Later, hearing a speech in favor of it by Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, she a.s.sociated herself with the Ma.s.sachusetts Suffrage a.s.sociation, spoke at its next annual convention and was drawn into its work. After hearing and meeting Miss Susan B. Anthony she felt a deeper obligation of service to the cause for which Miss Anthony and her a.s.sociates had sacrificed so much and she thought that college women especially should pay their debt to those who had made their education possible by helping them fight the battle for woman suffrage. In 1900, with the help of Mrs. Inez Haynes Gillmore, also a Radcliffe student, Miss Wood, now Mrs. Park, founded the Ma.s.sachusetts College Equal Suffrage League and steps were at once taken to form leagues in other States. In 1906 the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation held its annual convention in Baltimore and under the auspices of Dr. M.
Carey Thomas, president of Bryn Mawr, there occurred that remarkable "college women"s evening," when before an audience that filled the theater women professors from the largest Colleges for Women in the United States paid their tributes to Miss Anthony and announced their allegiance to her cause.
It was decided at this meeting that there ought to be a national a.s.sociation of college women, the first steps toward it were taken, and Mrs. Park was appointed to organize leagues in the States. In 1908 a Call was sent out signed by Dr. Thomas, President Mary E. Woolley of Mt. Holyoke College: Miss Mary E. Garrett, a founder of the Johns Hopkins Medical School; Mrs. Elsie Clews Parsons, Ph.D. of Barnard College; Miss Caroline E. Lexow (Barnard), president of the New York College Equal Suffrage League, and Miss Florence Garvin of the Rhode Island League, to meet for organization. The time and place selected were during the annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation in Buffalo, N. Y., October 15-21. By this time College Leagues had been formed in fifteen States extending across the country to California. On October 17, in the beautiful club house of the Woman"s Twentieth Century Club, with delegates present from most of these States, the National College League was organized with the following officers: President, Dr. Thomas; Professor Sophonisba Breckinridge of Chicago University at the head of a list of five vice-presidents; secretary, Miss Lexow; treasurer, Dr. Margaret Long (Smith) of Denver; Mrs. Park was made chairman of the organization committee. The purpose of the league was announced to be "to promote equal suffrage sentiment among college women and men both before and after graduation." It became auxiliary to the National a.s.sociation and its annual conventions were to be held at the same time and place as those of the a.s.sociation. In its early existence office s.p.a.ce was given in the national suffrage headquarters in New York City.
For the next nine years this National College League was a vital force in the movement for woman suffrage. It soon had the largest voting delegation at the national suffrage conventions except that of New York. Dr. Thomas remained its president and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw its honorary vice-president. Miss Martha Gruening and Miss Florence Allen (now Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland, O.), were secretaries, and from 1914 Mrs. Ethel Puffer Howes (Smith) of New York City. Organizers were sent throughout the States to form new leagues and lecturers of note were engaged to address league meetings. Among the latter were Professor Frances Squire Potter of the University of Minnesota; Dr. B. O. Aylesworth and Mrs. Helen Loring Grenfell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Colorado; Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Gilman of New York and Mrs. Philip Snowden of England. Dr.
Shaw spoke a number of times. In 1915 a lecture tour among the colleges was arranged for Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst. Literature and letters were sent to colleges and to graduates. In 1914, for instance, twenty colleges in New York State were supplied and letters were sent to a thousand graduates in New Jersey, campaigns being in progress in those States. During the Iowa campaign in 1916 the colleges of that State received 12,000 leaflets. Travelling libraries of twenty-five volumes relating to suffrage were circulated among the colleges. The most important achievement of an individual league was that in California in 1911. Under the presidency of Miss Charlotte Anita Whitney the work of the league of over a thousand members was a large factor in the success of the campaign for a woman suffrage amendment.
In 1917, during the second New York campaign, Miss M. Louise Grant (Columbia), under the auspices of the National and State leagues, made forty-five speeches to arouse the college women, which contributed to the victory for the suffrage amendment in November.
The gaining of the franchise in this influential State made a Federal Amendment a certainty of the not distant future and in December the following official notice was sent to the branches of the National League:
At the meeting of the annual council of the National College Equal Suffrage League, held at the New Ebbitt Hotel in Washington, D. C., on Dec. 15, 1917, it was unanimously voted on recommendation of the president and executive secretary to close its work and go out of existence. The delegates present, the officers, and many other suffragists who had been consulted were of the opinion that the objects for which the league was originally organized had been fully attained and that there was no reason for it to continue its work as a separate suffrage organization....
At the time when the league began its work the subject of suffrage could scarcely be mentioned in gatherings of college students and college faculties and was forbidden even as a topic for discussion in the annual conventions of the a.s.sociation of Collegiate Alumnae, but in the nine years that have elapsed since then an overwhelming change of opinion has taken place. Many colleges in which it was planned to organize chapters have stated that there is no need for them, as practically all the members of their faculties and most of their students are already suffragists. At the last biennial convention of the a.s.sociation of Collegiate Alumnae held in Washington, D. C., in April, 1917, by a unanimous vote it not only reaffirmed its belief in woman suffrage but urged its members to win it for all American women by working for the Federal Amendment. In bringing about this revolution in educated opinion we are happy to believe that the National College Equal Suffrage League has played an important part....
There are belonging to the National League 5,000 members enrolled in over fifty State leagues and chapters and it suggests that they become "Federal Amendment Suffrage Clubs" and arrange for speakers and student debates on the amendment.... Its officers wish to make an urgent appeal to all its leagues and chapters and to every one of its individual members to put their whole force behind the drive for this amendment.... We can perform no more patriotic service for our country or for the world than to win woman suffrage while we are working with all our might to win the war.[142]
This notice contained a statement that the small dues and special gifts had never been sufficient to meet the expenses of the league and said: "With the exception of $450 lent by one of its former officers all the loans and debts of the National College League, amounting to $6,686 were paid off by its president, who stated that in thus financing its work during the past few years she believed she was making the most valuable financial contribution that she could make to the cause of woman suffrage."
FRIENDS" EQUAL RIGHTS a.s.sOCIATION.[143]
The Society of Friends always has held advanced views on the woman question and was for a long time the only religious body which gave women equal rights with men in the church. Women of this sect were naturally leaders in the great movement for the emanc.i.p.ation of women educationally, professionally and politically. Lucretia Mott stepped forth almost alone at first but soon Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone (both of Quaker ancestry) stood by her side, powerful in vision to see and will to do and dedicated to their great task.
With such heritage comes unusual responsibility, and, feeling the surge of this tremendous wave everywhere for human rights, the Society of Friends at its Biennial or General Conference (liberal branch) representing the seven Yearly Meetings of the United States and Canada--Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Genesee (western New York and Canada)--held at Chautauqua, N. Y., 8th month, 24th day, 1900, through the Union for Philanthropic Labor, created a new department to be known as Women in Government and recommended to the committees of the various Yearly Meetings that they "should work in this direction." Before the adjournment of the conference Mariana W. Chapman of Brooklyn was made superintendent of the department and the name was changed to Equal Rights for Women.
This official action committed all the Yearly Meetings of this branch of Friends to the endors.e.m.e.nt of political rights for women.
Realizing the need for increased enthusiasm and active partic.i.p.ation in the imminent struggle for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women, members of the New York Yearly Meeting organized the State Friends" Equal Rights a.s.sociation, with annual membership dues to meet necessary expenses. A definite list of members was thus made, who could be called upon when opportunity for service occurred. At Westbury (Long Island) Quarterly Meeting in 1901 a proposal was approved that this a.s.sociation should ask to co-operate as an auxiliary with the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation and at the following annual convention of that body in Washington, D. C., it was represented by five delegates. In December, 1902, Mrs. Chapman, president of the New York a.s.sociation, addressed a meeting in Philadelphia and a branch was formed there, which in less than three months numbered about 200 members, with Susan W. Janney as president. The Baltimore Yearly Meeting quickly followed with a paid-up membership of 85, which increased the following year to 114, with Elizabeth B. Pa.s.smore president.
In 1904 the entire dues-paying membership was over 500. The New York a.s.sociation sent letters to members of the State Senate and a.s.sembly bearing on woman suffrage bills and was active in all State suffrage campaigns. Much energy was devoted to public meetings and literature.
The Philadelphia and Baltimore a.s.sociations worked mainly along educational lines. This year the Baltimore branch sent out 4,000 leaflets--For Equal Rights. The Philadelphia a.s.sociation reorganized in 1905, with an enrolled instead of a paid membership. Their Yearly Meeting is a large body with a membership scattered over Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the eastern sh.o.r.e of Maryland....
The a.s.sociations continued their work, holding meetings and "round tables," especially at times of annual and biennial conferences, one of the most effective of these meetings being held at Saratoga in 1914, addressed by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. The subject was kept constantly under consideration by the Society of Friends at large and in local gatherings, such as monthly and quarterly meetings, where it was brought up in regular order as one of the departments of philanthropic labor or social service to be reported upon. Each branch held a meeting at the time of its Yearly Meeting. A business meeting of the whole a.s.sociation (branches and general membership) was always held at the Biennial Conference of the seven Yearly Meetings. Usually a fine speaker was engaged to address the conference at a public meeting numbering from 800 to 1,500. The Superintendent of the Department for Equal Rights in the General Conference was always the president of the Friends" Equal Rights a.s.sociation as a whole and made the contact between the Society of Friends and the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.
In 1911 Mrs. Effie L. D. McAfee, a member of the New York branch, was sent by the Friends" Equal Rights a.s.sociation to the congress of the International Alliance held at Stockholm, Sweden, where, in honor of a sect so long identified with the cause of woman suffrage, she was given a place on the program and filled it most acceptably. In 1916 the Philadelphia branch returned to the regular dues-paying basis, with Rebecca Webb Holmes of Swarthmore as president. The New York branch, notwithstanding the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the women of that State in 1917, continued its organization in order to help the less fortunate sisters, with P. Francena Maine as president. The Illinois Yearly Meeting in 1919 added to the membership of the Friends" Equal Rights a.s.sociation.
The a.s.sociation usually has been represented at the annual conventions of the N. A. W. S. A. Its presidents have been: Mrs. Chapman, New York; Lucy Sutton, Baltimore; Mary Bentley Thomas, Ednor, Md.; Ellen H. E. Price, Philadelphia; Anne Webb Janney, Baltimore. The specific task of the a.s.sociation has been to get a clear utterance on woman suffrage from the different Yearly Meetings, representing in total membership about 20,000. Invariably they have endorsed the principle and any pending legislation in favor. Affiliation with the National a.s.sociation has been deeply appreciated by its members, as to be an integral part of one of the glorious world forces is a privilege not to be lightly held.
THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCES.[144]
For half a dozen years toward the end of the long contest for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women--1912-1917 inclusive--an organization that played a considerable part in it was the Mississippi Valley Conference. From the time that the National Suffrage a.s.sociation was formed in 1869 to 1895 its annual conventions were held in Washington, and from that date to 1912 nine of the seventeen were held in eastern States. Because of the expense of travel the representation of western women was very small compared to that of the eastern section of the country. All the national presidents were from the East and in order that the officers might attend board meetings and conferences most of them were eastern women. Those of the West keenly realized the need of greater opportunity of getting together, becoming acquainted, developing leadership and planning their work, as all of the suffrage campaigns at this time took place in the western States. This was felt more especially by the women of the Middle West, as many of the States in the far West had given the vote to their women.
Finally in 1912 the initiative was taken by a group of women in Chicago, headed by Mrs. Ella S. Stewart, six years president of the Illinois Suffrage a.s.sociation; Miss Jane Addams, national vice president, and Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, a former State and national officer, to form an organization in the central part of the country that could hold occasional conferences. They asked the presidents of the State a.s.sociations in that section if they would join in a call for a meeting in Chicago for this purpose and sixteen responded in the affirmative. Mrs. Stewart, as chairman of the committee, took charge of the arrangements, a.s.sisted by Mrs. Mary R.
Plummer, and prepared the program. The meeting took place in La Salle Hotel, May 21-23, with the following States represented by women prominent in the movement for woman suffrage: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Mrs. Elvira Downey, president of the Illinois Suffrage a.s.sociation, presiding. There were three sessions daily with large audiences and the _Woman"s Journal_ said: "Every session was like a great study cla.s.s with teachers and students, questions, answers and discussion. It was not an occasion for a display of oratory but a practical and business-like conference." All phases of the work for suffrage were considered and especially the management of campaigns, which were now frequent. The third day a meeting was held in Milwaukee, arranged by Miss Gwendolen Brown Willis. The great need and value of such an organization was clearly apparent and the Mississippi Valley Conference was organized with Mrs. Stewart president. There was no const.i.tution or fixed rules, it was simply decided to hold a meeting the next year and a committee to arrange for it appointed: Mrs. Stewart, chairman; Miss Kate Gordon of Louisiana and Mrs. Maud C.
Stockwell of Minnesota.
The second conference met in St. Louis April 2-4, 1913, in the Buckingham Hotel, at the Call of nineteen State presidents. Mrs.
George Gellhorn, president of the Missouri a.s.sociation, had charge of the arrangements, with a corps of committee chairmen. Mrs. Stewart presided and the conference was welcomed by Mrs. David M. O"Neil. The three daily sessions were crowded with eager, interested women. At one evening ma.s.s meeting in the Sheldon Memorial Governor Joseph K. Folk made an address. Miss Harriet E. Grim of Illinois was elected president and Mrs. Gellhorn and Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, president of the Alabama Suffrage a.s.sociation, were appointed to a.s.sist her in arranging for the next conference.
The third conference took place in Des Moines, Iowa, March 29-31, 1914, in the Savery Hotel, with the presidents of twenty State Suffrage a.s.sociations among the delegates. It opened with a ma.s.s meeting on Sunday afternoon in Berchel Theater and an overflow meeting had to be held for the hundreds who could not gain admittance.
Governor George W. Clark, Miss Jane Addams, Rabbi Mannheimer, Miss Dunlap and Mrs. Stewart were the speakers. In the morning and evening most of the pulpits in the city were filled by delegates. The conference was welcomed Monday by Miss Flora Dunlap, president of the Iowa Suffrage a.s.sociation and Mrs. Marie M. Carroll, president of the Des Moines Woman"s Club, and at the ma.s.s meeting in the evening by Mayor James R. Hanna. Several hundred delegates were in attendance and a valuable program of work occupied the sessions. Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, president of the Ohio a.s.sociation, was elected president and with Miss Laura Clay and Mrs. John Pyle, presidents of the Kentucky and South Dakota Suffrage a.s.sociations, was appointed to arrange for the next conference.
The fourth conference was held at Indianapolis, March 7-9, 1915, in the Hotel Claypool, with Dr. Amelia R. Keller, president of the Equal Franchise League, chairman of the committee of arrangements. It opened with a ma.s.s meeting Sunday afternoon in Murat Theater, Dr. Keller presiding. An address of welcome was made by James A. Ogden in behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, to which Mrs. Upton responded. The princ.i.p.al speaker was Rosika Schwimmer of Hungary, formerly an officer of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. Presidents and delegates from twenty-two State Suffrage a.s.sociations carried out the usual comprehensive program. Mrs. Florence Bennett Peterson of Chicago was elected president, with Mrs. W. E. Barkley and Miss Annette Finnegan, presidents of the Nebraska and Texas Suffrage a.s.sociations, to a.s.sist in the plans for the next meeting.
The conference of 1916 met in Minneapolis, May 7-10, four days now being none too long to carry out the important program of work. Mrs.
Andreas Ueland, president of the Minnesota Suffrage a.s.sociation, was chairman of the large committee of arrangements. The conference opened with a ma.s.s meeting in the Auditorium Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Ueland presiding. The invocation was p.r.o.nounced by Dr. Cyrus Northrop, president emeritus of the State University. The conference was welcomed by Mayor Wallace G. Nye and Mrs. Peterson responded.
Professor Maria L. Sanford of the State University; president Frank Nelson of Minnesota College; Mrs. Nellie McClung of Alberta, Can.; Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the International Suffrage Alliance and the National American a.s.sociation, and others made addresses. An evening ma.s.s meeting was held in St. Paul. At a banquet attended by 500 guests Dr. George E. Vincent, president of the State University, made his first declaration in favor of woman suffrage.
Twenty-six States were now members of the organization and nearly all of those who took part at this time were prominent in the activities of their various States. The _Woman"s Journal_ said: "It was a magnificent and glorified Work Conference." Mrs. Peterson was continued as president and Mrs. Ueland and Miss Elizabeth J. Hauser of the Ohio Suffrage a.s.sociation were placed on her committee, the latter to act as chairman for arranging the next conference.
The sixth annual meeting of what had now become an important factor in the movement for woman suffrage took place at Columbus, O., May 12-14, 1917, in Hotel Deshler. At the Sunday afternoon ma.s.s meeting in Memorial Hall, the Hon. William Littleford of Cincinnati, president of the Ohio Men"s League for Woman Suffrage, was in the chair and a number of eminent men and women were on the platform. The speakers were Governor James M. c.o.x and Mrs. Catt. The Governor strongly endorsed the movement and pledged his support. Mrs. Catt gave a masterly review of its progress throughout the world. Twenty-one States were represented on the program. An important feature of this, as of several preceding conferences, was the reports of what women had been able to accomplish in the many States where they were now enfranchised. Organization and political action in order to carry State amendments formed the princ.i.p.al theme of discussion. Mrs. John R. Leighty of Kansas was elected president with Mrs. Ueland and Mrs.
Grace Julian Clarke of Indianapolis on her committee to arrange for the next conference. The shadow of war rested over the meeting, yet in all the speeches was a note of victory for woman suffrage, which evidently was not far distant.
It was planned to hold the next Conference in Sioux Falls, May 26-28, 1918, as South Dakota was in the midst of an amendment campaign, but Mrs. Catt called the Executive Council of the National a.s.sociation to meet at Indianapolis during the Indiana State convention April 16-18, to plan action on the Federal Amendment, which seemed near pa.s.sing.
This required the attendance of its members from every State and as many of them did not wish to spare the time and money for another meeting so soon the conference was given up. In 1919 the convention of the National a.s.sociation was held in St. Louis and in 1920 in Chicago, which made the conference unnecessary, and then the Federal Amendment was ratified and the long contest was ended.
THE SOUTHERN WOMAN SUFFRAGE CONFERENCE.
The Southern Woman Suffrage Conference was formed as the result of a Call sent out in 1913 by women of the southern States to the Governors of those States to meet them in conference and prepare for the extension of woman suffrage by State enactment rather than by Federal Amendment. Women from every southern State signed the Call, although in North and South Carolina and Florida not a vestige of suffrage organization existed. Miss Kate Gordon, who inaugurated the conference, felt impelled to begin some distinctly southern suffrage movement when listening to the effort of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Louisiana, to secure the ratification of the Income Tax Amendment upon the sole and only ground that it was a Democratic party measure. To make woman suffrage a Democratic party measure seemed then the logical field for immediate, intensive propaganda. The Congressional Committee of the National American a.s.sociation was vitalizing into activity the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment. What more logical from a political standpoint than for the southern suffrage forces to advance with a flank movement in harmony with the traditions and policies of the Democratic party?
In November, 1913, there a.s.sembled in New Orleans the organization force of the Southern Conference, with representatives from almost all of the southern States. The platform adopted was primarily for State"s Right Suffrage. Miss Gordon was elected president and Miss Laura Clay of Kentucky vice-president; Mrs. John B. Parker of Louisiana corresponding secretary; Mrs. Nellie Nugent Somerville of Mississippi treasurer. The plan of campaign consisted of the establishment of headquarters in New Orleans; the creating of an active press bureau and the holding of conferences in the southern States, particularly those where no suffrage organization existed. It was originally hoped that the National a.s.sociation would encourage with active support the development of this specialized suffrage work but it refused any financial a.s.sistance.
The founders undaunted pursued their own plan of financing, when suddenly through the generosity of Mrs. Oliver H. P. Belmont of New York the wheels were set in motion. Under caution that secrecy be maintained, Mrs. Belmont, a southern born woman, attracted by the practicability of the plan, endorsed it by sending a check for $10,000. Later at a meeting of the conference in Chattanooga, Tenn., she said: "I plead guilty to so strong a desire for the political emanc.i.p.ation of women that I am not at all particular as to how it shall be granted. I have sworn allegiance to the National Amendment for woman suffrage, while the Southern States Conference, of which I am proud to be a member, holds rigidly to the principle of State"s rights. As a southerner I thoroughly understand the problems which create this att.i.tude and if that method proves effective I shall gratefully accept the results."
In May, 1914, the headquarters were opened in New Orleans with Mrs.
Ida Porter Boyer of Pennsylvania as their secretary. Within three months 1,000 southern newspapers were using the specially prepared weekly editorials and fillers sent out. In October was launched the _New Southern Citizen_, a monthly suffrage magazine, which made its initial trip with a distinctively southern suffrage appeal. This little a.r.s.enal of facts reached every legislator in the South prior to the sessions of the Legislatures. Special bills endorsed by suffragists or women were made the theme of weekly news articles, which called out editorials by wholesale. To ill.u.s.trate: When Mississippi women were making an effort to secure an amendment to enable women to serve on public boards, an enthusiastic Mississippian wrote to the conference of the support given by local papers in their editorials and general comments. Every word printed had been furnished by the news bulletins from the conference headquarters.
The work of the Southern Conference would be incomplete without special mention of the valuable services of Mrs. Wesley Martin Stoner of Washington, D. C. Mrs. Stoner had been sent as the special representative of the National a.s.sociation"s Congressional Committee to make a survey of southern conditions, in the winter of 1913-14, and reported that her observations led her to believe that the best results would be obtained by a furtherance of the policies of the Southern Conference and from that time she became a valued worker in its ranks.
The conference felt that in a great measure its chief purpose had been achieved when the Democratic party, in its national platform of 1916, went on record for woman suffrage by State enactment. It kept up an active organization throughout the South, however, until May, 1917, when the war situation demanded caution in continuing a movement which was costing over $600 a month. An additional reason for discontinuance was that Miss Gordon, who had been donating all of her time to the work, was obliged to give attention to her own business affairs.
[Prepared by Miss Kate Gordon.]
INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL MEN"S LEAGUES FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
The National Men"s League for Woman Suffrage in the United States was the outgrowth of the State League in New York, formed in 1910, an account of which is in the New York chapter. National Leagues were afterwards formed in other countries. In Great Britain the Earl of Lytton was president and among the vice-presidents were Earl Russell, the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, Sir John c.o.c.kburn, K.C., M.G., Forbes Robertson, Israel Zangwill and others of prominence in various fields.
At the time of the congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Stockholm in the summer of 1911 delegates from these national leagues held a convention there and formed an International Men"s League. The United States League was represented by Frederick Nathan of New York. A second international convention of National Men"s Leagues took place in London in 1912, the sessions continuing one week. The third convention occurred in Budapest in June, 1913, when the International Woman Suffrage Alliance held its congress and the delegates were warmly welcomed by the Men"s League of Hungary. In 1914 came the World War. At the next congress of the Alliance, in Geneva in 1920, the International Men"s League was represented by a fraternal delegate, Colonel William Mansfeldt, president of the National League of The Netherlands.
The New York Men"s League soon received requests for information from far and wide and it was evident that such a league was needed in every State. Correspondence followed and in 1911 Omar E. Garwood, a.s.sistant District Attorney of Colorado, came to New York. An a.s.sociation of influential men had been formed in that State two years before to refute the misrepresentations of the effects of woman suffrage and he was interested in the New York Men"s League. While here he a.s.sisted in organizing a National League and consented to act as secretary. James Lees Laidlaw, a banker and public-spirited man of New York City, who was at the head of the State Men"s League, was the unanimous choice for president and continued in this office until the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment was ratified in 1920. In a comparatively short time Men"s Leagues were formed in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Ma.s.sachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
As the years went by leagues were formed in other States and were more or less active in furthering the cause of woman suffrage according to their leaders. Their officers a.s.sisted the campaigns in various States, spoke at hearings by committees of Congress and sent delegations to the conventions of the National American Suffrage a.s.sociation. Here an evening was always set apart for their meetings, at which Mr. Laidlaw presided, and addresses were made by men well known nationally and locally. A delegation from the National League marched in the big suffrage parade in Washington March 3, 1913. In every State the members were of so much prominence as to give much prestige to the movement. For instance in Pennsylvania Judge Dimner Beeber was president and the Right Reverend James H. Darlington a leading member. In Ma.s.sachusetts Edwin D. Mead was president; former Secretary of the Navy John D. Long vice-president; John Graham Brooks treasurer; Francis H. Garrison chairman of the executive committee. A similar roster could be given in other States. In New York the most eminent men in many lines were connected with the league. The leagues remained in existence until their services were no longer needed.
THE NATIONAL WOMAN"S PARTY.
The National Woman"s Party was organized in the spring of 1913 under the name of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Its original purpose was to support the work of the Congressional Committee of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation and its officers were the members of that committee: Miss Alice Paul (N. J.); Miss Crystal Eastman (Wis.); Miss Lucy Burns (N. Y.); Mrs. Lawrence Lewis (Penn.); Mrs. Mary Beard (N. Y.). In successive years names added to its executive committee were those of Mesdames Oliver H. P. Belmont, William Kent, Gilson Gardner, Donald R. Hooker, John Winters Brannan, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Florence Bayard Hilles, J. A. H. Hopkins, Thomas N. Hepburn, Richard Wainwright; Miss Elsie Hill, Miss Anne Martin and others. A large advisory committee was formed.
The object of the Union was the same as that of the National a.s.sociation--to secure an amendment to the Federal Const.i.tution which would give universal woman suffrage. At the annual convention of the a.s.sociation in December, 1913, a new Congressional Committee was appointed and the Congressional Union became an independent organization. Its headquarters were in Washington, D. C. It never was regularly organized by States, districts, etc., although there were branches in various States. The work was centralized in the Washington headquarters and the forces were easily mobilized. The exact membership probably was never known by anybody. It was a small but very active organization and Miss Paul was the supreme head with no restrictions. A great deal of initiative was allowed to the workers in other parts of the country who were often governed by the exigencies of the situation. After the first few years annual conventions were held in Washington.