman Suffrage Party Incorporated, as a branch of the State association, with Mrs. McLendon president. It secured a charter and prepared for an aggressive state-wide suffrage campaign. A chairman for each of the twelve congressional districts was appointed and instructed to organize in her district. This year for the first time a hearing was granted before the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments. Mrs. Felton and Mrs. Rose Ashby spoke for the association, Mrs. Cheatham and Mrs. Frances Smith Whiteside for the Woman Suffrage League. The association distributed 40,000 pages of leaflets, fliers, newspapers, etc.; about a dozen of the leading newspapers were supplied with local and national suffrage news and members of the Legislature with suffrage literature. In 1900, when the first National W. C. T. U. convention was held in Atlanta, woman suffrage was a forbidden subject at all temperance meetings in Georgia. In 1914, when the second was held, Mrs. McLendon, president of the State Suffrage Association, was selected to welcome the White Ribboners in behalf of the suffragists of the State.[35]

The annual convention of the State association was held July 21, 22, in the ballroom of the Hotel Ansley, beautifully decorated for the occasion. Miss Kate M. Gordon aided largely in making it a success. Mrs. Annie Fletcher of Oldham, England, visited Atlanta this year and spoke on the suffrage situation there. Mrs. Georgia McIntyre Wheeler, a practicing attorney of West Virginia, helped greatly in securing the Woman Lawyer Bill. Atlanta and Waycross suffragists applied to the city governments to grant women Municipal suffrage. The association did not parade on May 2, as requested by the National Board, but the president made a suffrage speech on the steps of the State Capitol and members sold copies of the Woman's Journal. The Rev. A. M. Hewlett, pastor of St. Marks Methodist Church South, accompanied Mrs. McLendon and Attorney Grossman to Cox College in March and by invitation of its president they gave addresses in favor of suffrage for women before the student body. There was a growing sentiment in favor of it among clergymen of various denominations.

The State convention was held in Atlanta Nov. 15-20, 1915, at the same time as the harvest festival, and the first suffrage parade took place, led by Miss Eleanor Raoul on horseback. Mrs. McLendon followed in the little yellow car which once belonged to Dr. Shaw, driven by Mrs. Loring Raoul. As a protest against taxation without representation Dr. Shaw allowed it to be sold for taxes and it was bought by Miss Sallie Fannie Gleaton of Conyers, who walked behind it in the parade. The suffrage carriages were decorated with yellow, those of the W. C. T. U. with white. Mrs. William R. Woodall, president of the Atlanta association, and Miss Katherine Koch had carried on a suffrage school the first and second Wednesdays from February 24 to December 1. The motion picture suffrage play Your Girl and Mine had been put on in the Grand Opera House. The branch in Rome published an official organ called The Woman's Magazine.

In February, 1916, the State association and its three auxiliaries in Atlanta worked with the Equal Suffrage Party and the Woman Suffrage League to secure 10,000 names to a petition to the city council asking for the Municipal franchise. State Senator Helen Ring Robinson of Colorado and Mesdames Brooks, Kenney and Horine of Washington, D. C., came to their assistance. There were street speaking from automobiles at night and meetings at private residences and they secured over 9,000 names. The city council gave a hearing, the Hon. Claude Peyton making the presentation speech. The members listened apathetically and appeared much relieved when Attorney Robert M. Blackburn assured them they could not give women Municipal suffrage, as the State constitution declared only male citizens could vote. Letters were sent to the delegates to the two national conventions of the dominant political parties, asking them to put a strong suffrage plank in their platforms and Mrs. Woodall and Mrs. Laura Couzzens responded to Mrs. Catt's call for marchers at the Chicago and St. Louis conventions. Governor N. E. Harris refused to include woman suffrage in the call for the special session of the Legislature which made the State "bone dry," but this year it enacted a number of laws for which the association had long worked.

On Feb. 12, 13, 1917, officers of the National Association held a suffrage school in Atlanta. When the Legislature assembled in June all the members found on their desks a notice that bills granting Municipal suffrage to women, also full suffrage, and one to raise the age of consent from 10 years to 18 would be introduced. The State association sent the national suffrage organ, the Woman Citizen, for a year to the United States Senators and fourteen Representatives in Congress; to the members of the Legislature and all State officials. The Atlanta association again conducted a three months' suffrage school. The State convention in December in the Assembly Hall of the Piedmont Hotel closed with a luncheon at which many prominent men and women were present. Representatives John C. White and John Y. Smith at that time pledged themselves to introduce and work for suffrage bills. During this and the following year the suffrage associations did their full share of war work. Mrs. McLendon represented the State association on the Women's Council of National Defense, and Mrs. Martin, first vice-president, was chairman of the State Americanization Committee.

In 1918 the Parent-Teacher Association adopted strong suffrage resolutions. The Baptist and Methodist churches South granted laity rights to women. State suffrage headquarters were deluged with requests for literature by educational institutions for debates. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professor M. L. Brittain, had been an advocate of votes for women many years. The Atlanta Journal gave the State association a column in its Sunday issues, which Mrs. Martin edited. Raymond E. White wrote a number of fine suffrage editorials for the Constitution. In July the Hearst papers circulated a petition for a Federal Suffrage Amendment and the Atlanta association secured 5,000 names and other auxiliaries 1,000.

On May 3, 1919, a progressive city Democratic Central Committee gave Atlanta women the right to vote in the Municipal primary election to be held September 3. A Central Committee of Women Citizens was at once elected at a mass meeting of women to see that they registered and nearly 4,000 did so, paying one dollar for the privilege.

Mrs. McLendon represented the State Association at the convention of the National Association in St. Louis in March, 1919. On May 21 she and her sister, Mrs. Felton, sat in the House of Representatives in Washington and had the pleasure of hearing W. D. Upshaw, member from the fifth congressional district of Georgia, vote for the submission of the Federal Suffrage Amendment, the only Representative from the State to do so. On June 4 the new U. S. Senator, William J. Harris of Georgia, voted for the submission of this amendment, giving one of the long needed two votes. The official board of the State Association through Mrs. McLendon mailed to each member of the Legislature a personal letter with copies of letters from Mrs. J. K. Ottley, the Democratic Executive Committee woman from Georgia, and the eminent clergyman, Dr. J. B. Gambrell, urging the members to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment. The annual convention of 1919 was held in the auditorium of the Hotel Piedmont, Atlanta, on December 5.

A League of Women Voters was organized in Atlanta in March, 1920, out of the Equal Suffrage Party, but the State association decided that this action was premature, since there were no women voters in Georgia, and that the old association, organized in 1890, would never disband until women could vote on the same terms as men.

On June 1, in response to a petition of fifty representative women of Atlanta, a hearing in charge of Mrs. McLendon was granted by the chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee, at the request of Mayor Key. After a number had spoken a motion was made to let the women vote in the white municipal primary in Atlanta and was carried with only four negative votes. The Atlanta and the Young People's Suffrage Associations endorsed the re-election of Mayor Key and worked for him, and he was returned by a majority of three to one on July 28. Afterwards several other cities and villages permitted women to vote in the primaries and on bond issues.

After the Federal Suffrage Amendment was ratified in August 1920, it was announced that women would not be permitted to register and vote in the primary on September 8 and the runover primary of October 6 for the general election because they had not registered for it in April and May, which they had no right to do. When the Legislature had assembled June 23, Mrs. McLendon, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Woodall had called on Representatives Covington and John Y. Smith and Senators Elders Dorris and Pittman and begged them to introduce an Enabling Act to provide for the women to vote in November if the 19th Amendment should be ratified. They promised faithfully to do this and the Senators did so, but it was held back. The Representatives never did introduce it. Mrs. McLendon then appealed to Governor Dorsey, but he was candidate for U. S. Senator and had no time to attend to it. The Legislature adjourned and the women were left in the lurch.

Then Mrs. McLendon decided to make a test and see if women could not vote in the primary on September 8, as the returned soldiers who did not reach Georgia before May were allowed to vote in all elections without registering. She wired to Senator Fermor Barrett of Stevens county, chairman of the sub-committee of the State Democratic Executive Committee, asking him to call it together and see if it could provide some way. He called it to meet in Atlanta on September 3, and he and H. H. Dean made speeches and voted to try to arrange it, but the other five members voted against it. Mrs. McLendon then went to the chairman of the County Democratic Executive Committee and he refused to take any action, saying, "Our committee is only the agent of the State committee and must obey its mandates." Then she and Mrs. Julia H. Ellington, Mrs. Jane Adkins and Mrs. Nancy Duncan called on the tax collector and asked to be allowed to pay their State and county taxes and to register. They were sent to the chairman of the Registration Committee and he also refused to enroll their names. Then they went to the polls September 8 and were told, "No women voting here."

Mrs. McLendon telegraphed to Bainbridge Colby, Secretary of State, who answered: "The matter to which you refer is not within the province of this Department and I am not in a position to give you any advice with regard thereto." She next asked Governor Dorsey to call an extra session of the Legislature to provide some way for the women to vote in the general election, but he said he could not. Then she went to a full meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee, held September 16, but no chance to be heard was given her. The next day she attended a meeting of the Fulton County Commissioners, who declared their willingness but their inability to do anything. She then called on Attorney General R. A. Denny, who advised her to go to the polls and make the effort, saying: "The 19th Amendment is above the laws of any State." Women in Georgia, however, were not permitted to vote at the Presidential election two months after they had been enfranchised by this amendment.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. The first request for woman suffrage was put before the Legislature in 1895, the last in 1920, and in the interim every session had this subject before it, with petitions signed by thousands of women, but during the quarter of a century it did not give one scrap of suffrage to the women of the State. From 1895 bills for the following measures were kept continuously before it: Age of protection for girls to be raised from 10 years; co-guardianship of children; prevention of employment of children under 10 or 12 years old in factories; women on boards of education; opening of the colleges to women. Year after year these bills were smothered in committees or reported unfavorably or defeated, usually by large majorities. In 1912 a bill was passed enabling women to be notaries public; in 1916 one permitting women to practice law, which the suffragists had worked for since 1899; in 1918 one raising the age of consent to 14. The suffrage association had worked for it twenty-three years and always asked that the age be 18.

* * * * *

In 1912 another association to further the movement for woman suffrage was formed in Atlanta, the Woman Suffrage League, and Mrs. Frances Smith Whiteside, who had been from early days a member of the old association, was elected president. Mrs. Whiteside was for thirty years principal of the Ivy Street school and during the first ten years of the existence of the State Association she was the only teacher who dared avow herself a member, as the very name of suffrage was so odious to the public. Through her family connections and wide acquaintance she was able to exercise a strong personal influence in bringing well-known men and women to a belief in this cause. The league did active work among teachers and business women and converted some of the leading legislators. It inaugurated an educational campaign in the schools and gave business scholarships for the best essays on woman suffrage. In co-operation with the other associations it obtained signatures to petitions for the Municipal franchise. The first street speaking was done under its auspices.

When Leagues of Women Voters were authorized by the National American Suffrage Association in 1919, the organization disbanded and the members entered the league formed in Georgia. Mrs. Whiteside had been continually the president and there had been only two changes in the board of the following officers: First vice-president, Mrs. Elizabeth McCarty; second, Miss Laura Barrien; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Jack Hawkins; recording secretaries, Mrs. William H. Yeandle, Mrs. Mary Peyton; treasurer, Miss Ethel Merk; auditors, Mrs. A. G. Helmer, Miss Minnie Bellamy. Mrs. Yeandle died in 1915 and Mrs. Mary Peyton was elected in her place. This year Mrs. Helmer became president of a branch league and was succeeded as auditor by Miss Minnie Bellamy.

THE EQUAL SUFFRAGE PARTY OF GEORGIA.[36]

For some time there had seemed a necessity in Georgia for an organization which would undertake more aggressive work in behalf of woman suffrage. Early in 1914 the psychological time for it became apparent and a meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Emily C. McDougald in Atlanta. A group of influential men and women were present, who declared themselves in favor of an active campaign and pledged their support. On motion of Linton C. Hopkins a committee was appointed to nominate temporary officers, and reported for president Mrs. McDougald; for vice-president, Mrs. Hopkins, and for secretary, Mrs. Hugh Lokey. A constitution and by-laws were adopted and a petition for a State charter was filed under the name of the Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia.

On July 29 a meeting was called for permanent organization and with representatives from different parts of the State present the following were elected: President, Mrs. McDougald; first vice-president, Mrs. John Dozier Pou of Columbia; second, Miss Mildred Cunningham of Savannah; secretary, Mrs. Henry Schlesinger; treasurer, Mrs. Benjamin Elsas; organizer, Mrs. Mary Raoul Millis; auditor, Miss Genevieve Saunders, all of Atlanta. Members of the Executive Board were: Mrs. Mary Meade Owens of Augusta; Mrs. Mayhew Cunningham of Savannah; Miss Anna Griffin of Columbus; Mrs. Charles C. Harrold of Macon. Affiliated branches were organized with presidents as follows: In Savannah, Mrs. F. P. McIntire; in Augusta, Mrs. Owens; in Columbus, Miss Anabel Redd; in Atlanta, Miss Eleanore Raoul; in Macon, Mrs. Harrold; in Athens, Mrs. W. B. Hill; in Albany, Mrs. D. H. Redfearn.

From these centers a great deal of work was done for suffrage in the adjacent smaller towns. The city organizations opened offices and committees of local women were put in charge of the work of raising money and distributing suffrage propaganda. Tens of thousands of letters, leaflets, books and speeches were distributed throughout the State. All of the women's clubs were urged to endorse suffrage; schools were asked to debate the subject and prizes offered for the best arguments in debate and in written composition. Suffrage parades on foot and in automobiles were had in all the cities, suffrage plays put into the theaters, suffrage slides into the movies and every means of educating the public was used. The best national speakers were brought into the State and immense audiences worked up for them. The beloved Dr. Anna Howard Shaw spoke in Atlanta to one of 6,000. The National American Woman Suffrage Association, of which the Equal Suffrage Party was an affiliated branch, gave hearty co-operation in securing these speakers. The party held annual conventions, where new officers were generally elected as a matter of democratic policy. The second took place in Atlanta Nov. 17, 1915, where Mrs. McDougald was re-elected president and the other officers selected were Mrs. J. D. Pou of Columbus, first vice-president; Mrs. Cunningham, second; Miss Schlesinger, secretary; Miss Aurelia Roach, treasurer; Mrs. Millis, organizer. The party already had branches in 13 counties, including the largest cities.

The annual convention on Oct. 28, 1916, was held in Atlanta and Mrs. L. S. Arrington of Augusta was elected president; Mrs. S. B. C. Morgan of Savannah, first vice-president; Mrs. Harrold, second; Miss Julia Flisch, secretary, and Miss Annie G. Wright, treasurer, both of Augusta. The effort in Atlanta to secure a petition for Municipal suffrage for women had resulted in obtaining the signatures of 6,000 women and 3,000 men. All the delegates to three national Presidential conventions had been circularized in behalf of a plank for Federal woman suffrage, and all the members of the Legislature asking for the submission of a State amendment. The next annual convention was held in Augusta Nov. 24, 1917, and Mrs. Frank P. McIntire of Savannah was selected for president. The convention was omitted in 1918, as the women were occupied with war work.

At the convention held in Savannah Jan. 15, 1919, Mrs. McDougald was again elected president. The splendidly efficient service of women in all the departments of war work proved that without them it would have been most difficult to succeed in the Liberty Bond sales, the Red Cross and all the "drives" for raising money. The officers of the Equal Suffrage Party and those of its affiliated societies were selected as leaders in the work of the Woman's Council of Defense, National and State.

From every part of the State hundreds of letters were sent to the U. S. Senators Smith and Hardwick, asking them to vote for the Federal Suffrage Amendment, but to no avail. The year had been a fruitful one, even though the Legislature had failed to ratify the Federal Amendment, which was submitted by Congress in June. An adverse influence, which it was very hard to combat, was that of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Its president, Mrs. Z. L. Fitzpatrick of Madison and other officials were violently opposed. A large majority of the women in the city clubs were suffragists and not influenced by the attitude of the federation officers but this was not true of the rural women, who were constantly warned that woman suffrage was a great evil not to be even mentioned in their clubs. This anti-suffrage influence reacted upon the rural legislator and gave him ground for the oft-repeated argument, "The women of my district do not want the vote, they won't even discuss it in their clubs." There had long been a strong desire to have woman suffrage endorsed by the State Federation, the largest organization of women in the State, with 30,000 members, and every year the Equal Suffrage Party had sent to all the club presidents an earnest letter urging them to give their members an opportunity to vote on the question and pointing out the greater achievements of the clubs in States where women had the franchise. At every annual meeting, however, when a resolution would be offered from the floor, the president of the federation would declare it out of order and prevent action on it. In 1917, at its convention in Augusta, a resolution was offered to send a congratulatory telegram to the women of New York on their newly acquired enfranchisement, whereupon a storm of protest arose, the president ruled it out of order and it was tabled.

In 1919 every club was again circularized and the answers showed that the women throughout the State wanted favorable action by the State Federation. At its convention in Columbus in November, 1919, two resolutions were prepared, one or the other to be presented, as seemed most expedient at the time. One was a simple endorsement of woman suffrage; the other, submitted by Mrs. Morgan, asked for an endorsement of the Federal Amendment and its ratification by the Legislature. At the last moment, the suffragists decided to take a bold step and send the latter to the Resolutions Committee, which was done, and this committee recommended its adoption. The president, Mrs. James E. Hayes of Montezuma, ruled it out of order. Mrs. Rogers Winter of Atlanta appealed from the decision of the chair; Mrs. Alonzo Richardson of Atlanta seconded the appeal and was sustained and the resolution was brought before the convention. It was carried by a vote of 85 to 40.[37]

When the report of this action was received in Macon, an indignant protest went up from the anti-suffragists. Mrs. Bruce Carr Jones, secretary of the State Federation, sent in her resignation. Mrs. Walter D. Lamar and Mrs. Thomas Moore went before the women's clubs of the city and urged that they withdraw from the federation. The Macon Telegraph devoted much space to denouncing it as a most dishonest trick and approved heartily the efforts of these women to dismember the federation. Through their influence six clubs resigned. Sixty-nine new clubs joined the federation in the twelve months following its endorsement of the Federal Amendment.[38]

The white women of Atlanta were given the vote in the city Primaries in May, 1919. For several years all the suffrage forces in the city had been working to secure this privilege from the Democratic Executive Committee, but without success. In 1919, however, the personnel of the committee had changed to such an extent that it was decided to make another effort. The chairman, E. C. Buchanan, was a good friend and with his help Mrs. A. G. Helmer, Mrs. Charles Goodman and Mrs. McDougald had the opportunity of making a personal canvass of each of its forty-four members. When the chairman called a meeting for May 3, to consider, he said, the request of the Equal Suffrage Party, there was every reason to believe they would make a favorable report. A resolution written by Mrs. McDougald was adopted by a vote of 24 to 1. On the roll call each man stood up and in a few gracious words expressed his pleasure in being able to show his confidence in the helpful co-operation of women in city government by granting them this suffrage. A mass meeting of women was called at once to name a central committee to take charge of the task of getting the women registered immediately as a city election was near at hand. Miss Eleanore Raoul was made chairman, and with her able co-workers in every ward accomplished a wonderful work. Public meetings addressed by prominent men and women were held daily; $1,200 were raised and 4,000 women were registered in a few weeks. The Executive Committee in 1920 again included women in the electorate and to this body of men is due the honor of being the first in Georgia to recognize the value of women in civic affairs.

In 1919 all the district school superintendents inaugurated a series of competitive debates on the question, Shall Georgia Grant Suffrage to the Women of the State? This created intense interest in every county and the Equal Suffrage Party found it difficult to supply the demand for literature from the hundreds of schools. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce elected five women as members in recognition of their public service. In addressing the Landowners' Convention at Savannah in November Governor Hugh M. Dorsey said: "I hope that as Governor of Georgia I may be given the privilege of signing a bill giving women equal rights in this great commonwealth."

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. In June, 1915, the Equal Suffrage Party made its first effort to sponsor a suffrage bill in the Legislature. It opened a booth in one of the corridors between the House and Senate chambers, supplied it with the best suffrage literature and put it in charge of a committee of women who worked faithfully to convert some of that wilful and reactionary group of politicians. It was a hopeless task. The first bill was introduced in the House by Mr. Wohlwender of Muscogee county and in the Senate by Senators Dobbs and Buchanan and referred to the Judiciary Committee, which granted a hearing. Representatives from all the suffrage associations were present and made speeches. Mrs. Walter D. Lamar and Miss Mildred Rutherford, head of the Lucy Cobb Institute of Athens, represented the Anti-Suffrage Association. Mrs. Lamar's arguments were based upon the theory that women did not have sufficient integrity to be trusted with the ballot; that long years ago when those of New Jersey had it it had to be taken from them because they were so dishonest in their use of it. She also said that women were universally the hardest taskmasters, requiring more work and paying less for it than men. Miss Rutherford begged the legislators to disregard the request of the few women desiring the ballot, as they did not represent the true type of the southern woman, who had always rejoiced in being upon a high pedestal where men had placed her and worshipped her and that women were more than satisfied with that which men had so lavishly and chivalrously given—their love and their money. These speeches were received with howls of appreciation from the legislators, who dwelt upon the type that appealed to them, "the woman who was the mother of children and realized that her place was at home with her hand on the cradle." The committee made an unfavorable report.

In 1916 this experience was repeated. In 1917 and 1918 the leaders of the Equal Suffrage Party were absorbed in war work and had no time to waste in so helpless and disagreeable a task. They realized that they would soon be enfranchised by a Federal Amendment, the only hope of the women of Georgia.

RATIFICATION. In 1919 came the great struggle over ratification. The best the suffragists hoped for was that no action would be taken. During the first days of the session, however, the resolution to ratify was introduced in the House by Representative J. B. Jackson of Jones county and in the Senate by Senator T. H. Parker of Colquitt county, both of whom explained that their action was taken in order to kill it. The resolution was referred in both Houses to the Committees on Constitutional Amendments and a joint hearing was set for an early date.

The suffragists had more friends and stronger ones on the House Committee than the "antis" and more than they had realized. All they asked was that the resolution be tabled, not reported favorably, for they knew that defeat on the floor of the House was certain. One of their strongest supporters, Judge W. A. Covington of Colquitt county, was detained at home by illness in his family and telegraphed the chairman of the House Committee, John W. Bale of Floyd county, asking that the hearing be postponed a few days so that he might be present. This courtesy, commonly extended without question, was refused by Mr. Bale. Immediately on the opening of the hearing Mr. Jackson asked to substitute for his original resolution one which explicitly rejected ratification. By permission of the chairman this substitute was accepted. After the hearing, at which Miss Rutherford alone appeared in opposition while seven women spoke for it, the committee went into executive session. On a motion to postpone action the vote was 13 to 13, and the chairman cast his vote against it. During the executive session Robert T. DuBose of Clarke county became ill and asked if he might cast his vote ahead of time and leave. Permission was granted him and he wrote on a slip of paper a vote for postponing action. When the final vote was taken Mr. Bale ruled that Mr. DuBose's vote could not be counted. If it had been the suffragists would have carried their point by a vote of 14 to 13. After the motion to postpone was lost the Jackson resolution to reject was reported favorably.

The Senate Committee acted in open session. After prolonged debate the Parker resolution to ratify was reported unfavorably by a vote of 10 to 3, and the next day it came before the Senate. The opponents believed they could make short work of it or they would not have permitted it to come up. By a vote of 37 to 12 the Senate refused to disagree to the committee report. In order to dispose of the resolution, however, it was necessary to agree to the report and when this motion was made the suffrage supporters started a "filibuster" which they continued for several days. Finally the anti-suffrage Senators promised that if the suffragists would call off their "filibuster" they would vote to recommit the resolution to the committee with the understanding that it would stay there the remainder of the session. But on the same day that this agreement was made Senator Parker introduced another resolution, which, like the Jones substitute, called for rejection of ratification. It was reported favorably by the committee and after several days' debate, Senators Claude Pittman, W. H. Dorris, H. H. Elders and George G. Glenn, speaking for ratification, the rejection resolution was carried on July 24 by 39 to 10. The Senate then voted down a proposition to submit to the voters a woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution. On the same day the Jackson resolution to reject was presented in the House and after a spirited debate led by Judge Covington and A. S. Anderson for ratification the resolution was carried by 132 to 34.

This contest had occupied about two-thirds of the time since the Legislature convened and yet the opponents, after all their efforts, failed to have the Legislature go on record as rejecting the Federal Amendment, for the House resolution was never concurred in by the Senate and the Senate resolution was never concurred in by the House and the session adjourned without completing formal action. President Wilson had sent a telegram urging ratification for party expediency and U. S. Senator Harris went to Atlanta to lobby for either ratification or no action, but he was denounced by the legislators and the President was called a "meddler." Members of the Democratic National Committee and Clark Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, and James Hallanan, its political editor, strongly supported ratification, as did Governor Dorsey. The suffrage associations made no effort in 1920, knowing the hopelessness of it. The National Woman's Party endeavored to secure an Enabling Act, so that women might vote under the Federal Amendment although the time for registration had passed, but were not successful.

The last meeting of the Equal Suffrage Party was held in Atlanta during the regional conference of the National League of Woman Voters. Thirty-five States had ratified the Federal Amendment, and feeling assured that ratification would soon be fully accomplished, Mrs. McDougald had gained the consent of all the branches to take this occasion to merge it into a State League. This was done April 3, 1920. Miss Annie G. Wright of Augusta was elected chairman and Mrs. McDougald and Mrs. S. B. C. Morgan honorary presidents for life.[39]

FOOTNOTES:

[33] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Mary Latimer McLendon, a resident of Atlanta over 60 years, who also wrote the Georgia chapter for Volume IV. Before the absolutely necessary condensation of the present chapter it included 22,000 words and was a most remarkable production for a woman in her 81st year. It will be preserved intact in another place.

[34] During the years from 1901 the following held office in the State association: honorary vice-president, Miss Madeline J. S. Wylie; vice-presidents, Mrs. P. H. Moore, Miss S. A. Gresham, Miss Rebecca Vaughn, Miss H. Augusta Howard, Mrs. Emma T. Martin, Mrs. J. Dejournette, Mrs. W. Y. Atkinson; corresponding secretaries, Mrs. Mamie Folsom Wynne, Miss Katherine Koch, Mrs. DeLacy Eastman, Mrs. Amelia R. Woodall; recording secretaries, Miss Willette Allen, Mrs. Alice C. Daniels; treasurers, Mrs. E. O. Archer, Mrs. Mary Osborne, Mrs. M. K. Mathews, Mrs. E. C. Cresse; auditor, Mrs. W. H. Felton.

[35] In October, 1919, when Mrs. McLendon attended the W. C. T. U. convention, she was called to the platform on the opening night, presented as a "brave pioneer" and highly eulogized by the present and former State presidents. The audience gave her the Chautauqua salute and the White Ribbon cheer and in return she gave them a woman suffrage speech, which was enthusiastically received. Nevertheless the State society never endorsed votes for women, although local societies did so.

[36] The History is indebted for this part of the chapter to Mrs. Emily C. McDougald, president of the Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia.

[37] The resolution was voted on in the last hours of the convention and a number of the suffragists had taken trains for home. Mrs. Hayes desired to have the resolution pass but as the convention the preceding year had sustained the ruling of the president that it was out of order she felt obliged to make a similar one.

[38] The only organized antagonism to woman suffrage came from a very small but very vindictive association in Macon, vigorously abetted and encouraged by the Telegraph, the only paper in the State which fought suffrage and suffragists. Every week a column or more, edited by James P. Callaway, was filled with abuse of suffrage leaders and every slanderous statement in regard to them which could be found. Miss Caroline Patterson of Macon was always president of this association and Mrs. Lamar, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Moore and a few other women, all of Macon, were ardent co-workers and leaders and frequent contributors to Mr. Callaway's column. The association still holds together and the members are pledged not to vote but to give their time and money to any effort made in the courts to invalidate ratification of the Federal Amendment (1920).

[39] In 1921 the League prepared a bill "to remove the civil disabilities of women," which provided that women should be eligible to vote in all elections, primary and general, in municipalities, counties and the State, and should be eligible to hold public office. The only objection made to the bill was to women on juries. The women objected to this exemption but had to yield. In the Senate the vote on July 22 stood 36 for, 3 against; in the House almost unanimous on August 10. These legislators were so courteous and obliging the women could scarcely believe it was a Georgia Legislature. They gave everything asked for and inquired, "Is there anything else we can do for you?"

The State organizer of the League of Women Voters is Mrs. Z. L. Fitzpatrick, former president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. She is most enthusiastic over the new order of affairs and is touring the State organizing leagues and urging women to get out and vote and to nominate women for the offices!



CHAPTER XI.

IDAHO.[40]

Idaho women have been voting citizens for twenty-four years and during these years much has been accomplished for the making of a bigger and better State, especially along educational lines. The women came into their suffrage sanely and quietly, working shoulder to shoulder with men in everything vital to their country. State and local politics has been materially improved since women have been electors. No strictly suffrage association has been maintained since the franchise was granted, but when the National League of Women Voters was instituted in 1920 a branch was formed in Idaho with Dr. Emma F. A. Drake chairman. Work heretofore had been done through the Federation of Clubs, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and other organizations of women. Political leaders always consider what women will think of a candidate before he is nominated and it is constantly demonstrated that nothing puts the fear of God into a man's heart like the ballot in the hands of a good woman. The women vote in about the same proportion as the men and there never is any criticism of it. Women have worked for many good laws and have seen the most of them passed.

The women are not ambitious for office, but they fill regularly, without question, the following: State Superintendent of Public Instruction, County School Superintendent, County Treasurer, City Treasurer and, in many counties, Auditor and the appointive offices, Law Librarian and assistant, Traveling Librarian and assistant. In January, 1920, Governor D. W. Davis appointed Mrs. J. G. H. Gravely on the State Educational Board. The following women have filled the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Miss Permeal French, Miss Belle Chamberlain, Miss Bernice McCoy, Miss May Scott, Miss Grace Shepherd, Miss Ethel Redfield; of Law Librarian: Mrs. Mary Wood, Mrs. Arabella Erskine, Mrs. Carrie A. Gainer, Mrs. Minnie Priest Dunton, Mrs. William Balderston; of Traveling Librarian: Mrs. E. J. Dockery, Miss Louise Johnson, Mrs. Marie Schrieber, Miss Margaret S. Roberts.

Only six women have served in the Legislature, all in the Lower House: Mrs. Hattie F. Noble, Mrs. Clara Campbell, Dr. Emma F. A. Drake, Mrs. Mary Allen Wright, Mrs. Lettie McFadden, Mrs. Carrie Harper White.

RATIFICATION. Governor Davis called a special session to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment Feb. 11, 1920. It was carried unanimously in the House, after Dr. Emma F. A. Drake, the only woman member of the House present, made a strong and logical speech introducing the resolution. It was carried in the Senate but had six opposing votes. The following are the names of the men who were proud to vote against the ratification: Elmer Davis of Boise county; C. B. Faraday of Elmore; Ross Mason of Shoshone; R. T. Owens of Oneida; E. W. Porter of Latah; John S. St. Clair of Owyhee.[41]

FOOTNOTES:

[40] The History is indebted for this chapter to Miss Margaret S. Roberts, Librarian of the Idaho Free Travelling Library. A full account of the winning of woman suffrage in 1896 will be found in Volume IV, History of Woman Suffrage.

[41] If "happy women have no history" those of Idaho are fortunate, as the above is all that could be obtained for the State chapter.—Ed.



CHAPTER XII.

ILLINOIS.[42]

The Illinois Equal Suffrage Association started on its work for the new century with a determination to win full suffrage for women—the one great purpose for which it was organized in 1869. The State conventions were always held in October or November. In the earlier years they usually went to the "down state" cities or towns, but as they grew large Chicago was generally selected. In October, 1900, the State convention was held at Edgewater and Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Evanston resumed the presidency, which she had held for a number of years. Delegates from four places besides Chicago were present. Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch was made legislative chairman and work was continued for needed changes in the laws.

At the convention of 1901 Mrs. Elizabeth F. Long of Barry was elected president. Great effort was made to interest the press in the suffrage question and a leaflet entitled Suffrage for Women Taxpayers was published and sent to all the large newspapers. The Chicago Teachers' Federation, under the leadership of Miss Margaret Haley and Miss Catherine Goggin, rendered valuable service in arousing the people to the injustice of taxation without representation. The Ella Flagg Young Club, an organization of the women principals of the public schools, affiliated this year with the State suffrage association. Petitions were circulated and suffrage resolutions passed by various kinds of clubs and plans were made to introduce in the next Legislature the Municipal and Presidential suffrage bill as well as a full suffrage amendment to the State constitution. Among the women who rendered efficient service in these early years were Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Mrs. Lucy Flower and Mrs. Lydia Avery Coonley-Ward.

The next convention was held in Jacksonville in 1902 and the Rev. Kate Hughes of Table Grove was elected president. At the convention of 1903 Mrs. Hughes was re-elected. A feature of the educational work this year was to urge the directors of the libraries of the State to place on their shelves the official History of Woman Suffrage, recently brought up to date. A leaflet by Mrs. McCulloch, Bench and Bar of Illinois, was published by the association and widely circulated. It gave the opinions of some of the ablest jurists and statesmen on the woman suffrage question.

At the 1904 convention Mrs. McCulloch was elected president. Notable growth was made in suffrage societies during the year and favorable sentiment was aroused in organizations formed for other work. Among these were the State Federation of Women's Clubs and the Teachers' Federation, the former with a membership of 25,000 and the latter with 3,500. All party conventions but the Republican passed strong suffrage resolutions and all parties including this one nominated women as trustees of the State University. The Democratic Mayor of Chicago, Edward F. Dunne, appointed Miss Jane Addams, Dr. Cornelia DeBey and Mrs. Emmons Blaine as members of the School Board. The legislative work was encouraging this year, for in both Senate and House the Municipal and Presidential suffrage bill was reported out of committee with favorable recommendations, and in the Senate it reached second reading.

The State convention of 1905 was held in Chicago and Mrs. Ella S. Stewart was elected president. During the year much literature was distributed and a committee was appointed, that included as many federated club presidents as would serve, to secure if possible Municipal suffrage in the new Chicago charter which was then being considered. Mrs. Charles Henrotin, former president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, was appointed chairman. The women were allowed to make their appeal before several minor committees, but not before the whole Charter Convention, which tabled their request. The entire charter was tabled in the Legislature. Miss Alice Henry, formerly of Australia, editor of the magazine Life and Labor, gave valuable assistance in organizing suffrage clubs. Educational work in colleges was begun and Mrs. Elmira E. Springer, an ardent suffrage worker, contributed a fund of $1,000, the interest to be distributed as prizes at an annual inter-collegiate oratorical suffrage contest. As a result suffrage societies were formed among the college students auxiliary to the State association. It published suffrage leaflets written by Judge Murray F. Tuley, a prominent Chicago judge; Mrs. Eugenia M. Bacon, former president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs, and one by Miss Anna Nicholes, an active settlement worker, on the need of the ballot for the working woman.

At the convention of 1906 Mrs. Stewart was re-elected. Much literature was published and valuable educational work was carried on in addition to the legislative work at Springfield under the auspices of Mrs. McCulloch. In the fall of 1907 the State convention was held on the Fair grounds at Springfield, and Mrs. Stewart was re-elected. At the convention of 1908 Mrs. Stewart was continued as president. The association co-operated with the National American Suffrage Association in requesting the National Republican Committee, which met in Chicago, to incorporate a woman suffrage plank in its platform. An active educational campaign was started to appeal again for Municipal suffrage for women in another charter which was being prepared. This time the charter convention acceded to the request of the women, but the whole was defeated at Springfield. In this work important help was given the association by the Teachers' Federation, the Chicago Woman's Club and the Trade Union League. The Chicago Political Equality League, as well as other affiliated suffrage organizations, took an active part in this campaign and about 60,000 signatures to a petition were obtained.

In October, 1909, the State convention was held in Chicago and Mrs. Stewart was again re-elected. This year the State association organized the Chicago Men's Equal Suffrage League with former Senator Thomas J. McMillan, the "father" of the Illinois School suffrage law, as its first president. The members were from many walks of life, among them George E. Cole, founder of the Citizens' Association, who had led in civic reform work for many years; Bishop Samuel Fallows, one of the city's most prominent and best loved clergymen; Richard S. Tuthill, for years an influential Judge; Jenkin Lloyd Jones, founder of the liberal church known as Lincoln Center; Dr. Henry B. Favill, one of Chicago's well-known physicians; Henry Neil, who was responsible for the mothers' pension law; Andrew MacLeish, a member of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company, one of the city's largest dry goods houses, and many other prominent men, including the husbands of all the well-known suffragists. This year for the first time permanent headquarters were opened in the Fine Arts Building, 410 Michigan Boulevard, and Miss Harriet Grim, a student of Chicago University, was engaged as State organizer. She spoke before women's clubs, labor unions and parlor groups and twenty new societies were formed. Active suffrage work was also instituted among the churches under the management of Mrs. Fannie H. Rastall, chairman of the Church Committee.

In the spring of 1910 the State Board decided to try suffrage automobile tours. Mrs. Grace Wilbur Trout, president of the Chicago Political Equality League, was appointed to take charge of an experimental tour which required about six weeks of preparatory work to insure its success. She visited the offices of the newspapers and secured their co-operation. The tour started on Monday, July 11, and the edition of the Tribune the day before contained a full colored page of the women in the autos and nearly a half page more of reading material about it. The paper sent two reporters on the trip, who rode in the car with the speakers. The Examiner, Record Herald, Post and Journal sent reporters by railroad and trolley, who joined the suffragists at their stopping places. The women spoke from the automobile, which drove into some square or stopped on a prominent street corner, previously arranged for by the local committees. Mrs. McCulloch spoke from the legal standpoint; Miss Nicholes from the laboring woman's view and Mrs. Stewart from an international aspect. Mrs. Trout made the opening address, covering the subject in a general way, and presented the speakers. She herself was introduced by some prominent local woman and on several occasions by the Mayor.

Sixteen towns were visited, and the Tribune said: "Suffrage tour ends in triumph. With mud bespattered 'Votes for Women' banners still flying, Mrs. Trout and her party of orators returned late yesterday afternoon. Men and women cheered them all the way in from their last stop at Wheaton to the Fine Arts Building headquarters." Similar tours in other parts of the State were conducted by Dr. Anna E. Blount, Mrs. Stewart, Miss Grim and Mrs. Jennie F. W. Johnson. Mrs. Trout took her same speakers and went to Lake Geneva, where meetings with speaking from automobiles were held under the auspices of Mrs. Willis S. McCrea, who entertained the suffragists in her spacious summer home. In the autumn at her house on Lincoln Parkway Mrs. McCrea organized the North Side Branch of the State association, afterwards (1913) renamed the Chicago Equal Suffrage Association.

In October the State convention was held at Elgin and Mrs. Stewart was re-elected. The Municipal and Presidential bills and the full suffrage amendment were introduced in the Legislature as usual. Miss Grim and Miss Ruth Harl were stationed at Springfield as permanent lobbyists and Mrs. McCulloch directed the work. At the time of the hearing a special suffrage train was run from Chicago to Springfield, with speaking from the rear platform at the principal places en route.

The State convention was held at Decatur in October, 1911, and Mrs. Stewart, wishing to retire from office after serving six strenuous years, Mrs. Elvira Downey was elected president. Organizing work was pushed throughout the State. Cook county clubs for political discussion were formed by Miss Mary Miller, a lawyer of Chicago. In the winter a suffrage bazaar lasting five days was held at the Hotel LaSalle, under the management of Mrs. Alice Bright Parker. Many of the younger suffragists took part in this social event. Every afternoon and evening there were suffrage speeches and several Grand Opera singers contributed their services. It was an excellent piece of propaganda work and aroused interest among people who had not been reached through other forms.

At the April primaries in Chicago in 1912, through the initiative of Mrs. McCulloch, a "preferential" ballot on the question of suffrage for women was taken. This was merely an expression of opinion by the voters as to whether they favored it, which the Democratic Judge of Elections, John E. Owens, allowed to be taken, but it had no legal standing. The State association conducted a whirlwind educational campaign immediately before the election. Unfortunately, Prohibitionists, Socialists and many independent electors who favored it were not entitled to vote. The result was 135,410 noes, 71,354 ayes, every ward giving an adverse majority. In October the State convention was held at Galesburg and Mrs. Grace Wilbur Trout was elected president. Mrs. Trout had been on the State board for two years and during this time had served also as president of the Chicago Political Equality League, which under her administration had increased its membership from 143 to over 1,000 members. She began at once to strengthen the State organization for the legislative campaign of 1913. There were still Senatorial districts in which there were no suffrage societies, and, as the time was short, competent women were immediately appointed in such districts to see that their legislators were interviewed and to make ready to have letters and telegrams sent to them at Springfield.

During the Legislature of 1911 Mrs. Trout had twice accompanied Mrs. McCulloch to Springfield and the antagonism manifested against woman suffrage made her realize that new tactics would have to be employed. Mrs. McCulloch after many years of service had asked to be relieved and Mrs. Elizabeth K. Booth of Glencoe had been elected legislative chairman. Mrs. Trout and she adopted a new plan without spectacular activities of any kind, believing that much publicity was likely to arouse the opponents. It was decided to initiate a quiet, educational campaign and as the only possible way to secure sufficient votes to pass the measure, to convert some of the opponents into friends. It was agreed also that a card index, giving data about every member of the Legislature, should be compiled at once to be used later for reference. This plan was approved and adopted by the State board.

The members of the Board and suffrage friends throughout the State gathered information about the legislators and sent it to Mrs. Booth. The cards when filled out stated the politics and religion of the various Senators and Representatives, whether they were married or single, whether their home relations were harmonious, and tabulated any public service they had ever rendered. This information made it easier to approach the different legislators in a way to overcome their individual prejudices. All effort was to be concentrated on the bill, which, with variations, the State association had had before most of the Legislatures since 1893. It read as follows:

All women [naming usual qualifications] shall be allowed to vote for presidential electors, members of the State Board of Equalization, clerk of the appellate court, county collector, county surveyor, members of board of assessors, members of board of review, sanitary district trustees, and for all officers of cities, villages and towns (except police magistrates), and upon all questions or propositions submitted to a vote of the electors of such municipalities or other political division of this State.

All such women may also vote for the following township officers: supervisor, town clerk, assessor, collector and highway commissioner, and may also participate and vote in all annual and special town meetings in the township in which such election district shall be.

Separate ballot boxes and ballots shall be provided....

As soon as the Legislature convened in 1913 a struggle developed over the Speakership, and there was a long and bitter deadlock before William McKinley, a young Democrat from Chicago, was finally elected. Then another struggle ensued over a United States Senator. During these weeks of turmoil little could be accomplished for the suffrage bill, but February 10 Mrs. Booth went to Springfield and from then attended the sessions regularly. She sat in the galleries of the Senate and House and soon learned to recognize each member and rounded up and checked off friendly legislators.

The Progressives had a large representation and had made plans to introduce as a party measure a carefully drafted Woman Suffrage bill. Mrs. Trout and Mrs. Booth suggested to the leaders that it would be far better to let the State association sponsor this measure than to have it presented by any political party. They finally agreed, but Mrs. McCulloch had accompanied Mrs. Booth to Springfield taking the bill which she herself had drafted and which she insisted upon having substituted. Out of deference to her long years of service her bill was taken instead of the Progressives'. It named the officers for which women should be allowed to vote instead of being worded like the Progressive draft, which said: "Women shall be allowed to vote for all officers and upon all propositions submitted except where the Constitution provides that the elector shall be a male citizen." In Mrs. Booth's official report to the State convention, held in the fall of 1913 at Peoria, she said: "As we failed to introduce the form of bill approved by the Progressives' constitutional lawyers they introduced it, and it required considerable tact to allay their displeasure and induce them to support our bill." Medill McCormick, one of the leading Progressives in the Legislature, helped greatly in straightening out this tangle. He was a faithful ally of the suffrage lobby and rendered invaluable assistance. Other Progressives who gave important service were John M. Curran and Emil N. Zolla of Chicago; J. H. Jayne of Monmouth; Charles H. Carmon of Forrest, and Fayette S. Munro of Highland Park.[43]

On March 10 Mrs. Trout went to Springfield to secure if possible the support of the Democratic Governor, Edward F. Dunne, for the bill. Mrs. Booth said in her official report: "The Governor told us that he would not support any suffrage measure which provided for a constitutional amendment, as this might interfere with the Initiative and Referendum Amendment, upon which the administration was concentrating its efforts. We assured him that we would not introduce a resolution for an amendment and that we desired the support of the administration for our statutory bill, as we realized that no suffrage measure could pass if it opposed. He then acquiesced." The work at Springfield became more and more complicated and at times seemed almost hopeless. No politicians believed the suffragists had the slightest chance of success. From April 7 Mrs. Trout went down every week. The women had the strong support of the Chicago press and editorials were published whenever they were especially needed during the six months' struggle. After considerable educational work the Springfield newspapers also became friendly and published suffrage editorials at opportune times. The papers were refolded so that these editorials, blue penciled, came on the outside, and placed on the desks of the legislators.

The bill was introduced in the House by Charles L. Scott (Dem.) and in the Senate by Hugh S. Magill (Rep.). All efforts were centered on its passage first through the Senate. After nearly three months of strenuous effort this was finally accomplished on May 7, 1913, by a vote of 29 ayes (three more than the required majority) and 15 noes. It is doubtful whether this action could have been secured without the skilful tactics of Senator Magill, but he could not have succeeded without the unfailing co-operation of Lieutenant Governor Barratt O'Hara. Among other Senators who helped were Martin B. Bailey, Albert C. Clark, Edward C. Curtis, Samuel A. Ettelson, Logan Hay and Thomas B. Stewart, Republicans; Michael H. Cleary, William A. Compton, Kent E. Keller, Walter I. Manny and W. Duff Piercy, Democrats; George W. Harris and Walter Clyde Jones, Progressives.

The day the bill passed Mrs. Trout left Springfield to address a suffrage meeting to be held in Galesburg that evening and the next day one at Monmouth. In each place resided a member of the House who was marked on the card index as "doubtful," but both, through the influence of their constituents, voted for the bill. Mrs. Booth remained in Springfield to see that it got safely over to the House. The two women wished the bill to go into the friendly Elections Committee and the opponents were planning to put it into the Judiciary Committee, where it would remain during the rest of the session. The suffrage lobby worked into the small hours of the night making plans to frustrate this scheme. Arrangements were made with Speaker McKinley to turn it over to the Elections Committee, and when the morning session opened this was done before the opponents realized that their plot had failed.

The women were indebted to David R. Shanahan, for many years an influential Republican member, who, representing a "wet" district in Chicago, felt that he could not vote for the bill, but without his counsel it would have been still more difficult to pass it. To overcome the pitfalls, Mrs. Trout appealed to the enemies to give the women of Illinois a square deal, especially to Lee O'Neil Browne, a powerful Democratic leader. He had always opposed suffrage legislation, but he finally consented to let the bill, so far as he was concerned, be voted up or down on its merits. It was this spirit of fair play among its opponents as well as the loyalty of its friends that made possible the final victory.

Up to this time Mrs. Trout and Mrs. Booth had worked alone, but now Mrs. Trout asked Mrs. Antoinette Funk, a lawyer, of Chicago, who had done active work for the Progressive party, to come to Springfield, and she arrived on May 13. A week later Mrs. Medill McCormick came to reside in the capital and her services were immediately enlisted. She was a daughter of the late Senator Mark Hanna, who had inherited much of her father's ability in politics and was an important addition to the suffrage lobby. On May 14 the bill had its first reading and was referred to the Elections Committee. On the 21st it was reported with a recommendation that it "do pass." The opponents were now thoroughly alarmed. Anton J. Cermak of Chicago, president of the United Societies, a powerful organization of liquor interests, directed the fight against it. Leaflets were circulated giving the "preferential" suffrage vote taken in Chicago the year before, with a list of the negative votes cast in each ward to show the Chicago members how badly it had been beaten by their constituents. The bill was called up for second reading June 3 and there was a desperate attempt to amend and if possible kill it, but it finally passed in just the form it had come over from the Senate.

The hope of the opposition now was to keep Speaker McKinley from allowing the bill to come up for third reading. He told Mrs. Trout that hundreds of men from Chicago as well as from other parts of the State had come to Springfield and begged him to prevent it from coming to a vote. The young Speaker looked haggard and worn during those days, and he asked her to let him know it if there was any suffrage sentiment in the State. She immediately telephoned to Mrs. Harriette Taylor Treadwell, president of the Chicago Political Equality League, to have letters and telegrams sent at once to Springfield and to have people communicate by telephone with the Speaker when he returned to Chicago for the week end. Mrs. Treadwell called upon the suffragists and thousands of letters and telegrams were sent. She also organized a telephone brigade by means of which he was called up every fifteen minutes by men as well as women, both at his home and his office, from early Saturday morning until late Monday night the days he spent in Chicago. She was assisted in this work by Mrs. James W. Morrisson, secretary of the Chicago Equal Suffrage Association; Mrs. George Bass, president of the Chicago Woman's Club; Mrs. Jean Wallace Butler, a well-known business woman; Mrs. Edward L. Stillman, an active suffragist in the Rogers Park Woman's Club; Miss Florence King, a prominent patent lawyer and president of the Chicago Woman's Association of Commerce; Miss Mary Miller, another Chicago lawyer and president of the Chicago Human Rights Association; Mrs. Charlotte Rhodus, president of the Woman Suffrage Party of Cook County and other influential women. Mrs. Trout telephoned Miss Margaret Dobyne, press chairman of the association, to send out the call for help over the State, which she did with the assistance of Miss Jennie F. W. Johnson, the treasurer, and Mrs. J. W. McGraw, the auditor.

A deluge of letters and telegrams from every section of Illinois awaited the Speaker when he arrived in Springfield Tuesday morning. He needed no further proof and announced that the bill would be called up for final action June 11. The women in charge of it immediately began to marshal their forces for the last struggle. Messages were sent to each friend of the measure in the House, urging him to be present without fail.[44] On the eventful morning there was much excitement at the Capitol. The "captains," previously requested to be on hand early, reported if any of their men were missing, these were at once called up by telephone and when necessary a cab was sent for them. The four women lobbyists were stationed as follows: Mrs. Booth and Mrs. McCormick in the gallery; Mrs. Trout at the only entrance of the House left open that day, and Mrs. Funk to carry messages and instructions between these points. Mrs. Booth checked off the votes and Mrs. Trout stood guard to see that no friendly members left the House during roll calls and also to prevent the violation of the law which forbade any lobbyist to enter the floor of the House after the session had convened. The burly doorkeeper, who was against the suffrage bill, could not be trusted to enforce the law if its enemies chose to enter.

Events proved the wisdom of this precaution. A number of favoring legislators who started to leave the House during the fight were persuaded to return and the doorkeeper soon told Mrs. Trout she would have to go into the gallery. As she did not move he came back presently and said that Benjamin Mitchell, one of the members of the House leading the opposition, had instructed him that if she did not immediately go to the gallery he would put a resolution through the House forcing her to do so. She politely but firmly said it was her right as a citizen of Illinois to stay in the corridor and remained at her post. As a consequence no one entered the House that day who was not legally entitled to do so. During the five hours' debate all known parliamentary tactics were used to defeat the bill. When Speaker McKinley finally announced the vote—ayes 83 (six more than the required majority), noes 58—a hush fell for an instant before the wild outburst of applause. It seemed as if there had passed through those legislative halls the spirit of eternal justice and truth and the eyes of strong men filled with tears.

Politicians declared it was a miracle, but it was a miracle made possible by six months of unceasing toil, during which the suffrage lobby worked from early in the morning until late at night and were shadowed by detectives eager to acquire testimony that would prejudice the legislators against their measure. It was most encouraging to the workers when they won over Edward D. Shurtleff, who had been for years Speaker of the House and was acknowledged to be one of the most astute men in Springfield. His practical knowledge of legislative procedure made his advice of the greatest value. Representative Scott, who introduced the bill in the House, was a highly esteemed member who refused to present any others so that he could be free to devote all of his time and energy to this one, and others were equally loyal. Mrs. Trout's leadership received the highest praise from the press and the politicians of the State. The Illinois Legislature led the way and within a few years bills of a similar nature had been passed by those of fourteen other States.

The State Equal Suffrage Association tendered a banquet at the Leland Hotel in Springfield on June 13 to the legislators and their wives, opponents as well as friends, and prominent suffragists came from over the State. Mrs. Trout asked Mrs. McCormick to take charge of the banquet and she had a roll of honor printed which the men who voted for the suffrage bill were invited to sign, and the Governor's signature was also obtained. As soon as he entered the banquet hall Mrs. Trout, in charge of the program, called upon the banqueters to rise and do honor to the Governor who would soon, by signing the suffrage bill, win the everlasting gratitude of all men and women in Illinois interested in human liberty. The very day the bill passed the House a committee of anti-suffrage legislators called upon Governor Dunne to urge him to veto it and tried to influence Attorney General Patrick J. Lucey to declare it unconstitutional, which would give him an excuse. Mrs. McCormick immediately went to Chicago and secured opinions from able lawyers that the bill was constitutional, and he stood out against all opposition and signed it on June 26.

On July 1 a jubilee automobile parade was arranged by Mrs. Treadwell with Mrs. Kenneth McLennan as grand marshal, and the cars filled with enthusiastic suffragists extended several miles down Michigan Boulevard. The first important work was to arouse the women of the State to a realization of all the good that could be accomplished by the wise use of the franchise. The entire cost of the Springfield campaign, which lasted over six months and included railroad fare for the lobbyists, innumerable telegrams and long distance telephone calls, postage, stationery, printing, stenographic help, hotel bills and incidentals, was only $1,567, but it left the treasury of the association empty. The board therefore gratefully accepted the offer of William Randolph Hearst of a suffrage edition of the Chicago Examiner. He agreed to pay for the cost of publication and permit the funds raised through the sale of the papers and the advertising to go into the suffrage treasury. The women were weary from the campaign and most of the board were going away for the summer but Mrs. Trout rallied her forces, was general manager herself and persuaded Mrs. Funk to be managing editor, Miss Dobyne advertising manager and Mrs. Treadwell circulation manager. As a result of almost six weeks' work during the hottest part of the summer nearly $15,000 were raised. After all commissions and other expenses were paid and new and commodious suffrage headquarters in the Tower Building were furnished a fund of between $7,000 and $8,000 was left to maintain them and push organization work.

The constitutionality of the law was soon attacked and Mrs. Trout consulted frequently with the officers of the Anti-Saloon League, for the attacks always emanated from the "wet" interests, and most efficient service was rendered by F. Scott McBride, State Superintendent; E. J. Davis, Chicago superintendent, and Frank B. Ebbert, legal counsel for the league, who said it was also their fight. A case was brought against the Election Commissioners of Chicago for allowing women to vote on certain questions, decided in their favor by the lower courts, appealed and brought before the Supreme Court of Illinois. A meeting of the board of the State Equal Suffrage Association was called at once, which voted to raise a defense fund and fight the case to a finish. The chairman of the committee was Mrs. George A. Soden, first vice-president, and it was largely through her efforts and the contributions of her husband that the fund was raised. Not only the legislators who had voted for the bill but also a number who voted against it sent money to help defend the law. The opponents of the law—the liquor interests—were represented by Levi Mayer of Chicago, counsel for the United Societies as well as for big brewery interests and considered one of the ablest constitutional lawyers in the State. It was therefore necessary for the association to secure the best and they engaged John J. Herrick and Judge Charles S. Cutting, who by agreement with the Election Commissioners took charge of the fight. The women consulted also with Charles H. Mitchell, their regular counsel, as well as with Judge Willard McEwen, whom the commissioners engaged as special counsel. They frequently conferred with Judge Isaiah T. Greenacre, counsel for the Teachers' Federation, and Joel F. Longnecker, a young lawyer active in the Progressive party, both of whom donated their services.