THE SECOND VISIT TO CALIFORNIA.
1895.
It has been said in another chapter that Miss Anthony established
herself firmly and forever in the hearts of the people at the Columbian
Exposition of 1893. Men and women were there from every State in the
Union, many of whom never had seen or heard her and had been deeply
prejudiced against her, but she conquered all and they returned home
henceforth to sing her praises. Naturally they wanted their friends and
neighbors to be converted like themselves, and invitations to lecture
came from all quarters. One of the most urgent was from the Woman's
Congress Auxiliary of the great California Midwinter Exposition, which
followed the World's Fair, but as she had two campaigns on hand in 1894
she could not accept it. Out of this auxiliary had grown a permanent
Woman's Congress Association, with Sarah B. Cooper at its head. When a
pressing request came to attend their first anniversary in San
Francisco, in 1895, she accepted with pleasure. The corresponding
secretary, Mrs. Minna V. Gaden, wrote in reply:
I can not attempt to express to you the joy and gratification of
the executive board over your consent to be with us and take part
in the congress in May. I wish I could have phonographed the
exclamations of delight and photographed the beaming countenances
of the members when I read them your letter. In answer to your
question as to whether we desired to have you speak upon some
special point of the subject for which you stand, I would say we
want Susan B. Anthony and all that she is; and we are sure that
the right word will be said, the great facts made plain and the
true inspiration given. We want _you_ and all that your presence
means and all that your life's work has brought.
Miss Anthony had another reason for wishing to go to California in
addition to the desire of meeting and helping the women of that
beautiful State in their congress. Its legislature, the previous winter,
had submitted a woman suffrage amendment which was to be voted on in
1896. This visit would enable her to look over the field, talk with the
men and women, and render any assistance they might desire towards
planning their campaign. She wrote Mrs. Cooper stating that she did not
wish to make the journey alone, that she liked to have one of her
"lieutenants" to relieve her of the burden of much speaking, and would
be glad of the privilege of bringing with her Rev. Anna Shaw. Mrs.
Cooper responded with a check of $450, for travelling expenses, saying:
"We rejoice to know that Miss Shaw will come with you, as another grand
helper for us. I send you the money and want you to have every possible
comfort on the journey."
From that time until Miss Anthony reached California not over three days
ever passed without a letter from Mrs. Cooper, rejoicing over the
promised visit. "Everybody is full of expectancy looking for your
advent. I have engaged the First Congregational church of San Francisco
for Miss Shaw's sermon. Hattie and I send you a heart full of love. May
God hold you safe in His keeping." "San Francisco and the whole Pacific
coast have a warm welcome for you both; every one is looking forward to
meeting you, great and noble champion of all that is good." So the
letters ran, and they were supplemented by long and loving ones from the
daughter Harriet, who lived but to second her mother's work and wishes.
When the papers heralded abroad the news that Miss Anthony was going to
California, the large western towns along the route sent earnest
requests for lectures and visits, and the journey assumed the aspect of
a triumphal tour. She started April 27, full of health and spirit and
with happy anticipations; spent one day with Mrs. Upton, at Warren, O.,
one with Mrs. Sewall, at Indianapolis, going thence to Chicago, where
she was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Gross. Here she found Harriet
Hosmer, who had been with them seven months, while she worked on her
statue of Lincoln. In the evening half a dozen reporters called and the
papers bristled with interviews. The next day she went with her hostess
to the famous Woman's Club. Miss Shaw joined Miss Anthony in Chicago,
and May 1 they left for St. Louis, where they remained four days at the
New Planters' Hotel, the guests of Mrs. Gross, who had accompanied them.
Their mission at St. Louis was to address the Mississippi Valley Woman's
Congress, under the auspices of the W. C. T. U., Mrs. E. B. Ingalls,
presiding. Miss Anthony spoke on "The Present Outlook," and the papers
described enthusiastically "the splendid ovation" she received, the many
floral offerings, and the hundreds of personal greetings at the close of
the evening. Just before her address, seventy-five little boys and
girls, several colored ones among them, marched past her on the
platform, each laying a rose in her lap. The day after the congress the
State Suffrage Association held its convention, and on the evening of
May 4 a handsome banquet, with covers laid for 200, was given for her at
the Mercantile Club rooms.
She reached Denver May 8, at 4 A. M., remained in the sleeper till six
and then could stand it no longer but took a carriage and sallied forth.
When the reception committee came to the station at seven to escort her
to the elaborate breakfast which had been prepared at the Brown Palace
Hotel, where a large number of friends were waiting, the guest had flown
and could not be found. While in the city she was entertained at the
home of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, of the Rocky Mountain News, whose
progressive and cultured wife was her warm personal friend and had been
an advocate of suffrage long before it was granted to the women of
Colorado. Reverend Anna was the guest of ex-Governor and Mrs. Routt.
That afternoon Miss Anthony went to Boulder, where she was engaged to
lecture.
The next day the Woman's Club gave a large reception in their honor at
the Brown Palace Hotel, attended by over 1,200 women. The News, in its
account, said: "The scene marked, to the retrospective mind, the
enormous change that has taken place in the status of the sex within the
lifetime of one woman. It hardly seemed possible, as the spectator
beheld Miss Anthony surrounded by the richest and most conservative
women of Denver, to believe that in her youth the great lecturer was
hissed from the stage in the most cultured and liberal cities of the
United States, and cast out from polite society like a pariah. It is not
often either that one who has been a pioneer in an unpopular cause lives
to see it become fashionable and herself the center of attention from a
younger generation which has profited by her labors of earlier years."
The same paper commented editorially: "To accomplish the political
enfranchisement of her sex and open a broader field of work and
influence for women everywhere, Miss Anthony has devoted her life....
Among all the noble women who have stood boldly to champion the cause of
their sisters, she is easily chief, and is worthy of all the honors that
have been bestowed upon her. It must have been a proud satisfaction for
her yesterday to meet the women of Colorado, who are now endowed with
equal political rights because of the crusade she has been instrumental
in starting and maintaining. Well may these newly enfranchised women do
her reverence. Not more loyal should the silver men of Colorado be to
Dick Bland, than the women of Colorado to the apostle of equal
suffrage--Susan B. Anthony."
The Denver Times said in a leading editorial: "To Miss Anthony the women
of today owe a great debt, for through her life's work they enjoy a
hundred privileges denied them fifty years ago. From her devotion to a
cause which for decades made her a martyr to the derision of an
unsympathetic public, has grown a new order of things. Her hand has most
helped to open every profession and every line of business to women.
While all the women of the United States are under many obligations to
her, those of Colorado, who are now equal citizens, owe her the
greatest allegiance." The Times also quotes in an interview with Miss
Anthony: "When asked what subject she would take for her speeches to the
people of Colorado, she shook her head with a kindly smile and said: 'My
usual lectures will not do. What can I say to the women who have the
franchise? I can only encourage them to use their new power wisely, to
stand bravely for the right, and to help the equal suffrage cause in
other States.'"
The ladies lectured that evening to an immense audience in the Broadway
Theater. The papers reported with great headlines: "Enthusiastic
Greeting by Colorado's Enfranchised Citizens. Miss Anthony Overcome with
Hearty Congratulations. America's Joan of Arc Shakes Hands with an Army
of Women Voters." One searches in vain in these newspapers for evidences
of the terrible loss of respect which women were to experience when they
were endowed with the ballot. The News, in over a column report, said:
Miss Anthony's voice was clear and powerful, filling the big
theater without any apparent effort. She began by saying that she
believed the thing she had always claimed had come true; that the
women had learned a new and higher self-respect with their added
rights and responsibilities.... She paid the men of Colorado the
compliment of declaring them the best in the world. The men of
Wyoming had occupied this proud position up to 1893, but those of
Colorado had granted the ballot to a disfranchised class not
through the legislature, but by a popular vote. This act stands
alone in the history of the world; no class of men has ever done as
much for even another class of men....
She said she had heard that some of the women had voted with
sagacity and some had not. This was not strange, since men
continued to do this after more than one hundred years of voting.
If women made mistakes this year, they would remedy them next year,
and in time she believed they would become the balance of power
between the two parties in all social, moral and educational
questions.
At Cheyenne Senator and Mrs. Carey gave an elegant dinner party in their
honor, attended by Governor and Mrs. Rich, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Mrs.
Esther Morris, the first woman judge, Mrs. Therese Jenkins, State
president, Mrs. Amalia Post, a suffrage pioneer, and other distinguished
guests. They went immediately from dinner to the new Baptist church,
which was filled to overflowing, and were introduced by the governor. At
the close of the lectures, Mrs. Jenkins said, "Now I desire to introduce
the audience to the speakers." She then called the names of the governor
and all his staff, the attorney-general, the United States judges, the
senators and congressmen, the mayor and members of the city council.
Each rose as his name was mentioned, and before she was through, it
seemed as if half the audience were on their feet, and the applause was
most enthusiastic. Here again one could not discern an indication of the
dreadful loss of respect which was to be the portion of enfranchised
women.
It was long after midnight before the travellers were quietly in bed in
the delightful home of the Careys, but at half-past seven they had
finished breakfast and were on board train en route for Salt Lake City.
Learning from the conductor that Mrs. Leland Stanford's private car was
attached, Miss Anthony sent her card and soon was invited to a seat in
that luxurious conveyance, where she enjoyed a visit of several hours.
Mrs. Stanford told her of the government suit against the estate, and
Miss Anthony's parting words were a warning not to leave her lawyers to
go before the Supreme Court alone, but to be present herself in
Washington to protect her own interests and those of the great
university.
At Salt Lake, on Sunday morning, a large delegation of women,
representing the different religious sects and political organizations,
met the travellers and drove to the Templeton, where seventy-five sat
down to breakfast, and they were then taken for a drive over the city.
Miss Anthony was the guest of Mrs. Beatie, daughter of Brigham and Zina
D. H. Young, and Miss Shaw of Mrs. McVicker. At 3 P. M., the Reverend
Anna preached in the great Tabernacle, Bishops Whitney and Richards
assisting. At the close they congratulated her on having preached a
Mormon sermon; afterwards a Methodist minister who was in the audience
thanked her for her good Methodist sermon; and a little later a
Presbyterian minister shook her hand heartily and expressed his pleasure
at hearing her Presbyterian doctrine; so she concluded she had made a
politic address. Sunday evening she preached in the theater at what was
intended to be a union service. All of the Gentile ministers had been
invited to take part and all declined but the pastor of the Unitarian
church. He and the principal of the public schools, formerly a Unitarian
minister, were the only men on the stage.
The Inter-Mountain Woman Suffrage Association of Utah, Montana and Idaho
opened the next morning, May 13. The first day's sessions were held in
the new city building, but it was so crowded that an overflow meeting
was necessary and the next day the convention was transferred to the big
assembly hall. The seat of honor was given to Miss Anthony; on her right
Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, president of the Utah association, on her left,
Rev. Anna Shaw. They were surrounded by a semicircle of the illustrious
women of the Territory who, for many years, had been active in the work
for suffrage. The hall was draped with the national colors and above the
stage were portraits of Lincoln, Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton. The
introductory address was made by Governor West, who, after paying an
earnest tribute to Miss Anthony, predicted that the new State
constitution, which was to go to the voters containing a woman suffrage
clause, would be overwhelmingly ratified.
During their stay in Salt Lake Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw received the
highest consideration. Monday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Richards gave
a reception in their honor, and were assisted in receiving by Governor
West, President Woodruff, Hon. George Q. Cannon, and many ladies. The
next afternoon a reception was tendered by the W. C. T. U. In the
evening, a large party went to Ogden, where a banquet was given, a great
meeting held in the city hall, and an overflow meeting in one of the
churches.
The 16th of May found the travellers at Reno, Nev., where they were the
guests of Mrs. Elda A. Orr, president of the State association. In the
morning Miss Anthony talked to the 800 men and women students of the
State University. In the evening they spoke in the opera house, which
was crowded to its limits, while on the stage were the representative
men and women of the city and neighboring towns. The house was
beautifully decorated with flowers and banners, a brass band played on
the balcony and an orchestra within. They were introduced by Miss Hannah
H. Clapp, who had presented Miss Anthony to a Nevada audience at Carson,
in 1871. Saturday afternoon they enjoyed a charming reception in the
parlors of the women's clubhouse.
Late that day they resumed their journey, took supper at Truckee on the
summit of the Sierras, and had a delicious glimpse of Lake Donner just
as they plunged into the forty miles of snow-sheds. They were glad of a
long night's rest after the strain of the last three weeks and, when
they awoke the next morning, were rolling through the fertile Sacramento
valley. California in May! Never was there a pen inspired with the power
to describe its beauties. Not the brush of the most gifted artist could
picture the mountains with their green foot-hills and snow-capped
summits; the valleys, nature's own lovely and fragrant conservatories of
brilliant blossoms and luxuriant, riotous vines, and the great oaks with
their glossy foliage, all enveloped in a warm and shimmering atmosphere
and, bending above, the soft blue sky scarcely dimmed by a fleeting
cloud. They can not be put into words, they must be lived.
The travellers had been up and dressed and enjoying the sweet air and
lovely landscape for a long time when the train stopped at the Oakland
station at half-past seven Sunday morning, May 19. Early as was the
hour, with the mists still hovering over the bay, they found awaiting
them, laden with flowers, Mrs. Cooper and her daughter Harriet, from San
Francisco, Mrs. Isabel A. Baldwin, Mrs. Ada Van Pelt and several other
Oakland ladies, and Rev. John K. McLean, the Congregational minister,
whose eldest brother was the husband of Miss Anthony's sister. He
conveyed her at once to his own home, while the others took charge of
Miss Shaw. At 11 o'clock the reverend lady was in Dr. McLean's pulpit,
fresh and smiling, in her soft, black ministerial robes, with dainty
white lawn at neck and wrists. Every seat was filled, chairs were
placed in the aisles, people sitting on the steps, and the happiest
woman in all the throng was Susan B. Anthony as she sat beside her
friend. That evening the scene was repeated in the Congregational church
of San Francisco, where the chancel was adorned with lilies and the
revered Sarah B. Cooper made the opening prayer.
The Woman's Congress opened at Golden Gate Hall, on the morning of May
20. The newspapers of San Francisco had decreed that this congress
should be a success, and to this end they had been as generous with
space and as complimentary in tone as the most exacting could have
desired. The result was that at not a session during the week was the
great hall large enough to hold the audience which sought admission. It
presented a beautiful sight on the opening morning, festooned from end
to end with banners; the stage a veritable conservatory, with a
background of palms, bamboo and other tropical plants, and in front a
bewildering array of lilies, roses, carnations, sweet peas and other
fragrant blossoms. Grouped upon the platform, on chairs and divans,
under tall, shaded lamps, were the speakers and guests. At the right of
the president's desk was a large arm-chair artistically draped with
flowers beneath a canopy of La France roses. At half-past ten Mrs.
Cooper stepped out from the wings escorting Miss Anthony, followed by
Mayor Adolph Sutro and Rev. Anna Shaw. The audience burst into a storm
of applause and, amid cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs, Miss
Anthony was conducted to her floral throne. As soon as she was seated,
one woman after another came up with arms full of flowers until she was
literally buried under an avalanche of the choicest blossoms. No one who
was present ever will forget the lovely scene.
Mayor Sutro made the address of welcome, in which he emphasized his
belief that "the ballot should be placed in the hands of woman as the
most powerful agent for the uplifting of humanity." At the preceding
congress the general topic had been, "The Relation of Women to the
Affairs of the World," and the criticism had been made that it was too
much of a woman suffrage meeting. For this one the subject selected was
"The Home," but the results were the same. Whatever the
paper--"Hereditary Influence," "The Parents' Power," "The Family and the
State"--all led to suffrage; and the more suffrage, the greater the
applause from the audience. Mrs. Cooper had written Miss Anthony, "I
told the committee to put you and Miss Shaw anywhere on the program,
that you could speak on one subject as well as another;" so they found
themselves down for "Educational Influences of Home Life;" "Which Counts
More, Father's or Mother's Influence?" "Does Wifehood Preclude
Citizenship?" "The Evolution of the Home;" "The Family and the State;"
"Shall We Co-operate?" "The Rights of Motherhood;" and numerous other
topics. Both spoke every day during the Congress and the people seemed
never to tire of hearing them.
Mrs. Cooper presided in her dignified and beautiful manner, and in her
presentation said: "I have the very great honor and pleasure of
introducing to this assembly one who has done more towards lifting up
women than any other one person--Miss Susan B. Anthony." The Chronicle
reported: "Then the audience made still further demonstrations. They
clapped and cheered and waved, and some of the gray-haired women wiped
their eyes because it is so seldom that people live to be appreciated.
But Susan B. stood like a princess of the blood royal. Very erect of
head and clear of voice she began her little speech. It was full of
reminiscences, but some few people have the privilege of telling
recollections without the fear of ever boring any one. Miss Anthony is
one of these...."
Miss Shaw also received a hearty welcome; and all through that wonderful
week the bright, appreciative, warm-hearted California audiences crowded
the hall and listened and applauded and brought their offerings of
flowers and fruit to lay at the feet of these two women, who had come
from the far East to clasp their hands and unite with them in one great
cause--the uplifting of womanhood. The Chronicle said:
Twelve hundred women went to Golden Gate Hall on Monday; fourteen
hundred went Tuesday; two thousand Wednesday; twenty-five
hundred Thursday. Golden Gate Hall could not hold one-fourth of
the crowds, so all three of yesterday's sessions were held at the
First Congregational church. Even there a stream of humanity
blocked every aisle clear to the platform. Nobody ever supposed
that the women of San Francisco cared for aught except their gowns,
their teas and their babies. But they do. They like brains, even in
their own sex. And they can applaud good speeches even if made by
women, and they have all fallen madly, desperately in love with a
very short, very plump little woman whose name is Anna Shaw. A year
ago there were not more than a hundred women in San Francisco who
could have been dragged to a suffrage meeting, but yesterday
twenty-five times that number struggled and tore their clothing in
their determination to hear Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw.
[Illustration: Sarah B. Cooper (Signed: "Always Affectionately Yours,
Sarah B Cooper")]
Again it commented: "There has been some talk that the Woman's Congress
which expired last night attracted its crowds under false
pretenses--that it promised to talk about the home and then preached
suffrage. That is usually the case when Miss Anthony is about, but it
was always suffrage in its relation to the home. Who, knowing Miss
Anthony's reputation, could suppose that she would cross the continent
in the evening of her life to discuss the draping of a lace curtain or
the best colors for a parlor carpet?... Five thousand people waiting on
the steps of the Temple Emanu-El for the purpose of hearing the woman
preacher's last address does not look as if her position were uncertain.
Mere curiosity does not take the same people to nineteen consecutive
sessions."
"Apotheosis of Woman," the Examiner headed its fine reports; and the
Call, the Bulletin, the Post, the Report, and the newspapers around the
bay all gave columns of space to this great meeting which had discovered
to the State of California its own remarkable women.
Miss Anthony had been the guest of her old friend, Mrs. A. A. Sargent,
whose hospitality she had enjoyed so many years in Washington City. As
the suffrage amendment was to come up the next year, Miss Anthony and
Miss Shaw met with a large number of ladies at the Congregational church
and helped them organize a campaign committee, with Mrs. Cooper as its
chairman. In accepting the office she said: "I intend to put all there
is of me into current coin and use it to forward this Heaven-ordained
work. If ever a woman was thoroughly converted to this idea I have
been, and in this spirit I accept the charge."
In the afternoon of this same day Mrs. Cooper escorted them to the Y. M.
C. A. Hall to address the Congregational ministers at their regular
Monday meeting, to which they had been officially invited. That evening
they were the guests of honor at the Unitarian Club dinner at the Palace
Hotel, Miss Anthony responding to the toast, "The Rights and Privileges
of Man;" Miss Shaw to "The Manly Man;" Rev. A. C. Hirst and Dr. Horatio
Stebbins to "The Rights and Privileges of Woman" and "The Womanly
Woman;" and the evening was a lively one. They addressed the girls' high
school, and accepted also an invitation to speak to the 900 teachers at
the institute in session at Golden Gate Hall. They were the guests of
the Century Club, Sorosis and other San Francisco societies of women.
A friend, Mrs. Mary Grafton Campbell, wrote from Palo Alto that she
heard President Jordan say every remaining day and evening of the
semester were filled, and when she exclaimed, "But Miss Anthony is
coming; what about her?" he replied, "There will be room for Miss
Anthony if we have to give up classes." Immediately he wrote her a
cordial invitation to visit the university, offering to pay her
travelling expenses and expressing a wish to entertain her in his home.
She accepted for herself and Miss Shaw, and they spoke to as many
students as could crowd into the chapel. Mrs. Stanford sent a personal
invitation for them to attend the reception which she was to give the
first graduating class in her San Francisco residence.[112] They were
invited to the beautiful Water Carnival at Santa Cruz, and to the Flower
Festival at Santa Barbara. It would be impossible, indeed, to mention
all the delightful invitations of both a public and private nature, and
there was not a day that did not bring a remembrance in the shape of
flowers and the delicious fruit in which Miss Anthony revelled.
[Illustration: Autograph: "Yours with friendly greetings, Jane L.
Stanford"]
On May 29 the Ebell Club of Oakland gave them a breakfast at 11:30; at 2
P. M. they addressed the Alameda County Auxiliary of the Woman's
Congress, Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, president. The audience filled every
inch of space in the Unitarian church, the most prominent ladies of
Oakland occupied seats on the platform, and a large reception in the
parlors followed the speaking. The evening session was held in the
Congregational church, an enthusiastic crowd in attendance. The next
afternoon they started for the Yosemite Valley, having for companions
Dr. Elizabeth Sargent and Dr. Henry A. Baker, Miss Anthony's
grand-nephew. There Miss Anthony, at the age of seventy-five, made the
usual trips on the back of a mule. She relates that the name of her
steed was Moses and Anna Shaw's Ephraim, and they had great sport over
them. They enjoyed to the full all the beauties of that wonderful
region, which never pall, no matter how often one visits them or how
long one remains among them. During this trip Miss Shaw went with one of
the Yosemite commissioners, George B. Sperry, to the Mariposa Big Trees.
Two, in a group of the largest three, were christened George Washington
and Abraham Lincoln, and he offered her the privilege of naming the
third. She gave it the title of Susan B. Anthony, it was appropriately
marked, and thus it will be known to future generations.
At San Jose they were the guests of Mrs. Sarah Knox Goodrich, who gave a
dinner for them, and over a hundred called during the evening. Sunday
afternoon Miss Anthony spoke in the Unitarian church, and Monday morning
addressed the students of the Normal School. At noon Mrs. Elizabeth Lowe
Watson gave a luncheon party under the great trees at her lovely home,
Sunny Brae, where the ladies spoke in the afternoon to several hundred
people from neighboring ranches. In the evening they lectured at San
Jose and, although fifty cents admission was charged, not nearly all who
had bought tickets could get into the building. When they left for Los
Angeles Mrs. Goodrich slipped into the hand of each $50 in gold, as a
present; just as Mrs. Sargent had done when they left San Francisco.
Long before Miss Anthony had started for California, cordial invitations
had been received from the southern part of the State, from old friends
and new. It was of course impossible to accept more than a small
fraction of these, but from the time the twain reached Los Angeles,
there was one continuous ovation. On the evening of their arrival, June
12, they addressed an audience of over 2,000 in Simpson tabernacle,
which had been transformed into a bower of choicest blossoms. While in
the city they were the guests of Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, with whom
Miss Anthony had worked for suffrage in Ohio forty years before.
In Riverside a reception was given them at the Glenwood by Mr. and Mrs.
F. M. Richardson, relatives of Miss Anthony. The beautiful drives for
which that place is famous were greatly enjoyed, and they went into
raptures over the oranges, which they never before had seen in such
quantities. They spoke to a large audience in the handsomely decorated
Methodist tabernacle at Pasadena. While here they were the guests of
Mrs. P. C. Baker, on Orange Avenue, and received many social attentions
from the people of this lovely little city. Thence they went to Pomona,
where they were met at the station by a delegation of ladies, escorted
to the Palomares Hotel, and found the committee had adorned their rooms
with flowers in a profusion which would be impossible outside of
California. They spoke here also in the Methodist church. The next day
Miss Shaw preached in Los Angeles and Miss Anthony spent the Sunday at
Whittier with Mrs. Harriet R. Strong at her ranche, so widely noted for
its walnut groves and pampas fields.
Monday morning they journeyed to San Diego where they were the guests of
Miss Anthony's niece, Mrs. George L. Baker. Elaborate preparations had
been made to receive them and they addressed a large audience in the
evening. The next afternoon a reception was given at the Hotel Florence
by all the woman's clubs of the city. The Union said: "The two guests of
honor were simply loaded and garlanded with flowers. They were presented
with baskets of sweet peas by the Y. W. C. A., yellow blossoms by the
suffrage club, red, white and blue by the Datus Coon corps; bouquets of
white roses by the W. C. T. U., of red and white carnations in a holder
of blue satin by Heintzelman W. R. C., of red roses by the Woman's
League, of pink roses by the Jewish women. There was music by an
orchestra as an accompaniment to the sociability of the occasion, in
which some 700 women participated during the afternoon."
The following day a picnic was given by the Woman's Club at "Olivewood,"
the home of Mrs. Flora M. Kimball, near National City, where tables were
spread on the lawn for the 200 guests who came by train and carriage.
That same evening, by request of many who could not be present at the
first meeting, the two ladies lectured again in San Diego. The next day
they returned to Los Angeles, laden with souvenirs of their delightful
visit; and that evening, without an hour's rest, addressed a mass
meeting there.
The following day the Los Angeles Herald gave an excursion to Santa
Monica in their honor. The ladies of that pretty seaside resort, under
the leadership of Mrs. C. H. Ivens, met them with carriages and
conducted them to the Hotel Arcadia. After luncheon, as they started for
the hall where they were to speak, twelve little girls strewed flowers
in their pathway, and after the addresses twelve large bouquets of
choice blossoms were laid at their feet. They were taken for a long
drive by Mrs. E. J. Gorham, then to the residence of her brother,
Senator John P. Jones; and at the close of a lovely day, returned to Los
Angeles. That evening a reception was given them by Mrs. Mark Sibley
Severance, which Miss Anthony always remembered as one of the handsomest
in her long experience. The next morning they met a committee from the
suffrage club and had a conference on the broad piazza of their hostess
in regard to the work of the coming campaign; and in the afternoon took
the train for San Francisco, after two of the most delightful weeks in
all their recollection. An especially gratifying feature was the
attitude of the press of Southern California. There had been scarcely a
discordant note in the extended reports of the public meetings and
social entertainments, and the editorial comments on the two ladies and
the cause of which they were leading representatives, were dignified,
fair and friendly.[113]
They reached San Francisco June 24 and were welcomed at the ferry by a
number of friends from the two cities. The next day they were
entertained at an elaborate dinner-party of ladies and gentlemen in the
artistic home of Mrs. Emma Shafter Howard, of Oakland. From the table
they went at once to the evening meeting. The Enquirer said: "It needed
no preliminary brass band or blare of trumpets to pack the
Congregational church with a live Oakland audience. The simple
announcement that Susan B. Anthony and Rev. Anna H. Shaw were to speak
was sufficient, and the chairman, Colonel John P. Irish, looked out over
an animated sea of faces."
The following evening the San Francisco farewell meeting was held in
Metropolitan Temple. Friday and Saturday were filled with social
engagements, sight-seeing and shopping. On Sunday Miss Shaw preached in
the California street Methodist church in the morning and the Second
Congregational in the evening, while Miss Anthony addressed a union
meeting of all the colored congregations in the city at the M. E. Zion
church, the historic building in which Starr King preached before the
war. Monday they spoke again at the Ministers' Meeting. The fact that
they would be present had been announced in the papers, and ministers of
all denominations were there from most of the towns within a radius of
forty miles. Miss Anthony told them in vigorous language: "The reason
why they, as a class, had so little influence with men of business and
political affairs was because the vast majority of the people they
represented had neither money nor votes; that if four or five hundred
ministers of the State should go up to Sacramento to ask for any
legislation, they would be treated politely and bowed out precisely as
would so many of their women church members. Whereas, on the other hand,
one manufacturer, one railroad official, one brewer or distiller, could
go before the same body and get whatever he asked, because every member
would know that behind this request were not only thousands of dollars
but thousands of votes." The ministers seemed to realize fully the force
of this statement and many expressed themselves thoroughly in favor of
the enfranchisement of women.
The State Suffrage Association, with a good delegate representation, met
in Golden Gate Hall, July 3, for their annual convention. There had been
heretofore some dissensions in this organization and, at this critical
time, co-operation was so vitally necessary that the friendly offices of
Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw were requested in the interests of harmony.
In view of the arduous campaign approaching, all desired that Mrs. A. A.
Sargent should accept the presidency, and the close of the convention
found the forces united and ready for work.
The Fourth of July witnessed the last public appearance of the two
eminent visitors, and thereby hangs a tale. The last of May Miss Anthony
had received from the chairman of the Fourth of July Executive
Committee, William H. Davis, the following: "Fully realizing the great
importance of your life-work, and rejoicing with you in the certainty
that the fruition of your labors and hopes is now no longer problematic,
but merely a question of days, we take much pleasure in extending to you
the right hand of American fellowship ... We cordially invite you to an
honorary position on our committee, and hope that you will do us the
honor of allowing us to select for you an appropriate and prominent
place in the celebration of our national independence."
When it had been decided to celebrate the Fourth on a more elaborate
scale than usual, an auxiliary board was appointed, composed of the
leading women of the city, with Sarah B. Cooper, chairman. Thinking to
add an interesting feature to the occasion, she requested of the
literary committee that Rev. Anna Shaw be placed on the program as one
of the orators of the day. To her amazement she was refused in
discourteous manner and language. The executive committee, learning of
this action, requested that it should be reconsidered and Miss Shaw
invited to speak. This being refused, the executive committee notified
them that unless it was done, their committee would be discharged and a
new one appointed. They then yielded to the inevitable, placing Miss
Shaw's name upon the list of orators, and the announcement was received
with cheers by all the other committees. The reverend lady had not the
slightest desire to make a Fourth of July speech, but she did wish to
see Mrs. Cooper win her battle with the little sub-committee. Meanwhile
the committee in Oakland, P. M. Fisher, chairman, did not wait to be
asked, but invited her to deliver an oration in that city as soon as she
had finished in San Francisco, and she accepted.
In the great Fourth of July procession, the very next carriage to that
of the mayor contained Mrs. Cooper, Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw, and the
rousing cheers of the people along the whole line of march showed their
appreciation of the victory gained for woman. At 2 o'clock in the
afternoon the ladies took seats on the platform at Woodward's Pavilion,
facing an audience of 5,000 people. San Francisco never heard such an
oration as was delivered that day by the little Methodist preacher, her
natural eloquence fired by the efforts to prevent her making it. After
she had finished and the cheers upon cheers had died away, there was a
great shout from the immense crowd, "Miss Anthony, Miss Anthony!"
Finally she was obliged to come forward and, when a stillness had
settled upon the audience, she said in strong, ringing tones: "You have
heard today a great deal of what George Washington, the father of his
country, said a hundred years ago. I will repeat to you just one
sentence which Abraham Lincoln, the savior of his country, uttered
within the present generation: 'No man is good enough to govern another
man without his consent.' Now I say unto you, 'No man is good enough to
govern any woman without her consent;'" and sat down amidst roars of
applause.
Miss Shaw had been placed at the very end of the program and when she
got out into the street it was 5 o'clock. It would require an hour to
reach Oakland, and she supposed of course some one had telegraphed the
situation and the people there had long since gone home; but this had
not been done, and a great audience on that side of the bay had
assembled in the Tabernacle, many going as early as 1 o'clock, and had
waited until 6. Knowing there was some mistake they separated with the
understanding that if Miss Shaw could be secured for the evening the
church bells would be rung. That lady had just seated herself at the
dinner table when a telegram was received explaining the situation. She
replied at once: "I will be with you at half-past eight." Miss Anthony
would not let her go alone and so, exhausted as they both were by the
hard demands of the day, they crossed the bay, reaching Oakland at 8
o'clock. No one was at the station to meet them, so they took a carriage
and drove to the Tabernacle but found it dark and deserted. They then
went the rounds of the churches, but all were closed. Finally they gave
up in despair and made the long journey back to San Francisco, reaching
the Sargent home at 11 o'clock. Why the telegram was not received was
never satisfactorily determined.
After a meeting with the amendment campaign committee the next morning
and a long discussion of their plan of work, the travellers started
eastward at 6 P. M. They were met at the Oakland ferry by a crowd of
friends from both cities with flowers, fruit and lunch baskets, and left
amidst a shower of affectionate farewells. They carried away the
sweetest memories of a lifetime and could find no words to express their
love and admiration for the people of California.
Miss Anthony preserves, as a memento of this visit, a large scrap-book
of over 200 pages entirely filled with personal notices from the
newspapers of that State during the six weeks of her stay, all, with a
few exceptions, of such a character as to make their reading a pleasure.
A source of even greater satisfaction was the wide discussion of woman
suffrage which her visit had inspired and the favorable consideration
accorded it by the press. In the months which followed she received
scores of letters from California women, many of them unknown to her,
expressing the sentiments of one from a teacher, which may be quoted:
"Many of us who could attend but few of the meetings and had not even
time to meet you personally, have caught something of their spirit and
have been with you in heart. We bless the day which brought you to us;
for your kindly words to women, and to men for women, have lifted the
fog, and the veiling mists are drifting away, leaving us a clearer view
of our duty not only to humanity but to ourselves. You have left a trail
of light."
FOOTNOTES:
[112] As soon as they arrived in California they were presented by Mrs.
Stanford with railroad passes throughout the State.
[113] The Los Angeles Times, Harrison Gray Otis, editor, furnished the
only exception of any importance to this rule.