The a.s.sociation has held a State convention each year, except 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, when it was decided instead to attend the World"s Congress of Representative Women, which met in May.[238] At many of these meetings national officers were present, among them Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, and the halls were seldom large enough to accommodate the crowds in attendance.
There have been also district and county conventions every year, while Fourth of July celebrations, county fairs and Chautauqua a.s.semblies have been utilized to disseminate suffrage sentiment.
In 1888 Senator Miles B. Castle, Judge C. B. Waite, Mrs. Dunn and Mrs.
Helen M. Gougar, the last-named from Indiana, held suffrage conferences in various cities. Later in this and the following year, similar meetings were held in a number of other places by the Illinois workers, with the a.s.sistance of Mrs. Gougar and the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw.
In 1891 occurred a series of conventions which extended over six weeks and was conducted by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace of Indiana and Mrs.
McCulloch. In November Mrs. Holmes made a two-weeks" lecturing trip.
In 1892 and "93 Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe canva.s.sed the State, speaking in nearly fifty towns and cities, and raising enough money to defray all expenses and put a handsome amount in the treasury for legislative work.
In March, 1893, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee, made a lecture tour of the central and southern part of Illinois.
In 1897 the National a.s.sociation held a series of meetings in Illinois with Miss Mary G. Hay of New York, Mrs. Jennie Hutchins, Mrs. Leonora Beck, as managers, and Mrs. Dunn and the Rev. Ida C. Hultin as speakers. During the summer Mrs. Dunn, with Mrs. Martha A. B. Conine of Colorado lectured in numerous cities; and in November the national officers held a conference in Chicago, in which Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw, president and vice-president of the National a.s.sociation, Mrs.
Chapman Catt and also many local workers partic.i.p.ated.
In 1898 Miss Lena Morrow made speeches for the State a.s.sociation and spent a month lecturing before labor organizations. She secured suffrage resolutions from unions representing a membership of 25,000.
Mrs. McCulloch gave the month of June, 1890, to canva.s.sing South Dakota in the interest of the suffrage amendment there; and in the fall of 1898 Mrs. Dunn and Miss Morrow were sent to that State to a.s.sist in its second campaign for one month, at the expense of the Illinois a.s.sociation. Miss Morrow worked also in the amendment campaign of 1900 in Oregon for two-and-one-half months, a portion of her expenses being contributed by Illinois suffragists.
The Chicago Political Equality League was organized by Miss Ellen A.
Martin, who was at its head for many years.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: In 1891, at the request of the State E.
S. A., a joint resolution was presented to the Legislature for an amendment to the const.i.tution enfranchising women. This was championed in the House by George W. Curtis and brought to a vote. It received 54 votes, a majority of those cast but not a const.i.tutional majority, which is one over one-half of the whole membership. Charles Bogardus managed the bill in the Senate, but was not able to secure a vote upon it. The hard work for this Amendment Bill, however, paved the way for the pa.s.sage of the School Suffrage Bill later in the session.
This bill had been prepared by the State Woman"s Christian Temperance Union, and was introduced into the Senate by T. C. MacMillan. Although there were many more pet.i.tions asking for the amendment than for School Suffrage, their combined influence, with Senator MacMillan"s earnest work, was sufficient to pa.s.s this bill through the Senate by 29 ayes, 4 noes. At the closing hour of the last session in the House, Dr. H. M. Moore, one of the members of a third party that finally had a.s.sisted the Democrats to elect John M. Palmer as United States Senator, made an urgent plea that something should be done for the women; and because of his eloquence, or the grat.i.tude of the Democrats, or the keen sense of justice among all the members, the Senate School Suffrage Bill was pa.s.sed by 83 ayes, 43 noes.
As it was the general impression that women had received the full School Franchise by this bill, they proceeded to vote on bonds, location of buildings and various other matters pertaining to the schools, and also for county superintendents. The bill was obscurely worded, and it has taken four decisions of the Supreme Court of Illinois to decide just the points which it covered and the limits to which it might be const.i.tutionally extended. As it now stands, under this law women can vote only for candidates for such school offices as have been created by the Legislature. (See Suffrage.)
However, this bill was useful in securing from the Supreme Court the ruling that the Legislature had power to regulate the suffrage concerning all positions created by itself. Heretofore the weight of judicial opinion had been the other way; that no change whatever could be made in the suffrage except by const.i.tutional amendment.[239]
During the session of 1893 R. W. c.o.o.n secured the pa.s.sage in the Senate of a Township Suffrage Bill prepared by the State a.s.sociation.
Its members argued that if school offices not named in the const.i.tution are creations of the Legislature, so are most of the township offices and therefore it has power to grant women the suffrage for these. This bill was accompanied by a pet.i.tion of 12,000 names. Senator Bogardus made a spirited report on these, extolling the character of the signers, whose standing he had ascertained from the senators of their districts. It pa.s.sed the Senate by 26 votes, a const.i.tutional majority. In the House the committee reported it favorably, many members pledged themselves to its support, and it went through the second reading safely; but just when expectation ran highest, it was referred back to the committee and smothered.
In this same Legislature a bill to repeal the School Suffrage Law was defeated in the House, less than 40 of the 153 members voting aye. It was not brought to a vote in the Senate.
In 1895 Senator c.o.o.n introduced the Township Bill again, but owing to absentees it received only 23 votes, 26 being necessary to pa.s.s it.
Fearing that a majority of the members of the House were pledged to vote for it, the chairman of the committee to which it was referred made a sub-committee of three notorious opponents who took care that it never was reported.
In 1897 Senator G. W. Monroe took charge of the State a.s.sociation"s measures. Bills for Township and Bond Suffrage, and for suffrage for certain city, county and township officers and for Presidential electors, were introduced by him but failed to pa.s.s.
In the special session of 1898 only such matters could be considered as were named by Gov. John R. Tanner in calling it. The State a.s.sociation pet.i.tioned him to include woman suffrage in the list, but he did not grant the request. One of the subjects named was taxation.
The a.s.sociation prepared a bill to exempt the property of women from taxation until they were allowed to vote. All the metropolitan papers were interested in or amused by this bill, and gave it considerable publicity, but it was not acted upon.
In 1899 the three bills championed by Senator Monroe in 1897 were managed by Senator Isaac H. Hamilton. He forced two of them to a vote, but neither received a majority.
During all this time Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, a practicing lawyer of Chicago, auditor of the National a.s.sociation and former president of the State E. S. A., was the very efficient legislative superintendent. She pressed the bills with a force which almost brought success by its own momentum, and yet by her good judgment and fair methods kept the respect of legislators who were bitterly opposed to her measures.[240]
Sometimes the hearings on these bills occurred in the Senate Chamber or the House of Representatives. One of the most noteworthy was in 1895, when about twenty women, representing many different localities, societies and nationalities, made clever five-minute speeches.
The State a.s.sociation has sent the _Woman"s Journal_, the _Woman"s Column_ and other suffrage literature to members of the Legislature for months at a time. Pet.i.tions always have accompanied the bills.
Added to those presented in 1899 were resolutions adopted by various Chicago labor organizations of men, representing a membership of 25,000. The pet.i.tions of the State a.s.sociation generally have exceeded all those presented for all other measures.[241]
There has been no distinction between husband and wife in the laws of inheritance since 1873. The surviving wife or husband is endowed of a third part of all the real estate of which the other dies possessed.
If either die without a will, leaving a surviving child or children, or descendants of such, the survivor receives, in addition, one-third of the personal estate absolutely. If, however, there are no lineal descendants, the widow or widower receives absolutely one-half of the real estate and the whole of the personal estate. If there are no descendants and no kindred, the whole estate goes to the surviving widow or widower.
A married woman has held her property in her own name since 1861. She has been ent.i.tled to engage in business, control her earnings, sue and be sued and make contracts since 1869.
Until 1901 the father was ent.i.tled to the care of the persons and education of the minor children. In 1898 Mrs. McCulloch published, in the form of a story called Mr. Lex, a _resume_ of the terrible injustice and cruelty possible under this law; and also pointed out the same possibilities in the administration of other laws which seem entirely fair to the casual observer. It was widely reviewed by the Chicago press and aroused much interest. In the winter of 1901 a bill was pa.s.sed by the Legislature giving fathers and mothers equal guardianship and custody of their minor children. Mrs. McCulloch, representing the State E. S. A., had charge of this bill. A copy of her book, Mr. Lex, was sent to every member, as well as the full facts from every State which had such a law as the one proposed. She also obtained the indors.e.m.e.nt of numerous organizations and influential persons, and had many individual letters written to members. All this simply to give mothers equal guardianship with fathers of their own children!
Mrs. McCulloch was ably a.s.sisted by the Rev. Kate Hughes. The bill pa.s.sed by the large vote of 34 ayes, 8 noes, in the Senate; 119 ayes, one no, in the House. It was signed by Gov. Richard Yates on May 18.
The wife is ent.i.tled to support suited to her condition in life. The husband is ent.i.tled to the same support out of her individual property. They are jointly liable for family expenses. Failure to support the wife and children under twelve years of age is a misdemeanor, and may be punished by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500, or imprisonment in the county jail, house of correction or workhouse not less than one month nor more than twelve months, or both such fine and imprisonment. The wife may sue for separate maintenance without divorce.
The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 years in 1887, but it never has been possible to have this age extended. The penalty is imprisonment in the penitentiary for from one year to life.
In 1893 Mrs. Florence Kelley and Miss Mary Kenney, aided by the women"s and men"s labor organizations of Chicago and by many women"s clubs, secured a Factory Inspection Law. It contained a prohibition against the employment of a woman over eight hours daily in any factory or workshop, but this section was declared unconst.i.tutional because it was a restriction upon the right to contract.
SUFFRAGE: The Legislature which adjourned in 1891 left the School Suffrage Law obscure, incomplete and with no provisions to carry out its intentions. In many cases the women had to provide their own ballots and ballot-boxes. To the credit of the large majority of the judges of election it can be said that they accepted the votes of the women with no certainty that they were acting legally or would be sustained by future decisions. In a number of instances, however, in the more ignorant parts of the State, the votes were insolently refused.
In the country and unincorporated towns, in villages and small cities, where the school boards are elected by the people, there are a number of officers for whom women may vote;[242] but in places like Chicago, where the board is appointed by the mayor, the only vote they have is for three trustees of the State University every two years.
In the summer and fall of 1893 the officers of the State a.s.sociation agitated the question of asking for the nomination of a woman as one of these trustees, and in March, 1894, the convention in Danville approved this suggestion. The auxiliary societies were urged to use all their influence to have delegates from their counties to the State political conventions instructed to vote for a woman candidate. Later in the spring several of the suffrage officers and prominent women of Chicago appeared before the Republican State Central Committee, and the same day visited the Republican State Editorial a.s.sociation, asking their influence to secure the nomination of a woman for trustee. Letters were sent to 200 leading politicians of different parties giving reasons why such action should be taken and asking for their co-operation. Personal appeals were made to the editors of the Chicago dailies for their influence.
Then came the most important work of all--securing the indors.e.m.e.nt of the Cook County conventions. Previous to that of the Republicans Mrs.
McCulloch interviewed leading members of the county committee and received an invitation to present the matter to the convention, which she did, representing both the State E. S. A. and the Woman"s Club of Chicago. Mrs. Elmina D. Springer also made an address. They were invited to meet the resolutions committee, were treated with great courtesy, and the resolution asking that delegates to the State convention be instructed to vote as a unit for the nomination of a woman for University trustee, was adopted.
The Chicago Woman"s Club sent fifty women to the Cook County Democratic Convention and secured the same pledge.
Committees were then appointed to manage this question in the State conventions of the parties. Just a few days before the first (Democratic), the attorney-general, who was a Democrat, gave the opinion that women could not legally vote for trustees or be trustees, and published it widely in the Chicago press. Mrs. McCulloch followed him with a carefully prepared brief which also was given to the press.
This new difficulty made it imperative for her to attend the Democratic State Convention to present her view of the disputed legal point, and this she did with marked success. Whenever any of the delegates said, "Why, haven"t you read Maloney"s opinion that a woman can not hold the office or vote for trustee?" she would answer, "Yes, but haven"t you read my opinion that she can?" She addressed the entire convention, and the nomination of Dr. Julia Holmes Smith was made unanimously. The other political parties then had to follow with the nomination of a woman or fall behind the Democrats in chivalry.
As the Chicago Woman"s Club sent a strong representation to the Republican convention, and as pledges already had been secured from the delegates, the committee appointed by the suffrage a.s.sociation did not deem it necessary to attend. Mrs. Lucy L. Flower was nominated by this body.
The Prohibitionists nominated two women, one of them the secretary of the Illinois E. S. A., Prof. Rena Michaels Atchison.
This recognition from the different parties so encouraged the women that in 1894 they voted enthusiastically throughout the State, especially in Chicago where the candidates were well known. Before the election, however, a difficulty arose from an unexpected quarter. The men composing the Board of University Trustees became alarmed, and employed an attorney who gave an opinion that women neither could vote for trustees nor be elected to the office. He rushed into print; Mrs.
McCulloch, who might have been worn to shreds by this time, patiently answered the young man, and "the women went right on voting."
Professor Atchison had the compliment of receiving about 3,000 votes more than the men on the same ticket as herself, and Dr. Smith likewise ran ahead of her ticket.[243] Mrs. Flower was the successful candidate, also leading the nominees of her party.
The Republican women organized by appointing a State Central Committee, and placed upon it a woman from each congressional district.[244] The Democratic women formed a Cornelia Club which worked for the interest of their party"s nominee.
OFFICE HOLDING: A statute of Illinois (1873) provides that no person shall be debarred from any occupation, profession or employment (except the military), on account of s.e.x, and that this shall not be construed to affect the eligibility of any person to an elective office.[245]
The following have served as trustees of the State University: Mrs.
Lucy L. Flower, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Mrs. Mary Turner Carriel, Mrs.
Alice Asbury Abbott, Mrs. Carrie Thomas Alexander. The term of office is six years.