civilized nations, and the presence on April 30, 1903, of the President
of the United States, ex-President Cleveland, the Joint Committee of
Congress, the ambassadors and ministers of twenty-six foreign
governments, the governors and representatives of more than forty States
and Territories, conferred upon it the official indorsement of the
nations of the world, and added the weight and dignity which the
sanction of governments alone could give.
When the treaty of cession was concluded in 1803 President Jefferson
represented less than 6,000,000 people and there were but 50,000 white
settlers in the Louisiana Territory. President Roosevelt in 1903
represented 80,000,000 people, the Purchase contained 15,000,000
inhabitants, and the 865,000 square miles which it comprised had been
geographically divided into twelve States and two Territories. It was an
area greater in extent and in natural resources than that of the
original thirteen States, and constituted the largest real estate
transfer ever known in the history of nations.
The price of $15,000,000 paid for it was considered exorbitant by those
who were opposed to the purchase in 1803, yet the possibilities of the
country, then so vague and ill-defined, so amply justified the prophetic
faith of its advocates that a century later many millions of dollars in
excess of the purchase money were spent in commemorating the transfer of
a tract of land without which the present greatness of the United States
would not have been possible. The present value of the agricultural
products alone of the area for one year are a hundred times, and the
taxable wealth more than four hundred times, the purchase money.
The board of lady managers was created pursuant to a clause in section 6
of the act of Congress of March 3, 1901, empowering the National
Commission[A] of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as follows:
[Footnote A: The creation of the National Commission of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition was authorized by act of Congress, March 3, 1901,
and the members were appointed by President McKinley. According to
section 12 of an act approved June 28, 1902, the Commission will cease
officially to exist on the first day of July, 1905, at which time, also,
will expire the term of appointment of the members of the board of lady
managers.]
And said Commission is hereby authorized to appoint a board of
lady managers, of such number and to perform such duties as may
be prescribed by said Commission, subject, however, to the
approval of said company. Said board of lady managers may, in
the discretion of said Commission and corporation, appoint one
member of all committees authorized to award prizes for such
exhibits as may have been produced in whole or in part by female
labor.
The following is the complete list and order of appointment of the
members of the board of lady managers made by the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Commission, acting under the authority conferred by the
aforesaid section 6 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1901:
Name. Date By whom.
appointed.
Miss Helen M. Gould Oct. 16, 1901 Hon. P.D. Scott.
Mrs. John A. McCall Oct. 18, 1901 Hon. M.H. Glynn.
Mrs. John M. Holcombe do Hon. F.A. Betts.
Miss Anna L. Dawes do Do.
Mrs. William E. Andrews do Hon. J.M. Thurston.
Mrs. Helen Boyce-Hunsicker do Do.
Mrs. James L. Blair do Hon. John M. Allen.
Mrs. Fannie L. Porter do Hon. P.D. Scott.
Mrs. Frederick M. Hanger do Do.
Mrs. Richard W. Knott Nov. 19, 1901 Hon. William Lindsay.
Mrs. Washington A. Roebling do Do.
Mrs. M.H. de Young do Hon. Thomas H. Carter.
Mrs. Belle L. Everest do Hon. John F. Miller.
Mrs. Marcus P. Daly Nov. 20, 1901 Hon. Thomas H. Carter.
Mrs. William H. Coleman Nov. 21, 1901 Hon. John F. Miller.
Mrs. Edward L. Buchwalter do Do.
Mrs. Lewis D. Frost do Hon. John M. Thurston.
Mrs. Finis P. Ernest Nov. 22, 1901 Hon. George W. McBride.
Mrs. James B. Montgomery Jan. 22, 1902 Do.
Mrs. John Miller Horton Sept. 30, 1902 Hon. M.H. Glynn.
Mrs. Daniel Manning Oct. 2, 1902 Do.
Mrs. Carl von Mayhoff do Do.
Mrs. James Edmund Sullivan do Hon. Thomas H. Carter.
Mrs. Annie McLean Moores Oct. 3, 1902 Hon. John M. Allen.
Miss Lavinia H. Egan Nov. 29, 1902 Do.
OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS, LOUISIANA PURCHASE
EXPOSITION
Mrs. Daniel Manning, president, Albany, N.Y.; Mrs. Edward L. Buchwalter,
first vice-president, Springfield, Ohio; Mrs. Finis P. Ernest, second
vice-president, Denver, Colo.; Mrs. Helen Boice-Hunsicker, third
vice-president, Hoboken, N.J.; Miss Anna L. Dawes, fourth
vice-president, Pittsfield, Mass.; Mrs. Belle L. Everest, fifth
vice-president, Atchison, Kans.; Mrs. M.H. de Young, sixth
vice-president, San Francisco, Cal.; Mrs. Fannie L. Porter, seventh
vice-president, Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. William H. Coleman, treasurer,
Indianapolis, Ind.; Miss Helen M. Gould, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. Richard W.
Knott, Louisville, Ky.; Mrs. John M. Holcombe, Hartford, Conn.; Mrs.
Frederick M. Hanger, Little Rock, Ark.; Mrs. James Edmund Sullivan,
Providence, R.I.; Mrs. Margaret P. Daly, Anaconda, Mont.; Mrs. Mary
Phelps Montgomery, Portland, Oreg.; Mrs. Carl von Mayhoff, New York,
N.Y.; Mrs. John Miller Horton, Buffalo, N.Y.; Mrs. Lewis D. Frost,
Winona, Minn.; Mrs. W.E. Andrews, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Annie McLean
Moores, Mount Pleasant, Tex.; Miss Lavinia H. Egan, Shreveport, La. Miss
Julia T.E. McBlair, Washington, D.C., hostess of the building of the
board of lady managers.
_Standing committees_.--Executive: Mrs. Daniel Manning, chairman; Mrs.
Holcombe, Miss Egan, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Coleman, Mrs. Buchwalter,
Mrs. Moores, Miss Dawes, Mrs. Knott, Mrs. Hanger, Miss Gould.
Entertainment: Mrs. Daniel Manning, chairman; Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Everest,
Mrs. Sullivan, Mrs. Ernest, Mrs. de Young, Mrs. Horton, Mrs. von
Mayhoff, Mrs. Hunsicker. Foreign Relations: Miss Dawes, chairman; Mrs.
Knott, Miss Gould, Mrs. Holcombe, Mrs. von Mayhoff, Mrs. Montgomery,
Mrs. Moores. Congresses: Mrs. Buchwalter, chairman; Mrs. Hanger, Mrs.
Andrews. Press: Mrs. Knott, chairman; Mrs. Hanger, Miss Egan, Mrs.
Moores. Woman's Work: Mrs. Montgomery, chairman; Mrs. Holcombe, Mrs.
Daly, Miss Gould, Mrs. Buchwalter, Miss Dawes, Mrs. de Young.
Legislative: Mrs. Buchwalter, chairman; Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Coleman.
Awards: Mrs. Hanger, chairman; Mrs. Knott, Miss Egan, Mrs. Porter, Mrs.
Hunsicker. Auditing Committee: Mrs. Andrews, chairman; Mrs. Ernest, Mrs.
Montgomery.
_Special committees_.--Hall of Philanthropy: Miss Helen M. Gould,
chairman. Creche: Miss Helen M. Gould, chairman; Mrs. Everest, Mrs.
Andrews, Mrs. Sullivan. House: Mrs. Ernest, chairman; resident members
of board and members of rotating committee on duty. Model Playground:
Mrs. Holcombe, chairman; Mrs. Hanger, Miss Gould. Editing Minutes: Mrs.
Hanger, chairman; Mrs. Ernest, Miss Dawes. House Furnishing: Mrs. Daniel
Manning, chairman; Mrs. Holcombe, Mrs. Montgomery.
INTRODUCTION
As it was designed that the St. Louis Exposition should afford an
opportunity of demonstrating to other nations the progress that the
United States had made in every branch of manufacture, agriculture, and
art, the enormous field that existed from which to draw the great
variety of material warranted the assumption that a wonderful display
would be made. The sponsorship of our Government, and its invitation to
other nations to participate, vested in the citizens of the United
States, not only as a nation but as individuals, the responsibility of
acceptably placing before the eyes of the world the achievements and
advancement not only of their own but of all civilized and semicivilized
nations.
The importance of the event rendered it a fitting occasion for women
again to exhibit to the world the record of their increasing development
and progress. At the Centennial in Philadelphia the women's commission
brought together the exhibits shown in the Woman's Department, raised
funds necessary to build the Woman's Pavilion, suggested the Department
of Public Comfort, and originated and carried to completion other useful
and practical ideas. The board of lady managers at the World's Columbian
Exposition achieved a most wonderful success; at the Cotton Centennial
in New Orleans the women from each State and Territory did excellent
work, as did those at Atlanta, Nashville, Omaha, and Buffalo. All this
had thoroughly prepared the public mind for the cooperation of women in
further exposition work.
The board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was,
therefore, created as an official organization, acting under the
authority given it by the Government. Its most important duty--that of
appointing woman jurors--was prescribed by Congress, and all others were
secondary to it. The members realized the responsibility which rested
upon them and the necessity of making such a record that at the close of
the exposition they again might show that women's attainments and
achievements were a factor of sufficient importance to warrant their
participation in an exhibition of such magnitude; they must continue to
prove by practical demonstration that the rapid advancement and
increased usefulness of women, made possible by the educational and
other advantages that had been accorded them, rendered their work worthy
of the examination and attention of the world.
Preparatory to accepting any responsibilities that might be required of
them in order to represent woman's work officially, a formal request was
made by the members of the board of lady managers to the National
Commission, to define the full scope of their appointment and the duties
to be assigned to the board, careful inquiry being made as to what
special and important work they would be expected to perform.
Pursuant to this request, an informal meeting of the eighteen members
who had been appointed in the fall of 1901, was called by the National
Commission, in the city of New York, for December 5 of that year. Hon.
Thomas H. Carter, president of the National Commission, in an address on
that occasion, outlined their duties to a limited extent, and stated
that a meeting would be called in March, 1902, for the purpose of
perfecting their organization and determining the nature of their work.
This meeting was not called, as had been contemplated, however, and it
was not until September 30, 1902, that the members of the board were
again assembled, pursuant to a call of the Commission, the meeting place
being in the city of St. Louis.
After formal organization of the board of lady managers they were again
addressed by Hon. Thomas H. Carter, who said, in part, as follows:
The act of Congress left the number of lady managers optional
with the National Commissioners.
Before the exercise of the discretion allowed by Congress
numerous persons suggested a great variety of ways whereby the
ladies of the country, and the world, if you please, might with
force and propriety participate in this coming exposition. The
agency or organized clubs was for a time suggested as a proper
method by which the assistance of womankind might be interjected
into this great work, but many difficulties appeared in an
effort to crystallize that thought in the proper shape.
Owing to the confusion existing during the sessions of Congress,
the necessity as well as the desirability of allowing the
National Commission to appoint a board of lady managers became
from day to day more apparent, and, therefore, in pursuance of
that authority it was determined, with the consent and approval
of the local committee under whose auspices the exposition was
given, to appoint a board consisting of twenty-one persons; and
of the twenty-one nineteen members have now been appointed. * *
* It will rest with you ladies, and the two additional members
hereafter to be appointed, whether or not you wish to increase
the size of your board. * * *
After or about the time of the New York meeting the National
Commission, acting under the authority of the law, prescribed
certain general limitations or rules within which this board of
lady managers would continue to exercise their functions. These
rules were, I think, made very general, and were submitted to
the local company for approval, as the statute requires. The
company has suggested certain amendments, which are not of great
importance and do not at this time limit your deliberations to
any considerable extent. * * * The rule upon which your
authority will rest reads: "The board of lady managers,
appointed as authorized by section 6 of the act of Congress,
shall have authority to exercise general supervisory control
over such features of the exposition as may be specially devoted
to woman's work." That rule is practically without any
limitation whatever. It places under your control and
supervision the work for the exhibits, whether appearing in the
manner of artistic, industrial, or other tangible production, or
whether appearing in the manner of woman's engagement in any
part or portion of the exposition work. I think it will rest
with you that girls under a certain age should not be permitted
to be employed in the exhibits, or in any manner made a part of
the coming exposition. * * * You will find in this rule the
amplest authority with reference to any subject-matter over
which you seek to exercise jurisdiction, composed in whole or in
part by woman's work. That is all the limitation you will find.
That rule the company has approved without amendment, and in
approving it * * * I believe that it is clearly the earnest
desire of the company to secure and at all times approve of your
cordial cooperation.
In the matter of executing the duties before you, it will be
found necessary, I believe, at this meeting, after the election
of your officers, to secure such quarters as may, in your
opinion, be necessary for the convenient transaction of the
business committed to your charge. It will likewise be necessary
for you to begin to consider the scope of woman's work in
connection with the exposition, and likewise form proper rules
and regulations for the government of your officers and the
direction of the general task that you have before you. It is
needless to suggest that future success will, as you know, to a
considerable extent, be dependent upon the thought and
consideration given to your rules to start with. One feature of
the rules heretofore commented upon to some extent, and perhaps
both by the Commission and the company, has been subject to
criticism. That is the limitation upon the incurring expense. It
has been suggested that the board of lady managers at Chicago,
which consisted of over one hundred persons, spent $150,000 or
thereabout. They were limited, I think, and spent the limit.
Your expenses are not limited, except by a rule adopted by
prudence, and applicable to all bodies having money to expend
from the United States Government. The purpose of this rule, let
me say to you, ladies, was to preserve ordinary system in the
transaction of the business that must be dispatched very
rapidly, and must be dispatched under a system.
The observations I have here made seem to about cover, for the
present, at least, the matters that will come up before you for
consideration:
First. The scope of your work, unlimited by this Commission,
save in the particulars prescribed in the law, to that which is
in whole or in part made up of woman's work.
Second. After determining the scope, the field within which you
will act, and the rules that govern your officers, you will be
called upon to determine other questions from time to time--the
matter of investment, the matter of a special building, which
shall be the ladies' home, and other questions such as may seem
to you to be meet and proper.
I am quite sure that throughout this space of time--two or three
years--during which we are working together, you will find it
quite easy to get along with this Commission. * * * Let me make
this suggestion here, and one based upon an experience this
Commission has had: You will find, as far as our observation has
been extended, that you have here in the city of St. Louis and
the surrounding country a body of earnest people, charged with a
mighty work--the disbursement of the largest sum of money ever
collected on the globe for an exposition of any kind--larger
than Chicago, Buffalo, and Charleston combined--and the one
overwhelming, all-absorbing thought uppermost in the mind is to
make this exposition a success, commensurate with the mighty
means placed at the disposal of the company, the Commission, and
the board. The weather will be hot and difficulties will come,
tempers will become disturbed, and patience sorely tried, but
throughout it all bear in mind that the man who is somewhat
irritating has simply too much vim and enthusiasm for the
moment.
President Francis, the general counsel, the treasurer, are all
devoting practically their entire time and attention to this
work, and the things already accomplished indicate that their
efforts have been well directed and their work well performed.
It is for you to say, you to determine in a general way, and
upon your good judgment and earnest efforts will largely depend
the extent to which women in this country and of the world at
large are to participate, directly or indirectly, in making this
exposition the most beneficent for women that has or can be made
in any age or ages.
At the close of Senator Carter's remarks President Francis, of the
Exposition Company, said:
I have only come to say, ladies, that if we can be of any
assistance to you we shall be more than glad to render that
assistance. If you have any suggestions to make us, we shall be
pleased to receive them and consider them by prejudging them in
your favor. I do not know what your plans are, but I wish to say
that if you desire permanent quarters, we will be very glad to
provide them in the Administration Building. That might be a
little inconvenient, perhaps, but we have all of our own offices
there, and have all the accommodations one can require. I do not
know if you propose to have a permanent secretary and establish
headquarters here or not. I take it for granted that you are
familiar with the provisions of the law. Of course, you know
that the board is nominated by the National Commission, of which
Senator Carter is president. All of the nominations that have
been made by the National Commission have been confirmed. I
believe the membership of your board is limited to twenty-one. I
have heard of the organization of that body. I wish to say, that
we think we have made adequate, if not liberal, provision for
the expense of the board in this way: We have decided to tender
you ladies, subject, of course, to your amendment, after first
acknowledging your generosity, we have decided to say to you
that we will allow you 5 cents per mile mileage from your homes
to St. Louis, and 5 cents per mile back to your homes, or to
your New York meetings, and in addition to that $6 per day for
subsistence during the time you are in attendance at such
meetings. If you do not think that sufficient, we are open to
suggestions from you.
During your stay in cities where meetings will be held you are
allowed $6 per day subsistence, whether you choose to expend
that or not; if you do not think $6 per day sufficient, make a
suggestion accordingly.
In regard to your duties, the law prescribed those. I suppose
the report which was made by the Commission to the local company
and approved by the local company, has been forwarded to the
board. You know that you have the right to appoint one member to
every jury of awards that passes upon work wholly or partly made
by women. I do not know what provision the law makes, if any,
for your duties, but this exposition, comprehensive as its scope
may be, can not be a success without the hearty cooperation of
the ladies, and that is what we wish.
I do not know what plans you have about a Woman's Building. I
wish to say that any suggestions you have to make us we will
take under serious consideration. A great deal has been said
about permanent structures. We have no objections to permanent
structures, we rather court them, provided always some means are
furnished for the maintenance of those buildings after the
exposition is over. There is another condition that must be
observed, and that is in regard to the permission of the city
for these buildings to remain. You, of course, understand that
the exposition proper does not own any of the ground within the
site. We have 1,200 acres, which is much larger than any
exposition ever held, about 688 acres being the property of the
city. About 112 acres of the site is the property of the
Washington University, for which we pay it a specific rental;
that makes a total of 780 acres. In addition to that we have 410
acres which we have leased from private owners. That property
must be returned to them free of all incumbrances. Therefore, if
a permanent structure be contemplated it must be erected on city
property.
Ladies, I will be very glad to answer any questions you may
desire to ask in connection with the exposition, and, as I said,
any suggestions of yours I shall submit to our local company,
executive committee, and board of directors, and Senator Carter
will submit the same, I have no doubt, to the National
Commission.
At a meeting of the Commission held the same day (September 30) the
resignation of Mrs. John A. McCall from the board of lady managers was
read and accepted by the Commission.
The statements of Senator Carter, as well as those of President Francis,
stimulated the interest of the members of the board; they comprehended
anew that it involved not only a heavy responsibility, but constituted a
national trust to represent the women who to-day stand upon the advanced
but firm ground secured by the steady and persistent efforts of other
women in their long struggle to obtain intellectual advantages and
recognition.
By reason of the sacrifices and endurance of those pioneers, every
opportunity is now afforded to women not only to acquire any trade or
profession, but also to practice it without hindrance; in many cases the
same money value is placed upon their labor as upon that of men for
similar work, and no longer is the line of demarcation rigidly drawn
between the woman of leisure and the self-supporting woman. It,
therefore, devolved upon the members of the board of lady managers to
advance, to the best of their ability, the conditions under which women
might continue to maintain their social, intellectual, and financial
independence.
At this first formal meeting of the board of lady managers held in St.
Louis the president and board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company tendered to the members a most delightful evening
reception at the Southern Hotel. This was the first official
entertainment given to the board of lady managers.
On Wednesday, October 1, 1902, the election of the following officers
was effected:
Mrs. James L. Blair, president; Mrs. Edward L. Buchwalter, first
vice-president; Mrs. Finis P. Ernest, second vice-president; Mrs. Helen
Boice-Hunsicker, third vice-president; Miss Anna L. Dawes, fourth
vice-president; Mrs. Belle L. Everest, fifth vice-president; Mrs. M.H.
de Young, sixth vice-president; Mrs. Fannie L. Porter, seventh
vice-president; Mrs. Frederick Hanger, secretary; Mrs. William H.
Coleman, treasurer.
Miss Helen M. Gould then offered the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That it is the earnest desire of the board of lady
managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition that there be no
indecent dances or improper exhibits in the Midway during the
exposition, and that the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company
be urged to use the utmost care in awarding the concessions for
shows, in order that there may be no objectionable features.
The motion was carried unanimously, and its observance by the local
company was largely instrumental in lowering to a minimum the number of
objectionable features on the "Pike."
In a joint conference of the National Commission and President Francis
the latter consented that the Commission should make the number of lady
managers 24 instead of 21, and on October 2, 1902, the following
resolution was offered by the first vice-president, Mr. Glynn, and
adopted by the Commission:
_Resolved_, That the board of lady managers of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition shall consist of 24 persons, including those
heretofore appointed, together with Mrs. Daniel Manning, of
Washington, D.C.; Mrs. A.I. von Mayhoff, of Monticello, Va.;
and Mrs. Josephine Sullivan, of Providence, R.I.; also the two
additional members to be nominated by Mr. Allen.
_Be it further resolved_, That the appointments thus made now
fixes the membership of the board at 24, and that no vacancy
which may hereafter occur, on any account whatever, shall be
filled until the board is reduced below 21 members, and that at
no time shall any vacancy be filled hereafter so as to increase
the board above 21.
After the election of officers, appointment of committees on woman's
work, rules and regulations, hall of philanthropy, and the transaction
of other routine work, the board of lady managers adjourned to meet in
New York, November 17, 1902.
In response to a request from the board of lady managers for permanent
headquarters for their accommodation during the exposition period, to be
afterwards used as a hall of philanthropy, President Francis, on
November 5, 1902, referred to the fact that the Missouri State
Federation had instructed its delegates to the convention of the General
Federation of Women's Clubs to be held at Los Angeles to recommend such
a memorial of woman's work, but that the federation had failed to take
action in the matter.
The Exposition Company afterwards offered to contribute $50,000 toward
the erection of such a building if the board of lady managers would
raise $150,000--$50,000 of which should be applied toward the building
and $100,000 as a permanent endowment fund.
The meeting of the board of lady managers was called on November 17,
1902, pursuant to adjournment of the meeting of September 30, 1902, and
at that time the hall of philanthropy was fully considered, and the
above-mentioned proposition of the Exposition Company declined.
At the session held on the 19th of November a motion was made and
carried that there should be an eighth vice-president, and Mrs. Daniel
Manning was elected to fill that office.
President Carter, of the National Commission, was invited to be present
at this meeting, and again emphasized his views in regard to the
prerogatives of the members of the board in performance of the duties
which might be assigned them. He also spoke as follows:
With the power comes the responsibility. This exposition, if the
general tone of business continues, ought to be, in the matter
of attendance and universal interest, a pronounced success. The
matter of interesting the world, securing attendance, securing
exhibits, attracting the attention of different classes of
people, would insure success. The law of Congress is pretty
thoroughly considered. It was pretty thoroughly debated in the
House of Representatives particularly. No part of the law was
more thoroughly considered than this part, which contemplated
the interesting of the women of the world in the exposition
about to be given.
Determine at the earliest day practicable what the view of this
board is as to what part women are to take in the exposition.
That subject can not be too promptly considered or decided upon.
You are to plan the scope of women's work in this exposition.
Give the representation of women's work in this exposition a
national or international character. If of an international
character, will this board undertake to select the people who
are to go abroad to represent the women of this country in
appealing to the women of other countries? * * * It is a matter
of supreme consequence that the women of the country shall be
represented in a manner that will be approved by themselves at
least. * * * I think it rests with you to formulate plan and
scope, and transmit that formulated plan and scope to this
Commission, to be approved by the Commission and approved by the
local company, as a part of the programme of this exposition. It
was the intention when this board was appointed to get together
a body of representative women from all over the United States,
and that this body when assembled would become a directing force
along general lines. In the matter of women's work there is no
limit. You exercise "general supervisory control." I would say
that, in pursuance of authority granted the board of lady
managers, that this board adopt resolutions stating that no
woman shall be appointed to represent the exposition by either
the National Commission or the local company until the name of
such representative shall have been submitted to and ratified by
this board of lady managers. You will find in talking with this
company a keen anxiety to quickly adopt any suggestions that
will bring about success in any line. Claim whatever you think
in the form of a rule, assert your right to approve or confirm
if you please everyone appointed to push this woman's work
anywhere. In regard to a building, say what you want; submit
your plans to this Commission; place your wants in the form of a
resolution to be approved by the Commission and the local
company; the approval will carry with it the expense. We will
regard any expenditure which you may make as "legitimate
exposition work"--commissioners to go abroad, or whatever it may
be.
There is a large amount of money available for this exposition.
It has been handled with the utmost care, skill, and excessive
prudence by the company, but that shows merely a good, sound
economical management; however, there is ample means, means that
will unquestionably apply to meet every want.
At the session on November 20 the committee named to prepare resolutions
to be presented through the National Commission to the Exposition
Company offered the following, which were adopted, and copies forwarded
to the Commission and company:
First. The board of lady managers respectfully call the
attention of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company to the
act approved March 3, 1901, under which act this board has the
power to appoint one member of all committees authorized to
award prizes for such exhibits as may have been produced in
whole or in part by women. The board of lady managers decline to
accept the amendment of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company to this act of Congress expressed in a resolution of the
executive committee of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company, as follows: "To nominate one member of all committees
authorized to award prizes for such exhibits as shall have been
produced in whole or in part by female labor."
Second. The board protests against the appointment, without its
authority, of any representative at home or abroad connected
with work for which this board is responsible.
Third. That the board of lady managers select, with the approval
of the local company, two of its members to awaken interest in
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company among women in other
countries.
Fourth. That the president of this board be authorized, at her
discretion, to appoint committees to visit each State to enlist
the cooperation of the women in securing the proper
representation of woman's work at the exposition in St. Louis;
and in furtherance that the governor of each State be formally
requested to name two women on the State commission.
Fifth. That the local company be requested to appropriate
$50,000 for the erection of a woman's building on the fair
grounds to be used after the close of the exposition as a hall
of philanthropy.
Sixth. The board of lady managers request the directors of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company to provide money to meet
the current expenses of this board. They are further requested
to notify this board in writing of the amount appropriated for
this purpose. It is the sense of this board that an allowance of
5 cents per mile and $10 per diem be allowed; the per diem to
cover the time from the day of departure until the day of
return.
Seventh. That the board of lady managers of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, acting in harmony with the local committees
appointed by the president of this board, shall have supervisory
control of the entertainments of all women's organizations
desiring to hold meetings in the building that will be
appropriated to the use of this board.
Respectfully submitted.
Mrs. JAMES L. BLAIR, _President_.
Mrs. RICHARD W. KNOTT, _Chairman_.
To the copy of the above resolutions which was sent to the National
Commission, President Carter replied as follows:
St. Louis, U.S.A., _November 29, 1902._
Dear Madam: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of a set of
resolutions adopted by the board of lady managers at their
meeting in New York City on November 20, 1902.
You are informed that the resolutions have been transmitted with
proper recommendations to the local company for consideration
You are also informed that correction of objectionable rule in
the "rules and regulations governing the system of awards," to
which reference is made in the first subdivision of the
resolutions, has been made. The rule referred to, as corrected,
will embrace the word "appoint" instead of "nominate."
You are also informed that the Commission deems it inexpedient
to apply to Congress for an appropriation to aid in the
construction of the proposed hall of philanthropy. The
Commission does not wish to be understood as being opposed to
this commendable enterprise, but instead favors the proposition.
The disinclination to appeal to Congress for aid arises from an
understanding with the company and leading members of committees
of Congress, that no further appropriation would be sought from
the General Government in connection with the fair.
After a conference with the president and the secretary of the
Exposition Company, the Commission is gratified to be able to
inform you of the disposition of those officers to consult the
board of lady managers with reference to the appointment of all
persons intended to in any manner represent the board or its
work in the exploitation of the exposition at home or abroad. We
are also able to convey to you the assurance which has been
conveyed to the Commission by President Francis, that it is the
disposition of the Exposition Company to furnish the board of
lady managers adequate and comfortable accommodations upon the
grounds controlled by the company. The president of the company
will communicate with your honorable board with reference to
this and other subjects referred to in the resolutions.
You are informed that, agreeable to an arrangement made nearly
twelve months ago, the accounts of the board of lady managers
will be paid direct by the Exposition Company. It is desirable
that your board should transmit all accounts direct to Mr. W.B.
Stevens, secretary of the Exposition Company, by whom all
settlements will be made.
Yours, very truly,
Thos. H. Carter,
_President._
Mrs. Apolline M. Blair,
_President Board of Lady Managers, St. Louis, Mo._
This meeting adjourned subject to the call of the president.
The next meeting of the board of lady managers was called by the
president, Mrs. Blair, at the Murray Hill Hotel, New York City, N.Y.,
February 16, 1903, at which time a letter was read that had been
received by the president of the board from the Exposition Company, in
which an offer was made to the board, for its exclusive use, of one of
the permanent buildings to be erected for the Washington University (and
subsequently to be used by it as a Hall of Physics), to be known during
the exposition period as the "Building of the Board of Lady Managers."
This structure appealed specially to the members of the board, from the
fact that it had been endowed by a woman, Mrs. Eliza Eads How, of St.
Louis, and the offer was accepted. The building was finished about the
middle of April, 1904, and thereafter remained the headquarters of the
board during the term of the exposition. While it was not perfectly
adapted for a woman's building, they made it as attractive as possible,
and it served for their entertaining and occupancy far better than had
been anticipated. Upon motion, it was decided that the furnishing of the
building for the board of lady managers be under the supervision of the
president of the board.
On February 16, 1903, a communication was received from Mr. Corwin H.
Spencer, first vice-president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company, stating that $3,000 had been appropriated by the executive
committee of the Exposition Company for the use of the board of lady
managers.
Although the members of the board were not only willing, but anxious, to
settle upon some definite line of action, the vagueness of their powers
outlined by the members of the Commission, together with the obstacle
presented by the lack of funds, had caused them to be most conservative
in action; without the positive assurance of financial aid they were not
in a position to decide definitely upon a plan of future work. This
condition led to the appointment by the president, Mrs. Blair, of two
committees, one known as the "committee to confer with the National
Commission on matters pertaining to the board of lady managers," and
which consisted of Miss Lavinia H. Egan, chairman, Mrs. Finis P. Ernest,
Mrs. Helen Boice-Hunsicker, and Mrs. William E. Andrews; and the second,
known as a "committee on woman's work," consisting of Mrs. Mary Phelps
Montgomery, chairman, Mrs. John M. Holcombe, Mrs. Daniel Manning, and
Mrs. Edward L. Buchwalter. Both of these committees were to confer with
the National Commission and the latter committee with the local company.
Upon motion, duly seconded and carried, the meeting adjourned, to meet
in St. Louis April 29, 1903.
A reception was given by the board of lady managers to the
president-general, officers, and members of the Daughters of the
American Revolution of the Twelfth Continental Congress, at the New
Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C., on February 26, 1903. The committee
consisted of Mrs. Horton, chairman, Mrs. Holcombe, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs.
Andrews, Mrs. Moores, Mrs. Coleman, Mrs. Hunsicker, Mrs. Porter, and
Mrs. Hanger. Invitations were extended to the President of the United
States and his Cabinet, Diplomatic Corps, officers of the Army and Navy,
members of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Government
Board, the National Commission of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and
officials connected with the exposition resident in Washington. The
Exposition Company was most generous in allowing $600 for the cost of
this reception. The two committees appointed to confer with the National
Commission and local company on matters pertaining to the board of lady
managers, met at the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, March 11, 1903, and were
admitted to a conference with the National Commission on that day. The
subject in regard to the work and duties of the board was reopened by
the following questions:
First. What special work does the Commission desire the board to
perform before the opening of the exposition?
Second. What service will the Commission require from the board
between the opening and closing of the exposition?
to which Senator Carter replied as follows:
The plan and scope of your work must first be determined, and,
in an advisory or suggestive sense only, I venture to submit for
your consideration a plan and scope which would require your
board--
First. To make due preparation for the intelligent selection of
one member of all committees authorized to award prizes for such
exhibits as may have been produced in whole or in part by female
labor.
Second. To advise the Commission from time to time as to the
desired extent and the appropriate manner of woman's
participation in the ceremonies incident to the dedication,
opening, and conduct of the exposition.
Third. To confer and advise with the officers and chiefs of the
exposition on the progress being made from time to time in
exciting the interest and enlisting the cooperation of women in
the several departments, and to appoint all committees necessary
to carry out the purpose, and to procure information on the
extent of woman's participation in the exposition.
Fourth. To encourage the presentation of exhibits by women by
correspondence, advertising, or such other means as the company
may approve.
Fifth. To collect statistics of women's work in connection with
the exposition for publication.
Sixth. To encourage, by correspondence or otherwise, attendance
at the exposition of societies and associations of women and the
holding of conventions, congresses, and other meetings of women.
Seventh. To maintain within the grounds during the period of the
exposition an organization for the relief of women and children
who may be found in need of aid, comfort, or special protection.
Eighth. To receive and officially entertain women when requested
so to do by the Exposition Company and the Commission.
Ninth. To commission members of the board or others, with the
approval of the Commission and the company, to travel in the
interest of the exposition, either at home or abroad.
Tenth. To provide for the constant attendance, in rotation, of
at least three members of the board at the exposition grounds
from April 30 to December 1, 1904.
Eleventh. To issue bulletins from time to time as the company
and the Commission may approve, for the special information of
women and the exploitation of their contributions to the success
of the exposition.
These suggestions may be supplemented by others, and some of
them may be disregarded by you entirely. They will, however,
serve to convey to you the views of the Commission on the
general range of work you can, if you wish, undertake to
perform, subject only to the limitation that you submit your
plan when agreed upon to the Commission and the company for
consideration and approval, to the end that harmony may prevail.
Let us not at any time lose track of this one important fact,
that the exposition will be enormously expensive at best, and
that it does not befit us to look up ways and means of expending
money exclusively but to have some regard for the income of the
Exposition Company. Widespread and indiscriminate entertainment
of societies will be quite impossible. Within the scope of your
work there should be some committee or subdivision of the board
to begin at once to ascertain what different societies,
organizations, and women's congresses could be assembled here,
and then bring them in within the scope of your work for
submission to the company. We will gladly submit to the company
a plan for the disposal of matters that will involve a
reasonable limit of entertainment, and have means placed at your
disposal for correspondence, exploitation, and entertainment.
Your committees ought to be at work now and continue diligently
at work until the exposition gates open. After that you will
have ample work to do in connection with carrying out the
projects you will have previously originated.
The meeting set for April 29 was called by the president of the board
one day earlier, and the members met in the Administration Building,
exposition grounds, April 28, 1903.
The announcement of the death on February 27, 1903, of Mrs. Washington
A. Roebling, the member of the board from New Jersey, was read and
received with regret, and a committee was appointed to draft suitable
resolutions, to be spread upon the minutes of the board.
On that day the following rules and regulations were adopted by the
board, a copy being submitted to the National Commission and
subsequently approved by that body on April 29, 1903, and by the
Exposition Company January 12, 1904.
Rules and Regulations.
No. 1. _Meetings._--All the meetings of the board shall be held
in the city of St. Louis. The regular meetings shall be held at
such times as may be designated by a majority vote of the board.
Special meetings shall be subject to call of the president of
the board, the president of the National Commission, or written
request of five members of the board. The president shall
convene the board in accordance with the terms of the request.
No. 2. _Officers._--The officers of the board shall consist of a
president, eight vice-presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer.
No. 3. _Duties of officers._--The president shall preside at all
meetings of the board and shall sign all requisitions for funds
to be advanced to the treasurer, and examine and approve all
accounts to be paid by the treasurer.
No. 4. _Duties of vice-presidents._--In the absence of the
president the vice-presidents shall preside alternately from
session to session, in the order of their official designation.
No. 5. _Duties of secretary._--The secretary shall keep a
correct record of the proceedings of the board, and shall attend
to the giving or serving of all notices of meetings. She shall
conduct the official correspondence of the board of lady
managers, and shall perform such other duties as the board may
assign to her. She shall notify all committees of their
appointments, and also the work assigned to them. Previous to
each meeting she shall make out an order of business for the
chair, and also a list of standing and special committees. She
shall make her headquarters in the city of St. Louis.
No. 6. _Duties of treasurer._--The treasurer shall have the care
and custody of all funds coming into the possession of the
board, and shall disburse the same only upon order of the board
and the approval of its president. At each regular meeting of
the board she shall render an itemized statement of all receipts
and disbursements from the date of the last report, and shall
whenever directed by the board deposit the unexpended balance
with the treasurer of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.
No. 7. _Quorum._--Nine members of the board shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.
No. 8. _Executive committee._--The board shall elect an
executive committee of seven members. It shall be the duty of
the executive committee to devise plans relative to the work
within the legal jurisdiction of the board and submit, from time
to time, recommendations to the board for consideration and
action with the view of making arrangements to appropriate
committees. The executive committee shall elect its own chairman
and secretary.
No. 9. _Standing committees._--The following standing committees
shall be constituted and shall be elected by ballot, unless
otherwise specifically provided therein: First, a committee on
rules; second, a committee on work; third, a committee on
awards; fourth, exposition rotating committee; fifth, an
auditing committee.
No. 10. _Committee on rules._--The committee on rules shall
consist of three members, and shall prepare and present to the
board such amendments to the rules and regulations as may from
time to time be found necessary.
No. 11. _Committee on work._--The committee on work shall
consist of five members, and shall prepare and present to the
executive committee a plan covering the scope of woman's work.
No. 12. _Committee on awards._--The committee on awards shall
consist of three members, whose duty it shall be to collect and
report to the board such information as will enable the board to
execute intelligently the provision of section 6 of the act of
Congress approved March 3, 1901.
No. 13. _The exposition rotating committee._--A committee of six
members of the board, to be designated by the executive
committee, shall be in attendance at the exposition from April
30 to December 1, 1904, in the discharge of such duties as may
be prescribed by the National Commission, or may arise from time
to time within that period, and appropriately require
consideration and action of such committee. Four members of each
committee shall be appointed at the end of each calendar month,
beginning May 31, 1904. The appointments shall be so made that
no member shall serve more than two consecutive months.
No. 14. _Auditing committee._--The auditing committee shall
consist of three members, elected by the board, and shall
examine and audit the accounts of the treasurer, and present to
the board a written report concerning each settlement, which
shall be made promptly upon the receipt of the treasurer's
itemized statement required by rule 6.
No. 15. _Special committees._--Special committees may be
appointed by direction of the board to consider matters not
included within the jurisdiction of any committee provided for
herein.
No. 16. _Amendments._--These rules and regulations may be
amended at any regular meeting of the board by a two-thirds vote
of the members present, written notice of proposed amendment
having been given at least one day in advance of action thereon.
No. 17. _Order of business._--Reading of the minutes; reports of
standing committees; reports of special committees; unfinished
business; new business; adjournment. This order of business may
be suspended at any regular meeting by two-thirds vote of the
members present.
No. 18. Roberts's Rules of Order shall govern the proceedings of
this board.
Upon the centennial of the day the Louisiana Territory was sold by
Napoleon to the United States, the exposition, which embodied all that
the vast territory now represents, was consecrated to its purpose. In
the presence of 50,000 persons the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was
formally dedicated; 12,000 troops, the pick of the United States Regular
Army, and the best militia of the country, moved past a given point for
one hour and a half, under Maj. Gen. Henry C. Corbin, U.S. Army, grand
marshal. Governors and their staffs were loudly cheered as they appeared
at the head of their State troops. Gathered on the reviewing stand was a
notable assembly--our Chief Executive, President Roosevelt; ex-President
Cleveland, ambassadors and diplomats, cabinet officers, the
lieutenant-general of the Army, Nelson A. Miles; Cardinal Gibbons and
Bishop Potter, Senator, Representatives, governors, State and
Territorial representatives, Government officials, President Francis,
and the board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company,
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission, and the board of lady
managers.
At the meeting in the Liberal Arts Building following the parade,
President Carter of the National Commission addressed the great
assembly. The enthusiasm was unbounded when, in turn, the President and
ex-President spoke to the vast multitude. After the meeting an
adjournment was made to the Administration Building, where President
Roosevelt and ex-President Cleveland received many of their friends, and
the board of lady managers entertained a distinguished company at 5
o'clock in their rooms in the Administration Building. Among the guests
present at the dinner tendered in the evening by Hon. David R. Francis
to President Roosevelt, in the building of the Hall of Congresses, were
several members of President Roosevelt's Cabinet, ex-President
Cleveland, Lieut. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, diplomatic representatives of
thirty foreign governments, governors, Senators, National Commissioners,
and the board of lady managers.
The second, or "International Day," the procession was arranged as on
the first day, the introductory oration being delivered in the Palace of
Liberal Arts. President Francis extended greeting to representatives of
foreign governments and responses were made by Ambassador Jusserand, of
the French Government, and Señor Don Emilio de Ojeda, Spanish minister
to the United States. In the evening a reception was given at the St.
Louis Club in honor of the diplomatic corps, and a banquet was tendered
to visiting journalists in the Hall of Congresses on the exposition
grounds.
The third, or "State Day," the visiting governors were specially
entertained, and the closing exercises held, after which the governors
and representatives of different States proceeded to the sites that had
been allotted their respective State pavilions and broke ground and laid
corner stones with appropriate ceremonies.
In all of the exercises of the three opening days the members of the
board of lady managers, by their participation in the ceremonies,
represented the women of the country.
On Saturday, May 2, 1903, the following resolution was offered by Mrs.
Edward L. Buchwalter, the first vice-president:
Whereas the board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition find it necessary to have funds at their disposal for
the proper conduct of the business of the board; therefore be it
_Resolved_, That a committee of three be appointed to take the
necessary steps to secure such an appropriation from Congress at
the earliest possible date; that said committee be, and is
hereby, directed to take immediate action in such matter, and
that said sum shall not be less than $100,000.
Upon the adoption of this resolution Mrs. Daniel Manning was made
chairman, and in accepting the appointment she asked the members of the
board to use their influence with the Senators and Congressmen of their
States for the passage of the bill.
At this meeting (May 2, 1903) the president announced the appointment of
the following standing committees: Executive, entertainment, foreign
relations, women's congresses, and press, and the committee on women's
work was enlarged.
An invitation was received from the Wednesday Club of St. Louis, in
which a reception was tendered by that organization to the board. The
courtesy was greatly appreciated and promptly accepted, and the occasion
brought together the intellectual women of that city.
No further meeting was held until December 15, 1903, which was called by
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission and held in St. Louis, at
the Southern Hotel, Mrs. E.L. Buchwalter, first vice-president,
presiding. The following communication was then read by the secretary:
St. Louis, U.S.A., _October 21, 1903_.
LADIES: I herewith tender to you my resignation from the office
of president, to which you did me the honor to elect me. Begging
you to accept the same, with my best wishes for the welfare and
success of the board in the future, I remain,
Always faithfully, yours,
APOLLINE M. BLAIR.
BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS, LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
The resignation was accepted by the board, and a committee appointed to
prepare suitable resolutions. At the afternoon session Miss Dawes,
chairman of this committee, presented the following:
Resolved, That the board of lady managers of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition accepts with regret the resignation of Mrs.
James L. Blair as president; that it places upon its records its
appreciation of her service to the board of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition. Her large abilities and her experience in
social and public affairs have been freely given to this work,
and she has served the board and the exposition with unwavering
zeal and with conspicuous ability. Her enthusiasm for the
exposition, her far-reaching sense of its aims and scope, her
large conception of the possibilities of our connection
therewith as a board, and her interests in its needs inspired
her administration of its affairs and called for the recognition
and thanks of this board, whose head and representative she was,
and of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition which she served.
Resolved, That this board of lady managers express its
recognition and gratitude by adopting these resolutions and that
the secretary be directed to send a copy to Mrs. Blair.
ANNA L. DAWES.
HELEN MILLER GOULD.
FRANCES MARION HANGER.
JENNIE GILMORE KNOTT.
EMILY S.G. HOLCOMBE.
On motion of Mrs. Manning, seconded by Mrs. Coleman, the resolution was
unanimously adopted.
President Francis then appeared before the board of lady managers, and,
upon the request of the chairman, made an address, in which he said, in
answer to a request to give to the board some idea concerning the cost
of the exposition:
I only can give you the comparisons with other of the largest
expositions ever held in this or any other country. I will state
as compared with the Paris Exposition, we are now nearer a state
of completion than that exposition was on the date of its
opening. That no exposition was ever so near completed four and
a half months prior to its opening. Of course we have a great
deal of work to do, and we must bear in mind that although we
use a vast amount of material, 90 per cent of the cost is put in
labor--not only the labor out on the grounds, but the labor in
the lumber districts, in the loading and unloading of the
lumber--and this comprises the greater part of our buildings as
they are built almost exclusively of lumber--the value of it is
comparatively small as compared with the cost of preparing it
for market and getting it here.
Then the matter of wages--we have to pay 33 per cent higher
wages than were paid at the Chicago Exposition. At that time
carpenters got 35 cents per hour--you may remember that was the
year of the panic, 1893. When we first began carpenters in this
town were getting 45 cents an hour; they are now getting 55
cents an hour, and when you bear in mind that we have 5,000
carpenters at work there, an advance of 25 per cent in wages
means something.
We broke ground on December 20, 1901, but we did that because it
was the anniversary of the transfer of this territory from the
French Government to the United States. But that was two years
ago, and in those two years wages have gone up in St. Louis from
45 to 55 cents; plumbers' wages have advanced 25 per cent;
plasterers were getting $4.50 per day--we are now paying them
$6, and on last Friday they struck for $7. The hodcarriers who
carry plaster for the plasterers are getting $4 per day--count
twenty-five working days in the month, our hodcarriers are
receiving $100 per month, which is more than educated clerks
receive. A while ago these hodcarriers struck for $4.50 per day.
* * * This is an Universal Exposition--we do not want to take a
stand against union labor, but if it is to be a Universal
Exposition we must stand by the laws of the United States so as
to admit contract labor from abroad--men who work on erecting
the foreign exhibits.
We were paying our day laborers 22 cents an hour and the
railroads throughout the country were giving them 22 1/2 cents
an hour; on the 25th of September they wrote that they had four
demands: One was the recognition of the union (no one ever knew
they had a union); second, that eight hours should constitute a
day; third, they should get 30 cents an hour, and fourth, time
and one-half for overtime. Well, in order not to stop our work I
told the men to pay them 25 cents an hour, but that we could not
limit our work to an eight-hour day; it was in the fall and we
had to take advantage of the fine weather--we would pay them 25
cents an hour and work as long as we wished them to work--ten
hours. I said to the laborers this is not a commercial
enterprise; we are not running this for gain; we have put up
$10,000,000 or $16,000,000; we are doing a patriotic duty,
celebrating an historical event. * * *
We have 50 per cent more of buildings under roof than Chicago
had at this time. We have 1,240 acres of ground space covered by
buildings, while Chicago had 679 acres, which is nearly twice as
much. When we say that the Chicago Company spent $22,000,000 I
think you will say that under the circumstances $19,500,000 is a
small amount for us to spend. Of course we have profited by
their experience, which should be valuable to us.
A committee was appointed on December 16, 1903, to confer with President
Carter, and place before him the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That the board of lady managers respectfully request
the National Commission to suspend its rules limiting the
further appointments upon the board, for the purpose of
appointing a representative from the city of St. Louis upon the
board of lady managers.
On the same day the following communication was received in reply:
DEAR MISS DAWES: The Commission has under consideration the
question propounded by you, understood to be substantially as
follows: "Is it the intention of the Commission and the
Exposition Company to suspend the rule heretofore adopted,
whereby it is provided that no appointment will be made on the
board of lady managers, until the number shall be reduced below
twenty-one?"
In reply, I am authorized by the Commission to say that the
Exposition Company, speaking through its president, has
intimated that the executive committee of the company will
present a request to the Commission for the suspension of the
rule referred to, to the end that a lady residing in the city of
St. Louis may be appointed a member of the board of lady
managers, under such suspension of the rule.
This request, we are advised, will be presented by the company
to-day, and the Commission is disposed to suspend the rule by
unanimous consent in conformity to the request when presented,
and to appoint the lady recommended by the executive committee
of the company. You will be advised of the action of the
Commission on the subject under consideration the earliest
practicable moment.
Very respectfully,
THOMAS H. CARTER, _President_.
MISS ANNA L. DAWES,
_Chairman of Committee,
Board of Lady Managers._
On December 18 the following letter was received from the president of
the National Commission on the same subject:
ST. Louis, _December 17, 1903._
MADAM: By direction of the Commission I am authorized to
acknowledge receipt of your resolution recommending that the
Commission suspend the rule restricting the membership of the
board of lady managers, to the end that an appointment may be
made of a representative from the city of St. Louis. In reply
thereto you are informed that the rule referred to can not be
suspended, save by the joint action of this Commission and the
Exposition Company. The Commission feels indisposed to initiate
any movement looking to its suspension. If requested by the
Exposition Company to suspend the rule for the purpose of naming
some lady residing in St. Louis, recommended by the Exposition
Company, the Commission would probably, by unanimous consent,
suspend the rule for that purpose.
Very respectfully,
THOMAS H. CARTER, _President._
MRS. DANIEL MANNING,
_President Board Lady Managers._
As no decision could be reached by the executive committee of the
Exposition Company in regard to a choice of representative from the city
of St. Louis on the board of lady managers, the board felt the necessity
of selecting a president from its existing membership, and at the next
session, on December 16, 1903, again held in the Administration
Building, Mrs. John M. Holcombe moved that "we proceed at once to elect
a president of this board."
Mrs. Buchwalter, the chairman, stated that it was in order to proceed
with the election of a president of the board, and asked for
nominations. Miss Helen M. Gould spoke as follows:
I would like to nominate Mrs. Daniel Manning for this office.
Mrs. Manning has had large experience in matters of this kind as
head of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having resided
in Washington as the wife of one of the members of Mr.
Cleveland's cabinet, and in representing our country abroad,
having been one of our representatives at the Paris Exposition.
I understand that Mrs. Manning is one of two women from this
country who received the decoration from the French Government,
and I take pleasure in nominating her for the office of
president of this board. This nomination was seconded by several
members, and, as no other nominations were made, the tellers
announced the result of the vote: For Mrs. Manning, 13 votes:
one blank, Mrs. Manning not voting.
The chairman then thanked the members of the board for the sympathy and
help they had given her.
In reply the secretary extended to Mrs. Buchwalter the sincere thanks of
the members of the board for the efficient work she had performed as
their first vice-president and honorable chairman, and Miss Dawes spoke
for the entire board in expressing her thanks to Mrs. Buchwalter for her
impartiality, confidence, good management, and elegance in presiding.
Mrs. Daniel Manning, the newly elected president, then took the chair
and thanked the board for the honor conferred upon her.
The order of business was then proceeded with, and, pursuant to a wish
expressed by the National Commission to meet the board of lady managers,
the members of the Commission were announced and Mrs. Manning said:
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Commission: We understood
that you would graciously come over and talk with us a little
while. We are starting in on a new lease of life. We want to
work for the exposition to the best of our ability. We want your
advice and wish to consult you about a number of matters, but,
first, we would like to hear from you.
President Carter responded as follows:
Madam President and Ladies: We have come to say a few words to
you and to have you consult with us upon any subjects you desire
to bring up. I do not know how graciously we have come, but we
come very cheerfully. The subject of your remark has been under
consideration for a long time and we all regret that a more
definite conclusion has not been reached relative to the sphere
of your activity in connection with the World's Fair. I think
your report, the report of your committee, of which Mrs.
Montgomery is chairman, and which she recently submitted,
crystallizes into close compass about the line of action the
board might appropriately pursue. The report referred to dealt
not only with the conclusion reached, but the details whereby
those conclusions were reached. It included discussions, formal
and informal, and certain correspondence relating to the
subject. The Commission has approved that report in so far as it
prescribed in definite form the sphere of your work, and, with
the approval of the Commission, that report has been forwarded
to the local company. These resolutions or statements made by
your board, which in your judgment would constitute a proper
sphere of action, seem to embody a field sufficiently broad to
be worthy of your intentions. It was hoped by the Commission
that during the present session of the board, the members of the
local company, together with the Commission, would be present
for a conference--more informal than formal--which might result
in a correct and definite understanding as to just what you were
to do, and how you were to do it.
The only conclusion which has been reached is that which gives
you a contingent fund, which seems to have been adequate for the
meager necessities of the past, but I believe that up to this
hour the exact part your board is playing in connection with
making this exposition a success, is far too indefinite to be
satisfactory to you, and it is certainly not satisfactory to the
Commission. Our Commission will adjourn to meet on the 10th of
January, and we hope by that time to be in receipt of some
communication from the Exposition Company announcing their
disposition of the report I have referred to, and the scope of
the work of the board of lady managers. Notwithstanding that
will be at a very late date, it is well to have it in sight.
The ladies of your board have been engaged without much credit
being given to the board or to the ladies themselves, in the
work of exploitation. A number of the ladies have done most
efficient work in their respective States--and some, in the
adjoining States--calling the attention of the people at large,
and in some instances the legislative sessions, to the vastness,
scope, and policy of the exposition. It is unfortunate that your
board does not receive the credit which this line of meritorious
effort deserves. In the end, I doubt not, that in the final
reports you will be accorded full measure of credit for what you
have done individually and collectively. The past has been
devoid of results because of a lack of understanding to start
with. I think you are now beginning an era more promising than
any outlook you have had in the past. I congratulate you upon
having reached a condition of harmony within your own
organization, which speaks well for the future. The earnestness
of this board, the disinterestedness of its members, leading
them in the first instance to volunteer their services to this
great enterprise, has been an example to the whole country of
national devotion, which has been of great advantage to the
exposition management; your gratuitous and earnest effort has
been a means of making the exposition favorably known throughout
this country, at least. Your expenses have been very light--I
believe, up to this time, less than $20,000, in the neighborhood
of $20,000--which, considering the long distances traveled, and
the number of meetings, is a trifling sum in comparison with
what has been spent by similar boards of former expositions.
As you are aware, the act of Congress, under which both the
Commission and your board find warrant for existence, granted to
the local company an appropriation of $5,000,000 for the
purposes of giving this exposition. We have probably in moments
of inconsiderate feeling been too prone to find fault--I speak
of the Commission, not of the ladies--prone to find fault with
the people here who have been doing the best they could. There
has been a disposition to assume the control, to the exclusion
of outside agencies; and this is but natural because it is
inseparable--or is in evidence with reference to all official
places in our Government--in fact, it has been noticed that a
man, who is ordinarily indolent, when placed in power will
become very energetic in this respect.
The Exposition Company has assumed a full measure of the
responsibilities--and possibly some of our responsibilities as
well--for which we have not been duly grateful. Nevertheless, we
are not inclined to blame these people, because they have
contributed very largely and generously of local means to aid
this enterprise, which leads them to the desire to supervise
each and every detail in connection with this work. This desire
to assume full responsibility is possibly responsible for the
failure to assign to the ladies any particular work, and is also
responsible for the curtailing of the jurisdiction of the
National Commission. As the work progresses, however, I think
that the company realizes the necessity of drawing upon all the
forces available to make the exposition a success.
This Commission had a long and pleasant interview with the
president of the exposition, at which time he brought out a
desire for cooperation and assistance that had not yet been
manifested. I believe now, as your body is organized, from the
harmonious work accomplished at these meetings, and its cordial
relations with the Exposition Company, and certainly with the
Commission, the future promises more than has been accorded to
similar organizations in the past. * * * We thank you, ladies,
for the privilege of being before you, and cheerfully extend our
salutations on the election of your president and upon the good
will and spirit of harmony which prevails among you.
Mr. Lindsay then spoke as follows:
The board of lady managers exists by operation of law, the same
that called the National Commission into existence. It was the
duty of the National Commission to create it. It was the duty of
the National Commission and of the local board to prescribe the
powers and duties of the board of lady managers. Of course,
these duties could not be accurately and technically laid out;
we could only confer the power, and that would suggest what
duties--what power within that general grant they should
exercise. It is not the duty of the board of lady managers to be
supervised by or to be subject to the local board. I was struck
when I read the report made by Mrs. Montgomery of her interview
with the local board, not by the gracious manner in which she
was received and the graceful questions that were asked, but by
the absolute failure in any particular to give definite reply or
take any action upon any of the recommendations made by that
committee.
What I think this board ought to do is to outline or prescribe
the actual things it intends to do, report that to the National
Commission and the local board, and then go ahead, not waiting
to know whether this or that is within its powers or whether or
not this is expedient and whether it can be carried out. Let
some one take the responsibility of saying you can not do this
or can not do that. As long as you deal in generalities with the
National Commission, or agree to everything that is brought up
by the local company, this board of lady managers will never
become an active part or parcel of this great exposition.
I do not agree with my friend, Senator Carter, on another thing,
and that is that these people are entitled to any consideration
on account of the money they have expended. They came to
Congress and asked Congress for authority to do this very thing;
they did not come to Congress for any benefit that they expected
to result to the country, but on account of their own local
interests and to glorify the Louisiana Purchase and the people
of the Louisiana Purchase, and, upon agreeing that they would do
these things, privilege was granted by Congress, and the
appropriation made. That appropriation is not part of their
fund--that is the fund of the United States which is being
distributed in the city of St. Louis, preeminently for the city
and generally for the United States. And was not this board of
lady managers created by the very act of Congress, and have you
not some rights in this matter, to the end that you may
accomplish the work that has been assigned to you?
I say the time has come when we have got to talk plainly and
make some one responsible for your action or nonaction. If
either board considers that you are going beyond your powers
they will have the right to make restrictions, but as long as
you keep within these powers and what you think you ought to do,
I doubt if your work will be restricted in any way.
It is now only four months before the exposition opens, and if
there is ever going to be anything accomplished by this board it
is none too early to begin. For instance, the act of Congress
provides that this board name a judge on all the juries that are
to pass upon the results of female labor; we agreed to it and
the local board agreed to it. Now, then, have you any notice of
on which juries you are to be allowed to name a juror? Have any
steps been taken to indicate on which of these committees you
are to make appointments? The time has come for this work and if
you are to have any authority, or if you are to do any of this
work, it will not be of credit to this board unless you are able
to make the proper preparations for these appointments. But if
you have three months to look around, you will be able to find
the proper persons and make these appointments intelligently. I
hope before the next meeting of the National Commission you will
have agreed specifically upon what you can do, what you desire
to do, and what you are ready to do, so that the scope of action
and authority of this board can be conferred upon it and
insisting that the local board here either approve or disapprove
of your action.
I appreciate all the troubles and difficulties these people have
had, and it is my earnest hope that they will be able to give
the members of this board a decided answer within the next
month. * * *
In reply to a statement made by a member of the board that in an
interview with the executive committee of the Exposition Company, Mr.
Skiff, the director of exhibits, had said he could not give a list of
exhibitors (or exhibits) until near the time of the opening of the
exposition, because he did not know what would be entered, and the lists
would not be completed until about that time. Mr. Lindsay further said:
It was my opinion that when the lists of classification were
completed, there was nothing else to be inquired into; in that
list, everything which includes the result of female labor,
constitutes the class on which you are to appoint a juror. The
general classification forms a list that would be used for this
purpose.
But referring to another matter, I think that there should have
been provided by act of Congress a fund set apart for the
ladies, to be used by them. Because, as long as you are
compelled to go to the Commission, or to go to the local board
to ascertain what you can spend or what you can not spend, just
so long you will not be able to do anything effectually. I know
that the local board is going to object to all this, but when
the local board finds that by consenting to your reasonable
wishes it is enhancing the interests of the exposition, it will
agree to a proper appropriation and other proper demands made by
your board which relieve that board of any further duties on the
subject. I believe that I have said all I care to say. But,
referring to the rules: That board and the Commission can advise
you not to enforce certain rules, when the enforcement of them
would lead you into difficulties, but just as long as the rules
you make for yourselves are within the scope of authority and
duties granted us and prescribed to you, you can take directions
from the board or from the Commission if you choose to, but you
do not need to do this unless you choose to.
In response to the request of Mrs. Manning that Senator Thurston say a
few words, he responded:
Perhaps everybody has been a little delinquent in getting this
board organized and in position where it can take up some proper
work that will be of benefit and be agreeable to the ladies. I
think, perhaps, without going into past history, that the board
of lady managers perhaps has failed to do what it might have
done in the way of formulating a plan for its own participation
in the exposition and that was growing out of circumstances
which no longer exist. I believe now this board is organized
with a president who is heart and soul for the success of the
exposition. Without being tied up to anything in the way of
local interests, it will be better able to compete with the
coming situation. There is, and has been a great deal of
hesitancy on the part of the National Commission about
attempting to outline a plan of action for this board of lady
managers. We provided for your appointment according to law, and
we fell into the belief, I hope it was not an error, that the
ladies on this board would know a great deal better what they
wanted to do, what they ought to do, and what would be best for
them to do than this board of men, who had never had anything to
do with these ladies' departments except to participate in the
enjoyment of them when so fortunate as to be present.
Now, you have prepared and outlined and accepted your rules and
regulations which were approved by our Commission along in June,
I think. They were prepared in April--those rules and
regulations were more than regulations for the procedure of your
board, as I recollect them, they very largely outlined the field
of work for the board of lady managers. They were adopted and
modified a little by the National Commission and sent to the
local company. They were prepared in April, promptly sent to the
local company because we thought without their action they could
not go into effect and there they have been ever since. To a
limited extent it was never necessary to send them there, so far
as the organization and management of the board of lady managers
is concerned--but, when you step over that or attempt to outline
the scope of your work, and your participation in the affairs of
the exposition, that part must go to the National Commission and
be approved.
Suppose, for instance, these ladies decided they would like to
participate in one of the National Congresses, that they would
take charge of a certain Congress out at the exposition, I do
not think any of them could do that without the sanction of the
local company.
I am very positive in my views that when it comes to providing
for the legislation of this board for its participation in the
fair, it can not be done without the National Commission, and
especially without the permission of the company. I do not think
that they can decide to take up certain lines of work and go out
there to do it without having some agreement on the subject.
At the meeting of the board on the day following, December 17, 1903,
Mrs. Hanger tendered her resignation from the office of the secretary of
the board of lady managers, and Miss Lavinia II. Eagan was unanimously
elected to fill the vacancy. Upon this occasion Mrs. Coleman presented
the following motion:
That the resignation of Mrs. Hanger from the office of secretary
of this board be accepted with regret, and that Mrs. Hanger be
extended a hearty vote of thanks for her faithful, painstaking,
and efficient work for the board as such official.
One of the most brilliant courtesies tendered the board of lady managers
was the reception given in its honor by the Woman's Club, at the club
house, on December 17.
Up to this time the plans outlined by the members of the Commission,
such as sending representatives abroad to interest the women of foreign
countries in the exposition, and other "suggestions" made by the board,
designated by the president of the Commission as legitimate exposition
work, had been rejected by the company. The members of the board of lady
managers, therefore, were now of the unanimous opinion that they would
be most seriously embarrassed and their services rendered ineffective
and inoperative unless an appropriation could be secured from Congress
to defray the cost of meetings and other necessary expenses. If they
failed to secure funds of their own, their power and influence in
connection with the exposition would continue to be limited and
indefinite.
Pursuant to the recommendations of the National Commission, therefore,
as expressed at their meeting December 16, 1903, a new legislative
committee was appointed on December 18, to take the place of the one
created under the resolution of May 2, 1903, with instructions to the
members to proceed immediately to Washington, which they did on January
5, 1904. The history and successful result of their work is given by the
chairman of that committee in her final report.
At the meeting of the board of lady managers, held at its rooms in the
Administration Building, March 1, 1904, before the regular order of
business was taken up, Mrs. Andrews asked for and obtained unanimous
consent to speak to the members of the board, and said:
In view of what has transpired at Washington since our last
meeting, the extent of which only members of our legislative
committee realize--for almost to a man the lower House was
opposed to the appropriation, and it was only by arduous,
strenuous, and noble work of our president and the members of
that committee that the results were attained--I offer the
following resolution:
_Resolved_, That the thanks of the board are due, and are hereby
tendered, to the members of the legislative committee for
securing an appropriation to defray our necessary expenses and
thereby achieving the honorable emancipation of the board.
_Resolved_, That the board extend a vote of thanks to itself for
the wisdom manifested in the selection of Mrs. Daniel Manning as
its president, who has so fully enlisted the best efforts of all
the members of the board and who has begun her work by showing
that deeds rather than words are of special value.
The resolution was adopted by unanimous rising vote.
On the following day President Francis addressed the board as follows:
I am very glad to have this opportunity to talk to you. I desire
to congratulate you upon your getting the appropriation from
Congress for $100,000. I was very willing, indeed, as all the
members of the executive committee were, to do what we could
toward securing the money. After your worthy president waited
upon the executive committee and was informed of our plan to ask
a loan of $4,500,000 from the Treasury, she in turn informed us
that the board of lady managers had decided to ask for $100,000
for their own use, we very readily came to an agreement to the
effect that we would join forces and see what we could
accomplish with Congress. As you are aware, it is a very
difficult matter to get money out of Congress at best, and when
the Government had already spent about $1,250,000 for its own
exhibit, and when we had promised that we would not apply to
Congress or appeal for any additional aid, the circumstances
under which we made that deal or presented that bill were
especially trying, and I think we all deserve to be
congratulated upon the outcome.
When I went to Washington I found your president at the Capitol
with Mrs. Montgomery. They had all worked assiduously and had
made considerable headway in the Senate--in which body it was
our plan to introduce the bill in the shape of an amendment to
the urgent deficiency bill.
While the matter was pending in the Senate the question of this
$100,000 was brought up. We very promptly assured the ladies
that this amount would be added to our bill asking for a loan of
$4,500,000. We preferred, of course, that we should not be
expected to repay it. However, the bill was presented and passed
and this $100,000 is to be paid over to the board of lady
managers upon their order, and for such purposes as they may
elect. The bill does not provide definitely out of which of our
payments this $100,000 should come. The bill provided that we
should get the money in four installments of $1,000,000 each,
and a final installment of $600,000 not being payable until May.
The bill does not provide out of which payment your $100,000
shall be paid, but I wish to say, on behalf of the Exposition
Company, we are willing and ready to pay that whenever you
ladies request that it shall be paid. We do not know what plans,
if any, you have made or in what manner you are planning for the
disbursement of that money. * * *
Now, with regard to your money, I am not going to give you any
gratuitous advice, but only wish to assure you that it is the
intention of the company--that the company is ready to give that
money to you in any form you may desire it. It will be given to
you in any installments you may designate or it will be set
aside in its entirety to be used for no other purpose than to
honor requisitions of the board of lady managers.
In other words, it is possible for us to do this, and we will do
it to your satisfaction, and we will draw up a letter of
instruction and set aside as a special credit in the Treasury
the sum of $100,000 in accordance with our bill of Congress,
approved blank date. The auditor will draw his warrants without
the approval of the treasurer of this company, but merely upon
the requisition of the board of lady managers. The $100,000
would be set aside in the treasury of the company and you would
have a written instrument and the treasurer would have orders to
honor checks made upon that $100,000 in satisfaction of
requisitions approved by the board of lady managers.
Of course, as I said before, if you wish to take that money out
and put it in some depository in St. Louis or elsewhere it is at
your disposal. You could get a check for a portion of the money
or all of it if you wish. Our only obligation in connection with
that $100,000 now is to repay it, as we have no intention or
desire to avoid that part of it.
Now, if you should take the money out and put it in some
depository in St. Louis or elsewhere to your credit you would be
put to the expense of organizing an auditing system, the same as
we have been.
I am willing, speaking on behalf of the company, to give you the
benefit of the auditing system without your incurring any
additional expense, and, if you wish, in order to make you
doubly secure, I will get a letter from the treasurer stating
that he has, in accordance with the instructions of the
president, set aside $100,000 for the use of the board of lady
managers, and that the $100,000 can only be drawn by checks
signed by your treasurer and countersigned by your president.
I only say this as a suggestion, because we all have become
interested, but if you choose to ask us for $25,000 of the
money, or for all of it, we will give it you.
Now, with regard to other expenses you may incur or have
incurred--I find in my report made to me to-day, which was made
at your request--we have paid you up to this time for mileage
and per diem in attending board meetings $16,856. That includes
the $3,000 for which no vouchers have been turned in as yet. You
can keep that, with or without vouchers as you please. If you
want your business in the proper shape, however, it is more
businesslike for you to turn in the vouchers. However, that lies
with you.
Now, previous to the appropriation of the $100,000 the executive
committee had appropriated $15,000 for the furnishing of the
Woman's Building, which building, as you know, cost us $100,000.
Of course, you could have gotten a building erected that would
have answered your purpose as well and cost less than $100,000,
but under the terms of our contract with the Washington
University that amount was paid out of the rental fund of
$750,000 which we paid for these buildings as they stand.
Besides that $100,000, we promised to give you $15,000 for the
furnishing of that building. When we made that promise we did
not know you were going to get $100,000 from Congress which we
would have to pay back. * * *
Now, in view of what I have said, we feel that we will give you
the $15,000 for your building if you insist upon it; that is, we
have made the appropriation of $35,000 for the creche. The
$15,000 toward the equipment of the Woman's Building, under the
circumstances--it seems to me, we should be relieved of that
$15,000. I thought when I returned from Washington that the
financial worry had been met, but I have realized within the
past forty-eight hours that we can not open the exposition
within the nineteen and one-half millions. We will not go back
to Washington, however. We are economizing in every possible
way. * * *
An official communication was received by the president of the board of
lady managers stating that in the draft of the contract between the
Exposition Company and the Treasury Department--
It is provided that from the first payment of $1,000,000 there
shall be set aside by the Exposition Company $100,000 to be paid
to the board of lady managers according to the provisions of the
act and for no other purpose whatsoever.
The attention of the Exposition Company was called to this provision,
and on March 5, 1904, the two following letters were received:
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
_Office of the Secretary, March 5, 1904._
MADAM PRESIDENT: I am directed by President Francis to inform
you that the executive committee has approved the requisition of
the board of lady managers for $100,000, made available to said
board from the Government loan by special act of Congress, as
set forth in the resolution adopted by the board March 3, 1904.
Acting in accordance with the instructions of the executive
committee, the president has this day deposited, out of the
Government loan, the sum of $100,000 with the treasurer, Mr.
William H. Thompson, said sum to be drawn out by the board of
lady managers in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the
board; that is to say, to be "subject to draft of the treasurer
of said board, countersigned by the president of the board."
Very respectfully,
WALTER B. STEVENS,
_Secretary._
The PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF LADY MANAGERS,
_Administration Building._
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
_Office of the Secretary, March 5, 1904._
MADAM PRESIDENT: I have this day received by deposit from the
Government loan the sum of $100,000, made available to the board
of lady managers by special act of Congress. This sum will be
held by me subject to draft of the treasurer of the board of
lady managers, countersigned by the president of the board of
lady managers.
Very respectfully,
W.H. THOMPSON,
_Treasurer._
To Mrs. DANIEL MANNING,
_President Board of Lady Managers._
The following is the provision made in the urgent deficiency bill, which
was passed on February 18, 1904, which secured to the board of lady
managers a sum sufficient to enable them to meet any obligations which
they might assume in the conduct of their participation in the affairs
of the exposition:
_Provided_, That of said sums $100,000 shall be paid by said
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company to, or on the order of,
the board of lady managers of said exposition for such purposes
as said board of lady managers shall approve, and at such times
as said board of lady managers shall request the same.
FINAL REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
Immediately after the election of Mrs. Daniel Manning to the
presidency of the board of lady managers, on December 16, 1903,
a new legislative committee was appointed to succeed the one
that had been created by Mrs. James L. Blair, the former
president. The committee was composed of Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs.
Coleman, and Mrs. Buchwalter, chairman, and instructed to
endeavor to procure from Congress an appropriation of $100,000
for the use of the board, in order that it might be enabled to
perform in a proper manner the purposes for which it had been
brought into existence.
It had become evident that the Exposition Company would require
a much larger amount of money than was then at its command in
order to inaugurate and successfully continue the World's Fair.
The men who had engineered the magnificent undertaking to this
point in its development reasoned that, as they had already
expended a sum far beyond that ever given any other similar
project, they might not find a ready response to a request for
further gifts. They were so confident of ultimate success,
however, that they did not hesitate to ask Congress for a loan
of $4,500,000 in order to conduct the affairs of the exposition.
The legislative committee of the board of lady managers appealed
to the Exposition Company and asked that the company add to the
amount of the loan for which it desired to negotiate the further
sum of $100,000, to be set apart for the exclusive use of the
board of lady managers. Receiving the promise that this fund
should be included, the members of the legislative committee
went to Washington to aid in every way in their power the
passage of the bill providing for said loan.
Upon the arrival of the committee in Washington, on January 5,
the members found they had undertaken what eventually proved to
be a most arduous task against great odds. They found the most
deep-seated, persistent opposition to granting another dollar to
the fair, and were told President Francis had been advised to
defer his trip to Washington until the latter part of January,
as it would be hazardous to attempt the passage of the bill
until the strong feeling against it then existing had abated.
Many members of Congress strongly advised the legislative
committee to ask for a special appropriation, but it had been
agreed that one appropriation should cover the requirements of
both boards.
Mr. James S. Tawney, of Minnesota, a member of the House of
Representatives, and chairman of the committee for this and
similar appropriations, when in St. Louis had listened with
interest to the representation of the subject setting forth the
needs of the board of lady managers, and kindly had promised his
good offices in helping to advance their cause. He promptly
granted an interview when informed that the committee had
arrived in Washington, and, while most courteous, did not
disguise the fact that there were grave dangers ahead for the
loan to the Exposition Company, which had been made a part of
the urgent deficiency bill. He examined the budget which had
been prepared, giving careful scrutiny to each item, and, after
some suggestions and minor changes, a budget was submitted to
him which was afterwards used.
On January 29 President Francis went before the Senate
committee, and on February 1 appeared before the House
committee, on behalf of a loan for the Exposition Company.
During the long interim preceding the arrival of President
Francis and those aiding him, those of the committee who had
remained in the capital were untiring in their efforts to make
friends for the bill, and as their cause was heartily indorsed
by their respective Senators and many members of their State
delegations, they became most hopeful of ultimate success.
The unceasing energy of the members of the legislative committee
was admirably aided by the president of this board, who had been
untiring in her efforts to make friends for the bill, and had
used these efforts in a masterly manner. Her large acquaintance
among, and knowledge of, men of affairs in Washington, and her
clear statements as to the way in which this board had been
created, and her convincing argument that the work of the board
must of necessity be most inadequate and inefficient by reason
of lack of funds, gained many advocates for the bill, and to her
is due the credit for the success of the work which the
committee was appointed to do. She was always at work,
unresting, unhasting, and, although weary and worn with the
interminable delay, neither she nor any member of the committee
left any honorable means untried in order to secure what was so
vitally necessary to the very existence of this board during the
exposition.
As the result of the combined efforts some who had affected
indifference became interested, and some who had previously
stoutly declared unalterable opposition finally yielded, not
only working and voting themselves in favor of the bill, but
persuading others to do so. It was naturally a source of great
satisfaction to the members of the legislative committee that
the strongest and most influential men of both Houses gave
recognition to the urgent claims which the board of lady
managers had upon Congress. It was these men who insisted upon
the incorporation of the specific clause providing for their
$100,000 as an amendment in the loan bill. This was eventually
done, and the amendment remained there until the passage of the
bill, thus becoming a part of the law governing the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition.
A brief description of the manner in which the loan bill was
brought before Congress may be of interest.
There is, in every session, what is called an urgency deficiency
bill, the object of which is to take care of the different
Interests which are likely to fail through inadequate
appropriation. The opposition to including the item of the loan
for the Exposition Company was found to be so powerful that it
could not be inserted in the bill when it was sent to the House.
This urgent deficiency bill passed the House and went to the
Senate. There the loan amendment was inserted, and finally our
amendment was added also. It passed the Senate and was then
returned to the House in order that that body might pass upon
the amendments which the Senate had added. In the meetings
before the two appropriation committees, as well as in the
discussion in the two Houses, the arguments for and against were
very forcibly expressed. One reason advanced as to why the loan
should be made was because other governments had been invited to
participate, and the company should be enabled to open its gates
in a manner befitting a national host. Among the main objections
set forth at length were: First, the alleged unconstitutionality
of the whole proceeding; second, the inadequacy of the security.
All those speaking against the measure affected a total
disbelief that the receipts would be sufficient to enable the
company to return the money advanced, and, of course, a spasm of
economy nearly rent these statesmen in twain.
The exposition management was not spared. More than one speaker
waxed eloquent over what he declared was wanton waste of the
greatest amount of money ever intrusted to an exposition
management, which wanton waste had made the Exposition Company
bankrupt and again at the doors of the Treasury begging for
funds. Those working against the bill triumphantly quoted the
following clause, which is section 24 of the original bill, and
which authorized the creation of the exposition. It reads:
"That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to create any
liability of the United States, direct or indirect, for any debt
or obligation incurred, nor for any claim for aid or pecuniary
assistance from Congress or the United States in support or
liquidation of the debts or obligations created by said
Commission."
After postponement and delays, the bill of the 11th of February
passed the House 172 to 115--57 majority. On the 15th it went
back to the Senate and was promptly passed.
The whole amount appropriated for the use of the board of lady
managers was placed in their custody by the Secretary of the
Treasury, and its expenditure has been most carefully guarded.
With this money at its command, it has always stood ready to
assist the Exposition Company in every way possible, and the
report of the treasurer will show that the disbursements have
been made in a manner befitting the greatest of all world's
fairs.
Respectfully submitted.
C.B. BUCHWALTER.
MARY PHELPS MONTGOMERY.
SALLIE D. COLEMAN.
All of the members of the board of lady managers were inspired at an
early period of their official existence with a desire to accomplish
something that would be of lasting benefit to the interests of women,
and one of the first committees to be appointed by the president was on
woman's work, which seemed to offer great scope for the development of
earnest efforts and good judgment. They realized that upon their
activity would greatly depend the extent to which women in this country
and of the world at large would participate, directly or indirectly, in
making this exposition the most beneficent for women that had been, or
could be, attained in any age or ages.
Specific action was restricted, however, by the Exposition Company, and
the committee on woman's work was not enabled to give an international
character to its work. While the life of its organization was in no way
affected, the board was not allowed to expend any money except under the
authority of the Exposition Company, and although the members believed
that whatever action they might take in regard to sending a
representative of the board abroad was legitimate exposition work and
would be promptly ratified by the National Commission and local company,
their request was denied by the executive committee of the company, and
they were not permitted to extend their work on the broad lines for
which they had hoped.
An effort was made by two members of the committee on woman's work, in
conference with the heads of the departments in Washington, to secure
information as to the details of the work performed by women in the
various Government departments, and their salaries. This matter was
brought before the board at its session held February 18, 1903, and it
was believed by the members that if such a statement could be obtained
it would be helpful in the development and organization of woman's work
in connection with the board. As all arrangements had previously been
planned in Washington to have the work done if desired by the board, the
secretary was instructed to write to Hon. John R. Procter, president
United States Civil Service Commission, and ask for statistics. In order
to procure the data from all the departments, it was necessary to have
an Executive order from the President. Mr. Procter made this request,
and the President graciously issued the following:
Executive Order.
The HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS:
The board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
desires a statement prepared, showing the work performed by
women in the departments, together with their official
designations, salaries, etc. It is requested that so far as it
will not inconvenience public work, such information may be
supplied.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
WHITE HOUSE, _March 21, 1903._
It may be said that the occupations in which women are now engaged in
the Departments, where their duties range from those involving mere
manual labor to skilled professional service, represent many of the
lines in which women are now so active everywhere. The salaries vary
from $240 to $1,800 per annum.
It is believed that the citation of a few examples of the high positions
of importance and responsibility now held by women, compiled for the
information of the board of lady managers, may be a source of
encouragement to others by showing what natural ability, backed with
determination and industry, may accomplish. The following memoranda has
been taken at random from but four of the Departments:
_Department of State_.--Miss ---- went into the service in 1893,
and was detailed to assist the Secretary of State, who was
engaged in negotiating reciprocity treaties. She served in the
capacity of confidential clerk to four Secretaries and one
Assistant Secretary of State. Served as stenographer and
typewriter in the Consular Bureau of the Department of State,
and was later confidential stenographer to the Third Assistant
Secretary of State, and assisted in the preparation of the
correspondence with the Alaska boundary question.
Another was appointed as a temporary clerk for the purpose of
introducing the book typewriter for recording the correspondence
of the Department which formerly had been done by hand. After
installing the book typewriter and bringing the Diplomatic Notes
and Instructions up to date, she was detailed as stenographer
and typewriter to the Chief Clerk of the Department. Her duties
in the office of the Chief Clerk required her to be familiar
with the work of the bureaus of the Department and the many
intricate questions constantly presented to the Chief Clerk's
office. She was required to have expert knowledge of the cipher
used in the Department, and a considerable part of her time was
employed in enciphering and deciphering telegrams sent from and
received by the Department.
One young woman was detailed for three months to serve as
stenographer and typewriter to the American Commission at The
Hague in the arbitration between the United States and Mexico,
where she assisted in taking stenographic report of the sessions
before the arbitral court.
Miss ----, appointed under the civil service rules, was in the
Bureau of Foreign Commerce, where her duties required her to
prepare the consular reports for publication, translate extracts
from foreign commercial newspapers, etc.
A clerk was appointed in the recorder of deeds' office, but
resigned to accept an appointment in the Department of State.
Her work at first was in the Diplomatic Bureau, where she was
engaged in preparing papers for signature, translating French,
Italian, and Spanish; engrossing treaties, proclamations,
drafting maps, pen and ink sketches, etc. Later she was detailed
to the Bureau of Indexes and Archives, where she was employed in
recording the Diplomatic Notes and Instructions of the
Department on the book typewriter.
_Department of the Interior_.--Mrs. ---- held a law desk in the
General Land Office and decided many of the difficult problems
connected with the deeds and patents of land on the frontier.
Was first appointed in the Government Printing Office at $48 per
month, and later appointed in the Pension Office at an increased
salary, where her duties were copying pension certificates and
notifying pensioners of the allowance of their pensions. Upon
her second promotion, the work and pay being unsatisfactory to
her, she was, at her own request, transferred to the railroad
division of the General Land Office. Her duties were to copy
railroad decisions, and the work being merely routine clerical
work, she took up typewriting, hoping to advance herself
thereby. This caused her to be transferred to the contest
division, and later she was assigned to a desk requiring
original work, and her duties were to promulgate decisions of
the Department. From this time on the grade of her work was
raised until she was promoted to $1,400, by which time she had
become familiar with the entire work of the division. She soon
found that a knowledge of the law of Congress disposing of the
public domain and familiarity with the rules of practice and
decisions of the General Land Office and of the Department alone
were not sufficient to enable her to perform her work in a
manner satisfactory to herself, however satisfactory to the
Department, and she therefore took up a regular four years' law
course and graduated with credit to herself and her college.
How satisfactorily she does her work is shown by the fact that
out of sixty appeals from her decisions rendered during a period
of six months, decisions involving thousands of dollars, only
one was reversed and one modified, and this because of new
matter being filed after the decisions were rendered by her.
Mrs. ---- also enjoys the distinction of holding a law desk in
the General Land Office, having been transferred to it from the
Census Office, where she had been dealing with mathematical
problems. It was found that a $1,600 clerk was back in his work
with 300 cases which it was necessary to have adjudicated. The
bringing this work up to date was assigned to her. Prior to this
she had written a few decisions. She was at first appalled at
the decree, but went bravely to work with a determination to
succeed. How well she succeeded can be ascertained by the
records of the office. Later she was transferred at her own
request from the public land division to the contest or law
division. Her experience gained in the Land Office taught her
how to adjudicate contest cases, and she was often required to
bring up work of the principal law examiners when in arrears.
Miss ---- was assigned to duty on Board of Pension Appeals to
typewrite decisions for signature of the Assistant Secretary and
act as his stenographer. Afterwards transferred to patents and
miscellaneous division of the Secretary's Office. Duties:
Stenographer and typewriting; indexing; in charge of issuing
authorities for open market purchases to the Geological Survey
and to Howard University, and issuance of permits for admission
to the Government Hospital for the Insane, and to Freedmen's
Hospital and Asylum; assistant in abstracting various reports to
be embodied in the Secretary's annual report to the President. A
knowledge of law was of considerable assistance in the work of
the division, and after entering the Government service she took
a three years' course in the Washington College of Law and was
admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the District of
Columbia.
_Library of Congress._--The Library of Congress employs 135
women in a force of 302 persons. The salaries range $1,500 to
$360 a year, and they are employed in almost all the divisions.
None of them, however, rate as laborers.
At $1,500 there is one woman at work in the catalogue division
as an expert reviser of printed catalogue cards and proof
reader. At $1,400 three women serve as assistant readers of
catalogue cards and proof readers in the catalogue division, and
another is the chief reviser in the record division of the
Copyright Office.
At $1,200 there are 11 women employees. Of these, 5 are in the
Copyright Office as translators, indexers, and cataloguers; 5
are in the catalogue division as cataloguers of the first class,
and one is in charge of the reading room for the blind.
_Post-Office Department._--One clerk of class 3, salary $1,600,
prepares correspondence for the signature of the
Postmaster-General and the Chief Clerk reads and refers the
Congressional and Departmental mail addressed to the
Postmaster-General; assists in the compilation of the estimates
of appropriations for the Department and postal service; also
assists in the compilation of the Postal Guides; in charge of
the distribution of the Postal Laws and Regulations and of the
Postal Guide throughout the postal service; stenographer and
typewriter.
One clerk of class 2, salary $1,400, to whom is assigned the
duty of preparing the three lists of post-offices published each
year in the Official Postal Guide, and lists of changes in
post-offices published each month in the supplemental postal
guide.
One clerk, assigned to the claims division. Duties: Preparation
of correspondence connected with claims of postmasters for
reimbursement for losses occasioned by burglary, fire, or other
unavoidable casualty, and for losses of money-order and postal
funds in transit to depositaries.
Office of the topographer: One woman skilled as draftsman, at
$1,400, prepares the guides for the colors printed on the
post-route maps, and has supervision of the map sheets
transmitted from and to the photolithographer. Three other women
draftsmen note the reported changes in the postal service of a
group of States, revise and post-route map sheets of those
States, and correct monthly the corresponding diagram maps for
the use of officers and clerks of the Post-Office Department.
Office Second Assistant Postmaster-General: One clerk, salary
$1,600, on work relating to ocean mail contract service;
occasional translating, indexing, and briefing. One clerk,
salary $1,400, on work relating to domestic statistics in
connection with the international service; stating accounts of
steamship companies for the sea conveyance of mails; occasional
translating, and assisting in general correspondence. One clerk,
salary $1,400, "corresponding clerk," whose duties consist in
the examination of applications for establishment of star and
steamboat service; changes therein; preparation of cases to be
submitted for decision; preparation of orders and correspondence
for official signature.
In most of the examinations which women pass in order to be appointed in
the departments technical skill is required, as shown by the following
list of subjects:
Artist, assistant microscopist, clerk stenographer and typewriter,
computer in Coast and Geodetic Survey, counter, Government paper mill,
industrial teacher, trained nurse, register and receiver's clerk,
compositor, public document cataloguer, assistant ethnological
librarian, scientific assistant, book typewriter, kindergarten teacher,
scientific aid, zoological clerk, Internal-Revenue Service, Philippine
Service, topographic draftsman, assistant to bookbinder, music teacher.
The following is a compilation and table of comparison showing the
number of men and women employed in the various departments at
Washington, D.C. The figures are based upon the Official Register of
the United States, July 1, 1901, volume 1. Since that date there has
been a great many hundreds of new appointees of both sexes in all the
respective departments and bureaus below enumerated, and the accurate
figures down to the present time will show an increase accordingly:
-----------------------------------+--------+--------+
| Men. | Women. |
-----------------------------------+--------+--------+
Executive Office (the President's) | 28 | |
Department of State | 92 | 17 |
Treasury Department | 3,234 | 2,313 |
War Department | 2,411 | 300 |
Navy Department | 2,292 | 85 |
Post-Office Department | 812 | 237 |
Department of Interior | 4,810 | 2,862 |
Department of Justice | 191 | 21 |
Department of Agriculture | 650 | 382 |
Government Printing Office | 2,623 | 1,068 |
Department of Labor | 74 | 10 |
United States Commission of Fish | | |
and Fisheries | 55 | 12 |
Interstate Commerce Commission | 133 | |
Civil Service Commission | 55 | 6 |
Industrial Commission | 10 | 7 |
Smithsonian Institution | 320 | 39 |
Bureau of American Republics | 13 | 9 |
-----------------------------------+--------+--------+
The first woman employed in the Government service was appointed by
General Spinner, of the Treasury Department, about 1864.
On July 1, 1901, the clerical force in the Executive Departments in
Washington was approximately a force of 27,605 employees of both sexes.
Out of this number there were 7,496 females. The time, at this ratio of
increase of the respective sexes, when the gentler sex is to overcome
and pass the men, is merely a matter of arithmetic to those who wish to
ascertain this interesting data. The above table shows that the women
have between one-fourth and one-third of the appointments in Washington,
D.C.
Mrs. Mary Phelps Montgomery, the chairman of the committee on woman's
work, read her first report of the work of that committee at the meeting
of the board held Tuesday, April 28, 1903, and a copy was transmitted to
the National Commission. At the session held on December 17, 18, and 19,
1903, the following letter was received and read by the secretary:
ST. LOUIS, U.S.A., _December 16, 1903_.
DEAR MRS. HANGER: Replying to your esteemed favor of the 14th
instant, transmitting a copy of report of committee on woman's
work, which was adopted by your board at a meeting held in
April, 1903, you are advised that on motion the same was
approved to the extent that the report prescribes the scope of
your proposed field of activity.
The Commission, at its session on the 15th instant, adopted the
following resolution:
"Moved and seconded that in so far as the report of committee on
woman's work prescribes the line of work for the board of lady
managers, the same stands approved by the Commission.
"Motion prevailed."
Agreeable to your request, the report has been forwarded to the
Exposition Company for its action, with a copy of the resolution
passed by the Commission.
Very respectfully, THOMAS H. CARTER,
_President_.
MRS. FREDERICK M. HANGER,
_Secretary of the Board of Lady Managers,
Administration Building, City_.
Extracts from this report are embodied in the final report of the
committee on woman's work, which is as follows:
September 30, 1902, the women appointed by the National
Commission as lady managers for the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition were called by the National Commission to meet in St.
Louis and effect an organization of the board of lady managers.
At this meeting the board of lady managers was organized and
Mrs. James L. Blair elected president.
The first permanent committee appointed by the new president was
a committee on woman's work. The ladies appointed on this
committee were: Miss Anna L. Dawes, Miss Helen Gould, Mrs.
Marcus Daly, Mrs. M.K. de Young, and Mrs. Mary Phelps
Montgomery, chairman. Two members of this committee were not
present at the meeting. The president of the board impressed
upon the chairman of the committee that a large share of the
board's work must of necessity be performed by the committee on
woman's work. The chairman of the committee asked the president
of the National Commission for special instructions in regard to
the plan and scope of the work of the board of lady managers.
The president of the National Commission replied that the board
of lady managers must outline their own policy and perform their
own work to their best judgment. There was no work performed by
the committee on woman's work at this meeting.