the Washington College of Law for the legal education of women. Mrs.
Mussey has been the dean since its organization and is the only woman
dean of a law school in the country. The Hon. Edward F. Bingham, Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of the District, is president of the
board of trustees, and leading members of the bar have used their
influence to make the college a success. The curriculum is the same as
obtains in the leading institutions. There are several men among the
students. Mrs. Mussey is counsel for the Red Cross Society.
The American University (Methodist Episcopal), now being organized for
post-graduate work, is to be co-educational.
The great Catholic Universities, here, as everywhere, are closed to
women. Trinity College for Women (Roman Catholic) was dedicated Nov.
22, 1900. The necessity for this college became apparent from their
many applications to enter the universities for men. It is the first
institution founded by this church for the higher education of women
such as is provided by the largest of the women's colleges in the
United States.
There are in the public schools 155 men and 1,004 women teachers. The
average monthly salary of the men is $94.48; of the women, $64.31.
* * * * *
The introduction of Kindergartens into the public schools received the
assistance of all the women's societies in the District. In 1898 a
bill passed Congress appropriating $15,000 with which to make the
experiment. This proving successful an annual appropriation of $25,000
was made.[218]
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Mrs. Clinton Smith, president,
has secured the suppression of liquor selling in the cafe of the new
Library of Congress, and a large number of most beneficent measures.
In December, 1900, the national convention of the W. C. T. U. was held
in Washington and among the strongest resolutions adopted were those
declaring for woman suffrage and the abolishment of the army canteen.
A bill for the latter purpose passed the House while the convention
was in session, and soon afterwards passed the Senate.
The District Federation of Women's Clubs includes eleven affiliated
organizations comprising nearly four thousand women.
Mrs. Julius C. Burrows (Mich.) is among the most prominent of the many
women engaged in philanthropic work. Largely under her direction the
Training School for Nurses connected with the Garfield Memorial
Hospital has become one of the best in the country.
Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby has long owned and published the _Woman's
Tribune_. Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood for a number of years has edited the
_American Magazine_, the official organ of the National Society
Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood is
associate editor of _The Peacemaker_.
Dr. Anita Newcombe McGee was the first woman in the United States
commissioned as surgeon, with the rank of lieutenant and the privilege
of wearing shoulder straps. She examined most of the women nurses who
volunteered their services in Cuba and the Philippines.
All of the women mentioned above are members of the suffrage
association, and those engaged in public work of all kinds are, almost
without exception, advocates of woman suffrage.
During the Spanish-American War the women of the District, including
the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union and the District Federation of Women's Clubs, united
in their services. Pleasant headquarters were opened in different
localities. Mrs. Judith Ellen Foster, Mrs. James B. Tanner and many
other loyal Red Cross women answered the call of Clara Barton, and
assisted daily through the long, hot summer of 1898 in contributing to
the comfort of the soldiers when passing through Washington or while
stationed at Camp Alger; and also in sending supplies for the comfort
of those at the front. There were no castes, creeds or factions in
this great work of patriotism.
FOOTNOTES:
[212] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Florence Adele
Chase, for a number of years on the editorial staff of a daily paper
at Grand Rapids, Mich., now on the editorial force in the Division of
Publications of the Agricultural Department at Washington, the only
woman who has held the position.
[213] The presidents since 1884 have been Mrs. Ruth G. Denison, Dr.
Susan A. Edson, Mrs. Ella M. S. Marble, Mrs. Mary L. Bennett, Mrs.
Mary Powell Davis, Mrs. Ellen Powell Thompson, Miss Cora La Matyr
Thomas and Mrs. Helen Rand Tindall.
On March 18, 1901, the association was incorporated by Clara W.
MacNaughton, Mary L. Talbott, Ellen Powell Thompson, Helen Rand
Tindall, Clara Bewick Colby, Kate W. Burt, Sara A. Haslett, Caroline
E. Kent and Belva A. Lockwood, "to secure for women citizens of the
United States the full rights of citizenship; to build a clubhouse for
women; and to collect funds for appropriate memorials to the memory of
women who have performed meritorious work for the enfranchisement of
women and the good of humanity."
[214] The Junior Equal Suffrage Club is probably the first
organization of young people to become affiliated with the National
Association. It was founded Jan. 24, 1895, by three girls in the
Central High School, Anna Kemball, Alice Stearns and Edith Maddren.
Young men comprise about one-third of its membership and join in its
proceedings and discussions.
[215] Not including 71 officers of the U. S. Army on duty at the War
Department.
[216] Not including 37 officers U. S. Navy and 4 officers U. S. Marine
Corps on duty at Navy Department.
[217] In 1901 women graduates were admitted as special students to
lecture courses in the graduate department, known as the National
School of Jurisprudence and Diplomacy, by a special vote of the
trustees in each case, but no general rule has been made.
[218] The Senate committee included Senators Allison, Cullom, Gorman,
Quay and Cockrell. When Mrs. Mussey appeared before them to ask for a
new appropriation, after the trial had proved a success, she stated
that she was about to ask something for that which is the most
precious to every woman's heart--a little child. The Senators at once
declared that a little child was also the dearest thing on earth to a
man's heart, and unanimously recommended the appropriation.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
FLORIDA.[219]
The brief history of work in Florida for the enfranchisement of women
gathers about the name of Mrs. Ella C. Chamberlain. She returned to
her home in Tampa from attendance on the Woman's Inter-State
Conference at Des Moines in the autumn of 1892, and secured space for
a suffrage department in the principal paper of that city. In January,
1893, she presented the question so forcibly at a social gathering, as
a woman taxpayer, that a gentleman suggested forming a society and
twenty members were secured, eight of them men. Mrs. Chamberlain was
made president; O. G. Sexton, secretary; Miss Stowell, treasurer.
In 1894 the president addressed the Carpenters' Union twice, and
considerable literature was distributed. In December the suffragists
of Tampa, aided by those of Melrose, held a bazar which netted $125.
In January, 1895, a State convention was held in Tampa and the
following officers were elected: President, Mrs. Chamberlain;
vice-presidents, Mesdames E. W. King, Emma Tebbitts, Jessie M.
Bartlett; secretary, Miss Nellie Glenn; treasurer, J. L. Cae. During
the year Mrs. Chamberlain gave addresses at the De Funiak Springs
Assembly, the Adventists' Campmeeting and in various towns. The
society paid dues to the National Association until 1897, when the
president removed from the State, no one came forward to take the
leadership and the movement has since languished.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: Until 1901 the women never had a bill
before the Legislature, although the W. C. T. U. aided greatly in
securing the State Reform School. Its influence also was strongly used
against a Dispensary Bill.
Some men and many women had long felt that the law placing the "age of
consent" for girls at 10 years was a disgrace to the State. In 1887 W.
B. Lamar (now Attorney-General) presented a bill raising it to 17
years, but this was defeated.
Florida makes a distinction between "age of consent" and "age of
protection." Up to 10 years the crime is rape and the penalty is death
or imprisonment for life. The law "protects" girls until 16 to the
extent of a penalty of imprisonment not more than one year or a fine
not exceeding $500, with no minimum fixed. Several attempts were made
by the W. C. T. U. to have both ages changed to 18 years, but bills
for this purpose always were laid on the table.
In 1901 this organization, under the leadership of Mrs. C. S.
Burnett-Haney, its superintendent of purity, began a thorough and
systematic canvass of the State to secure such a petition for raising
the age as it would be impossible for the Legislature to ignore. For
this 15,000 signatures of representative men and women were obtained,
besides the official indorsement of U. S. Senators Stephen R. Mallory
and James P. Taliaferro, Congressmen S. M. Sparkman and Robert W.
Davis, four Judges of the Circuit Court, with many other Judges,
attorneys and city officers; also those of Presidents W. F. Yocum of
the State Agricultural College, G. M. Ward of Rollins College, John F.
Forbes of Stetson University, the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction and over 100 other leading educators. The petition
received also the unanimous indorsement of the State Press Association
and the State Medical Association, and the signatures of 100
physicians, including every member of the State Medical Board.
In the hope of at least a measure of success two bills were
introduced, one raising the "age of consent" from 10 to 14 years, and,
as it had been found practically impossible to secure a conviction
under the existing penalty, to reduce this to a term of imprisonment.
This bill was presented and championed in the House by R. H. Burr, the
age was raised to 16 years and the bill passed unanimously, May 17. In
the Senate it was indefinitely postponed.
The second bill asked that the "age of protection" be raised from 16
to 18 years, and that the penalty be increased to imprisonment from
one to twenty years or a fine of from $500 to $2,000. This bill also
was advocated by Mr. Burr and passed the House May 17, but with no
minimum penalty. The vote stood 26 ayes, 20 noes.
In the Senate every possible means was adopted to prevent this bill
from reaching a vote, and it was only by the determined efforts of E.
N. Dimick, and all the influence which the W. C. T. U. could bring to
bear, that it finally was passed the last day of the session, May 31,
with but two dissenting votes, although a number of senators absented
themselves. It was signed the same day by Gov. William S. Jennings.
Thus as the result of all this great canvass, the expenditure of much
time and money and the assistance of the best elements in the
community, a child of 10 years may still consent to her own ruin in
Florida, and the age at which the law will give any protection
whatever was raised only two years. The penalty which may be inflicted
was increased, but by the refusal to fix a minimum of fine or
imprisonment there is but a slight improvement over the original
status.
If over 16 each of the parties may be punished by imprisonment not
exceeding three months or a fine not exceeding $30.
All property of the wife, real or personal, owned by her before
marriage or lawfully acquired afterward, by gift, bequest or purchase,
is her separate estate and is not liable for the debts of the husband
without her written consent in legal form. It remains, however, under
his care and management, but he can not charge for these, nor can she
compel him to account for its rents, proceeds or profits.
The wife can not transfer her real or personal property without the
husband's joinder. If he has been insane one year she can convey or
transfer without his signature. Any married woman who may wish to take
charge of her estate, and become a free dealer in every respect, must
apply to the court for a license. Since 1891 a married woman's
earnings acquired by any employment aside from the household are her
separate property.
Dower but not curtesy prevails. The widow has the life use of
one-third of the real estate and, if there are no children or but one
child, she has one-half the personal estate absolutely; if more than
one, she has one-third. If there are no children and no will she takes
the whole estate, real and personal. If the wife die without a will,
and the husband but no descendants survive her, the whole of her
estate goes to him; but if there are children or their descendants,
the estate, both real and personal, descends in distribution to them.
The homestead, to the extent of 160 acres of land in the country or a
half-acre in town, is exempt from seizure for debt.
A married woman may dispose of her property, both real and personal,
by last will and testament in the same manner as if she were
unmarried.
The father has legal control of the persons, education and property of
the children, and he alone may appoint a guardian by will, during any
part of infancy.
The husband is required by law to support his family and, on his
failure to do so, the court may make such orders as are necessary. If
living separate from him, the wife may sue for alimony without divorce
if legal cause exist.
SUFFRAGE: Women possess no form of suffrage.
OFFICE HOLDING: Women are not eligible to any office, elective or
appointive, except that they may serve as notaries public.
OCCUPATIONS: Women have been admitted to the practice of law in a few
judicial circuits, but none have been admitted into the medical
profession. No other occupation is legally forbidden.
EDUCATION: All of the institutions of learning are open alike to both
sexes.
In the public schools there are 1,121 men and 1,671 women teachers.
The average monthly salary of the men is $35; of the women, $32.40.
FOOTNOTES:
[219] The History is indebted to Mrs. C. S. Burnett-Haney of Stuart,
superintendent of purity for the State Woman's Christian Temperance
Union, for much of the information in this chapter.
CHAPTER XXXV.
GEORGIA.[220]
The first woman suffrage association of Georgia was organized in July,
1890, by Miss H. Augusta Howard and her sister, Miss Claudia Hope
Howard (Maxwell). For some time the membership was composed only of
these two, their mother, Mrs. Anne Jane Lindsay Howard, and other
relatives, all residents of Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Allen of
Douglasville were the first outside the Howard family to encourage and
support the infant organization. In 1892 Mrs. Kate Mallette Hardwick
and Mrs. Mary L. McLendon became members, and served for several years
as auditor and vice-president.
The Atlanta association was organized in the Marietta Street M. E.
Church, March 21, 1894, by Mrs. McLendon and Mrs. Margaret Chandler;
perfected in the Unitarian Church on March 28, and begun with a
membership of forty men and women.
In the latter part of 1895, Miss Howard and Mrs. Maxwell, who had
served continuously as president, secretary and treasurer of the State
association, resigned their offices; and Mrs. Frances Cater Swift was
elected president; Mrs. U. O. Robertson, secretary; Miss Adelaide
Wilson, treasurer.
In 1896 Mrs. McLendon was made president; Mrs. S. L. Ober Allen and
Mrs. Ala Holmes Cheney, vice-presidents; Dr. L. D. Morse,
corresponding secretary; Mrs. Gertrude C. Thomas, recording secretary;
Miss Sarah A. Gresham, treasurer.
The annual convention of the National Association, which was held in
the opera house in Atlanta the first week of February, 1895, gave a
new impetus to the movement in Georgia.[221] Men and women throughout
the State felt its widespreading influence. Many ancient Southern
prejudices received a death-blow when those who harbored them saw what
manner of women had espoused this hitherto unpopular cause.[222]
All the Atlanta papers extended a cordial greeting to the convention
and devoted columns of space to biographical sketches, reports of
meetings, etc., but the _Sunny South_, edited by Col. Henry Clay
Fairman, was the only one which editorially indorsed the suffrage
movement. The business manager of the Atlanta _Constitution_, William
A. Hemphill, and his wife, tendered a large reception to the members
of the convention.
F. H. Richardson, editor of the Atlanta _Journal_, the largest evening
paper in the State, was converted to a belief in woman suffrage at
this time, and is now an honorary member of the organization. As a
part of his work, he has made an earnest and long-continued effort to
have women placed on the school board.[223]
The Woman's Board of the Cotton States and International Exposition,
soon to be held in Atlanta, were so impressed by the _personnel_ of
this convention that an official invitation was extended for them to
hold a Suffrage Day on Oct. 17, 1895, in the Woman's Congress Assembly
Hall. This was accepted by Miss Anthony on behalf of the National
Association, and under the guiding hand of Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery,
its corresponding secretary, Suffrage Day was one of the very best of
the many days celebrated during the Woman's Congress. The State
association also fitted up a booth in the Liberal Arts Building and
large quantities of literature were distributed by Mrs. H. M. Tripp,
who kindly took charge.
The first State convention was held in Atlanta, Nov. 28, 29, 1899. The
following resolution, offered in the Legislature by Representative
Martin V. Calvin, was adopted: "The use of the Hall of the House of
Representatives is hereby granted to Mrs. Virginia D. Young of South
Carolina, Miss Frances A. Griffin of Alabama, and Mrs. Isabella Webb
Parks of Georgia, on the 28th inst., for the purpose of delivering
lectures on the scope of the elective franchise."[224]
The first evening session was held in the State capitol. Mrs.
McLendon, the president, called the meeting to order. The address of
welcome for Georgia was made by Mrs. Thomas; for Atlanta, by its
president, Mrs. Swift; Miss Gresham responded to both. Mrs. Young,
Miss Griffin, Mrs. Maxwell and Mrs. Parks delivered addresses to a
large and interested audience.[225]
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: In 1888 the Hon. Augustus Dupont applied
to the Legislature for a city charter for the town of Dupont, and
sought to secure suffrage to all persons, male or female, owning
property in the corporation, but failed.
In 1895 the Atlanta association presented two bills to the
Legislature--one to raise the "age of protection" for girls from 10 to
18 years; the other, drawn by Charles A. Reid, a member of the society
and an able lawyer, to take the necessary measures for granting equal
legal and political rights to women. Neither was reported from the
committees.
In 1897 Representative Martin V. Calvin introduced a bill to make a
woman eligible to serve on the staff of physicians at the State insane
asylum, but it failed to pass.
In 1898 an effort was made to secure a bill providing police matrons
in every city of 10,000 or more inhabitants, and one to exempt the
property of women from taxation until they should be permitted to
vote. Both failed.
Miss Frances A. Griffin appeared for the Georgia W. S. A. at the
convention of the State Federation of Labor, held in Augusta in April,
1900, and in response to her address it called on its members to
demand a change in the United States Constitution which should secure
the legal and political equality of women. A strong suffrage plank was
added to the platform of the federation, and Miss Griffin was invited
by it to address the Legislature in the interest of the Child Labor
Bill, which it had championed so unsuccessfully for a number of years.
One result of the State suffrage convention held in Atlanta in 1899,
was that the following petitions were ordered to be circulated and
returned for presentation to the legislative committees in the fall of
1900:
1. That the University of Georgia be opened to women.
2. That women be members of the boards of education.
3. That women physicians be placed on the staff of the State
insane asylum.
4. That women be made eligible to the office of president of the
State Normal and Industrial College for Girls.
5. That the "age of protection" for girls be raised from 10 to 18
years.
6. That girls of eighteen be permitted to enter the textile
department of the State Technological School.
Four bills were considered by the Legislature of 1900 in which the
women of the State were deeply interested. All failed, and many of
them now see that Legislatures, like juries, should be composed of an
equal number of men and women to secure exact justice for both.
The Child Labor Bills, introduced by Representative Seaborn Wright and
C. C. Houston, to prevent the employment in factories of children
under ten and under twelve years of age were defeated by a vote of
more than three to one.
The Textile Bill was read twice in the House but failed to secure a
third reading. Lyman Hall, president of the school, was in favor of
the bill.
The Age of Protection Bill, introduced by Representative C. S. Reid,
was very quietly handled. Only one paper (the Atlanta _Daily News_)
informed the public that it would be made the special order for
November 15. It was defeated by 71 ayes, 77 noes. At the request of
women Mr. Reid moved that it be reconsidered November 16, which
resulted in its being voted down by a larger majority than the day
before. Mr. Reid thought it well that his bill was defeated, since it
only asked that the "age of protection" be raised from 10 to 12 years.
The suffragists asked that it be raised from 10 to 18, and the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union from 10 to 21. Many petitions had been sent
to previous Legislatures by both these organizations, but this was the
first time a bill had been presented and carried to a vote.
The bill to admit women to the State University was not considered by
the Legislature of 1900.[226]
The State W. C. T. U. has been laboring to secure the passage of a law
for scientific temperance instruction in the public schools since
1890, when Mrs. Mary H. Hunt of Massachusetts, who was the first woman
to speak in the capitol building, addressed the Legislature. The bill
passed both Houses in 1894, but was vetoed by Gov. William J. Northen
because no provision had been made to require teachers to stand an
examination on the subject.[227]
Since 1857, when the law which gave a husband the right to whip his
wife was amended, there have been some favorable changes. In 1866 a
law was enacted allowing a married woman to own property, but not
including any wages she might earn.
In 1891, when a married woman was suing for personal injury in a
railroad accident, Chief Justice Logan E. Bleckley decided that the
amount of a wife's recovery for physical damages "is not to be
measured by pecuniary earnings, for such earnings as a general rule
belong to the husband and the right of action for this loss is in
him." In 1892 Judge Thomas J. Simmons rendered practically the same
decision, and in 1893 ruled again: "Inasmuch as the earnings of the
wife belong to her husband, her individual and personal damages can be
measured only by the consciences of an impartial jury."
In November, 1895, when William H. Flemming (now a member of Congress)
was Speaker of the House of Representatives, he offered a bill which,
as he said, "was to complete the good work begun with the Married
Woman's Property Act of 1866, by making a wife's labor as well as her
acquired property her own." It passed the House by 98 ayes, 29 noes,
but was killed in the Senate.
As the law now stands a married woman in Georgia can control her
earnings only if a sole trader with her husband's consent by notice
published in the papers for one month, or if living separate from him.
Dower obtains but not curtesy. If a husband die intestate, leaving a
wife and issue, the wife may elect to take dower--a life interest in
one-third of the real estate--or she may take a child's share of the
whole estate absolutely, unless the shares exceed five in number, when
she may have one-fifth.
The father is legally entitled to the custody and control of the
children, and at his death may appoint a guardian to the exclusion of
the mother. The husband must furnish necessities for the family
suitable to their station in life.
The "age of protection" for girls still remains 10 years, with a
penalty of death, or if recommended to mercy by the jury, imprisonment
in the penitentiary at hard labor not less than one nor more than
twenty years.
SUFFRAGE: Women have no form of suffrage.
OFFICE HOLDING: In December, 1884, Representative Martin V. Calvin
introduced and carried through the Legislature, under most unfavorable
pressure, a bill to render women eligible to employment in the State
House. Besides the large number engaged in manual labor, a woman is
now postmaster of the House of Representatives, and many others are
employed as stenographers, typewriters and engrossing clerks, the
Governor himself having a woman stenographer.
In 1896 Representative J. E. Mosley succeeded in having an ancient law
amended, by which women were made eligible to the position of State
librarian; but none has been appointed, although one is now assistant.
In the opinion of State School Commissioner G. R. Glenn, women are
eligible to sit on School Boards, but none ever has done so. Within
the past two years the Board of Education in Atlanta has appointed a
Board of Women Visitors to the public schools, but they can exercise
no authority. Lately they have been permitted to be present at the
meetings of the board as listeners but they can have no voice.
In July, 1895, a committee, Mrs. F. S. Whiteside, chairman, appeared
before the city council of Atlanta with a petition asking for a police
matron, signed by more than 1,000 well-known citizens. On the same day
a committee of the W. C. T. U., Mrs. McLendon, chairman, presented a
similar petition from temperance people.[228] The matter was referred
to the police committee, who "laid it on the table" and it never was
heard from afterward.
In 1897 a woman was employed by the Ladies' Society of the First M. E.
Church South to stay at police barracks and serve as matron. In May,
1898, she was engaged by the city at a salary of $20 per month, but
was dismissed without warning in June of the same year. The different
organizations of women protested so vigorously that the position of
police matron was created by the city council with a salary of $40 per
month, but no matron has been appointed up to date.[229]
Women can not serve as notaries public.
OCCUPATIONS: Women may practice medicine, but are forbidden by statute
to practice law.
EDUCATION: The Legislature of 1889 established the State Normal and
Industrial College for Girls (white) at Athens, largely through the
efforts of women. The Hon. W. Y. Atkinson, afterward Governor,
championed the bill. No woman is eligible to serve as president of
this college. A board of Women Visitors was appointed by Governor
Atkinson.
Considerable effort has been made by the Georgia Federation of Woman's
Clubs to have the doors of the State University opened to women. At
present they are permitted to enter certain departments of the branch
colleges in different parts of the State, but not to enter the
University itself upon any terms, being thus deprived of the highest
educational facilities.
The State Normal School and the North Georgia Agricultural College
(both white), the Georgia State Industrial College (colored) and the
Atlanta University (white and colored) are co-educational.
In the public schools there are 4,168 men and 4,811 women teachers. It
is impossible to obtain the average monthly salaries, but those of
women are estimated to be two-thirds of those paid to men.
FOOTNOTES:
[220] The History is indebted for the material for this chapter to
Mrs. Mary L. McLendon, of Atlanta, honorary president of the State
Woman Suffrage Association.
[221] See Chap. XV.
[222] The State association never should cease to be grateful to "the
Howard girls," (Augusta, Claudia and Mrs. Miriam Howard Du Bose), as
the national officers called them, who brought this grand object
lesson to Georgia to give Southern women the advantages which they
themselves had enjoyed the previous year in Washington, D. C. They
refused all proffered aid and themselves paid the expenses, which
amounted to $600, declaring that it was only right for them to do so,
since they had consulted no one when they gave the invitation at
Washington but had taken the full responsibility.
[223] William C. Sibley, Will N. Harben, G. Gunby Jordan, Walter H.
Johnson, J. Colton Lynes, Charles Hubner, Lucian Knight, editor of the
_Constitution_, and Walter B. Hill, chancellor of the State
University, all have declared in favor of woman suffrage. Mrs. Julia
I. Patten, editor of the _Saturday Review_, is a member of the Atlanta
association and her paper is its official organ.
Among others who have stood by a cause which it requires courage to
advocate in this State are J. H. and Mrs. Addie D. Hale, W. T. Cheney,
S. M. White and William Forsyth; Mesdames Harriet Winchell, A. H.
Ames, Mary Brent Reid, Harry Dewar, Nettie C. Hall, Francis Bellamy,
A. G. Helmer, Sara Strahan, M. T. Wynne, Sarah McDonald Sheridan,
Patrick H. Moore, E. A. Latimer, E. A. Corrigan, Charles Behre and Dr.
Schuman; Misses Mary Lamar Jackson, editor of the woman's department
in the Atlanta _Journal_, E. Williams, Willette Allen and Sarah
Freeman Clarke, sister of James Freeman Clarke, of Boston.
[224] This certainly proved that woman suffrage had gained at least in
respectful consideration among politicians since February, 1895. At
that time Gov. W. Y. Atkinson refused the use of the same hall for the
great National Association to hold a mass meeting on the last day of
its visit to Atlanta. He declared it would be unconstitutional to
allow women to use it, although white and negro men had been permitted
to do so for many and varied purposes. The Hon. Charles A. Collier, a
county commissioner, granted the basement of the courthouse for this
meeting, which was a marked success, though held underground. Speeches
were made by Miss Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Mrs.
Elizabeth Lyle Saxon, Mrs. Josephine K. Henry and others.
[225] Officers elected: President, Mrs. Gertrude C. Thomas;
vice-presidents, Mrs. S. L. Ober Allen, Miss Sarah A. Gresham;
corresponding secretary, Mrs. Alice Daniel; recording secretary, Mrs.
Claudia Howard Maxwell; treasurer, Mrs. E. O. Archer; auditor, D. M.
Allen. Mrs. McLendon, who had been in office since 1892, refused to
serve longer and was made honorary president.
[226] A bill presented by Thomas J. Chappelle in 1901 to make the
University co-educational was defeated in the Senate and not
considered in the House. Virginia and Louisiana are the only other
States which exclude women, although North Carolina admits them only
to its post-graduate department.
[227] A bill providing for the teaching of the effects of alcoholic
drinks and other narcotics upon the system, requiring all teachers to
stand an examination on this subject, and affixing a penalty for the
failure of any board of education to enforce the law, passed the
Legislature of 1901--Senate, 23 ayes, 7 nays; House, 106 ayes, 28
nays. It was signed by Gov. Allan C. Candler, December 17.
This law is now in effect in every State, Georgia being the last to
adopt it.
[228] The Atlanta South Side W. C. T. U. is the only one in the State
to adopt the franchise department. Mrs. Isabella Webb Parks, one of
the editors of the _Union Signal_ and also a member of the city
suffrage association, is its superintendent of franchise.
[229] In August, 1901, a police matron was at last appointed at a
salary of $30 per month. In December one of the police commissioners
stated that she was invaluable and he did not see how they ever had
managed to get on without a matron.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
IDAHO.[230]
Idaho was admitted into the Union as a State in 1890. Previous to this
time there had been practically no work done for woman suffrage in the
Territory except that of Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon. Between
1876 and 1895 she gave 140 public lectures, at the same time securing
subscribers to her paper, the _New Northwest_, devoted to the
interests of women, and distributing literature. She traveled 12,000
miles by river, rail, stage and buckboard and canvassed many a mile on
foot.
In 1887 Mrs. Duniway addressed the Territorial Legislature in behalf
of a bill to enfranchise women. In 1889 she appealed to the
constitutional convention at Boise to adopt a woman suffrage clause.
Judge William H. Claggett, the president, and a majority of the
members favored it, but yielded to the fears of the minority that it
would endanger the acceptance of the constitution by the voters.
Judge Milton Kelly, founder and for many years editor of the Boise
_Daily Statesman_, was one of the early advocates of the rights of
women, as also was his wife, who was, indeed, the pioneer suffragist
of Idaho. Mrs. Rebecca Mitchell, president of the State Woman's
Christian Temperance Union, was another early laborer. At her request
Louis E. Workman introduced a bill into the House of the Legislature
of 1893, asking for a constitutional amendment conferring suffrage on
women, and it was defeated by only two votes.
In a little country schoolhouse, May 16, 1893, at Hagerman, Lincoln
County, the first suffrage society was formed. The teacher, Mrs.
Elizabeth Ingram, was president and prime mover, and its members were
scattered over a territory of ten miles.
Up to this time, there had not been any organized effort in the State
to secure the ballot for women, although there was a pronounced
sentiment in its favor. The real campaign began at the time of the
assembling of the Republican State Convention in 1894. At a conference
of a few friends of the measure a resolution was prepared for
presentation, pledging the party to submit the question of equal
suffrage to a vote. The plank was introduced and championed by the
Hon. W. E. Borah. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster of Washington, D. C., addressed
the convention, and the Hon. Edgar Wilson urged the adoption of the
resolution, which was done with little or no opposition.
The Populist State Convention passed a similar resolution, but it was
not adopted by the Democratic.
As a result of the election the Republicans were placed in
overwhelming control of the Legislature, and the desired joint
resolution submitting the question to a vote was passed unanimously in
the Senate on January 11, and by 33 yeas, 2 nays in the House on Jan.
17, 1895.
The campaign for woman suffrage was spirited and effective. In the
early part of the year Mrs. Duniway came to Boise and held a meeting.
A temporary organization was formed at that time, but for sufficient
reasons nothing was done to start the work until some months later.
In the summer the National Association sent Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe of
Illinois to assist in organizing the State. She lectured through June
and July and formed many clubs, often making her own appointments and
overcoming the most discouraging obstacles.
A State convention was held in Boise Nov. 20, 1895, at which officers
were elected as follows: President, Mrs. J. H. Richards;
vice-president, Mrs. W. W. Woods; secretary, Mrs. Eunice Pond Athey;
treasurer, Mrs. Leah Burnside; advisory board, Mrs. Kate E. N.
Feltham, Mrs. M. J. Whitman, Miss Annette Bowman. A telegram was
received from Miss Susan B. Anthony, saying: "Educate the rank and
file of voters through political party newspapers and meetings."
To the advisory board were added William Balderston,[231] D. L.
Badley and James A. McGee. The last having been made chairman of the
Democratic State Central Committee was able to be of much assistance
to the suffragists.
Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Kansas came into the State in May, 1896, in
time to attend a meeting of the advisory board at Nampa and to render
invaluable help. By order of the board a convention was called in
Boise, July 1-3, at which Mrs. Johns was present. The officers elected
were: President, Mrs. Whitman; vice-presidents, Mrs. Feltham, Mrs.
Helen Young, Idaho's only woman attorney, Mrs. D. L. Badley;
secretary, Mrs. Athey; treasurer, Mrs. I. Herron; press committee,
Mrs. Kate Green, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Minnie Priest Dunton. Thus
organized, the association conducted the final campaign.
The president authorized the secretary to send a circular letter to
all clubs urging them to commence in the precinct primaries the work
of securing suffrage planks in the platforms of the several political
parties. Wherever possible delegates were elected pledged to support
the amendment.
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organizing
committee, came to Boise August 14. On the 18th and 25th she lectured
to crowded houses there and captured her audiences. She addressed the
committees on resolutions of the different party State conventions,
and, with the aid of Mrs. Johns, Major and Mrs. W. W. Woods and other
effective workers, secured a plank favoring the amendment in each of
the four platforms--Republican, Democratic, Populist and Silver
Republican. Her coming was opportune and her work most valuable. The
indorsement by the Democratic convention was a great achievement, and
the fact that the planks had been inserted in all the political
platforms was a strong point later on in the case before the Supreme
Court.[232]
After the conventions Mrs. Johns returned home, and Mrs. Chapman Catt
went to aid the California campaign, speaking several times in Idaho
_en route_.
Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford of Colorado came in September. For six weeks
she traveled over sandhills, mountains, valleys and sage plains,
visiting points not reached by other workers. She organized fourteen
new clubs and made many converts. Mrs. Helen D. Harford of Oregon
lectured at several places on her way to the St. Louis W. C. T. U.
convention. Many campaign speakers of all political parties called the
attention of the voters to the amendment, and some gave a large
portion of their time to the cause. This proved of great benefit,
reaching voters who would not attend a suffrage meeting.
Headquarters were opened at Boise August 1. As three of the counties
had no organizations whatever, it was found necessary to reach the
precincts in these, as well as in some others, by correspondence; but
by November 3 there were few without at least one active worker. Mrs.
Whitman came to Boise October 1, and labored zealously until the
election. Previous to her coming Miss Frances Wood had ably assisted
the secretary at headquarters.
The press was carefully looked after during the last three months of
the campaign, and out of sixty-five papers only three were openly
opposed. Seven thousand copies of the resolutions passed at the
suffrage convention in July were sent out; also literature presented
by the Utah association, 100 copies of the _Woman's Tribune_ and 3,000
leaflets from Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, and 9,000 tracts purchased of
the National Association.[233]
A strong factor in the campaign was the large colony in the Southern
part of the State who were residents of Utah when women voted there
and who believed in their enfranchisement. Mrs. Emily S. Richards of
Utah did effective work among them.
The amendment was voted upon at the general election of November,
1896. The association had had 50,000 dodgers printed, "Vote for the
woman suffrage amendment." These were sent to every precinct in the
State and given to voters on election day as a reminder. On that day
the local clubs did heroic work. It would be impossible to describe in
detail the final effort made by the women. Mrs. R. H. Leonard, Sr., of
Silver City, and her co-workers stood all day, ankle-deep in snow,
distributing the slips and urging the voters to cast their ballots in
favor of the amendment. At many points refreshments were served as
near the polls as permissible under the law.
When the results of the election were officially announced it was
found that there were 12,126 votes in favor of the amendment and 6,282
against it--a majority of 5,844.
A question arose, however, whether this was such a majority as is
contemplated by the constitution, the number of electors voting on the
amendment not being as great as the largest number voting on the
candidates. The constitution provides that "if a majority of the
electors shall ratify the same, such amendment or amendments shall
become a part of this constitution." It was held by the opponents that
it would require a majority of all the electors to ratify it, and the
matter was taken at once to the Supreme Court. Attorneys J. H. Hawley,
W. E. Borah and M. W. Tate gave their services gratuitously to
prosecute the case. Judge J. H. Richards also rendered valuable
assistance.
After a few weeks of anxious waiting, this tribunal, consisting of
Judges Isaac N. Sullivan, Joseph W. Huston and John T. Morgan,
rendered a unanimous decision that a _majority of those voting on the
question_ was sufficient to carry it. And thus the women of Idaho were
enfranchised!
The total expenses of this campaign were less than $2,500.
The city election of Boise, in July, 1897, was the first after the
adoption of equal suffrage, and the woman vote was a most important
factor. The issue was that of public improvements. On this the
majority of women took sides in favor of progress, although the
_personnel_ of the tickets was such that it was thought they would
generally vote the other way; and to them belongs the credit of the
victory.
The first State election under equal suffrage was in 1898, and there
was very general participation by women. In all the counties their
clubs did effective work and exercised a good influence. The election
was noticeable for its order and the absence of anything like the
scenes at the polls so common in former times. About 40 per cent. of
the vote was cast by women. One of them, Mrs. B. T. Jeffers, rode
sixty miles on horseback to her old home in order to vote.
Three women were elected members of the Legislature, Mrs. Clara
Campbell, Republican; Mrs. Hattie Noble, Democrat; Mrs. Mary Allen
Wright, Populist. Mrs. Wright was chairman of the House Committee of
the Whole during one entire afternoon, and ruled with a firm but
impartial hand.
Four women were elected county treasurers, and these have given entire
satisfaction. One of them has been renominated by her party. Miss
Permeal French was elected State superintendent of public instruction
and re-elected in 1900.[234] Fifteen women were chosen county
superintendents.
In nearly all the counties women are found holding responsible
appointments. Three have been made deputy sheriffs. Since equal
suffrage was adopted women have been placed on the Board of Regents of
the State University for the first time.
Gov. Frank Steunenberg said in 1900:
In a general sense there can be no doubt that the participation
of women in our public affairs has had a most elevating
influence. All parties see the necessity of nominating the best
individuals. The natural aim of women is toward the highest good
of the community, and the best social conditions. Instead of
seeking extremes of reform, as had been predicted, they are
interested in stable and conservative administration, for the
benefit of the homes and the children, and they avoid radical and
excessive reforms. In short, the objections which in theory have
been urged against woman's participation in public affairs have
been overcome by the actual application of the system in Idaho.
The suggestion may be made that this activity of women in public
affairs has operated to draw them away from their homes and from
the usual domestic avocations, a suggestion which our experience
amply disproves. In Idaho women are to-day the same loving wives,
kind mothers and capable home-managers that they always have
been. Nor has there been the least belittling of the sex in the
eyes of the men, nor any falling off in that tenderness and
respect which men universally accord to women. There is not the
slightest interruption of family ties. Whether husband and wife
vote together or oppositely excites no interest and no animosity,
although naturally families are apt to have the same party
affiliations. The system has not operated to take women from
their homes, nor has it tended to make them in any way
masculine.[235]
In the presidential election of 1900 women showed the liveliest
interest. The universal testimony was that never in the history of the
State had there been such order about the polling-places. Four-fifths
of the ballots were cast by 1 o'clock. The women did as effective work
as the men in getting out the voters.
The total population of Idaho is 161,762, and is composed, in round
numbers, of 58 per cent. of males and 42 per cent. of females. The
total vote of the men was 55,096; of the women, 19,660. In the
counties representing the agricultural, manufacturing and general
business of the State the women's vote averaged 41 per cent. of the
total ballot. In the counties devoted exclusively to mining, where
there are very few women, they cast only 24 per cent. This brought the
average of the women's vote in the entire State down to 35-1/2 per
cent. of the total.
In Boise 1,982 men and 1,561 women registered; total, 3,543. The vote
cast was 3,281. Allowing for the usual failures on the part of the
men, these figures show that over 40 per cent. of the vote of this
city must have been cast by women.[236]
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: The placing of the ballot in the hands of
women has had the effect of bringing about two changes of the highest
importance. The session of the Legislature held immediately after the
adoption of the suffrage amendment passed an act prohibiting gambling.
Prior to that time it had been licensed in the State, and its
establishments were openly conducted in practically all communities.
Against this evil the sentiment of the women was solidly arrayed, and
it could not be ignored. Before they voted, a bill altering the law
would have been ignominiously pigeon-holed, but the ballot in their
hands wrought a change under which a measure abolishing gambling was
enacted. This was found defective, and gambling continued until the
next legislative session. The gambling interests organized a lobby to
prevent the enactment of a valid law against their business, but they
failed, the law was passed, and gambling has since been suppressed in
nearly all communities. The sentiment which obtained the law secures
its enforcement--men do not dare run counter to the wishes of women,
when the latter have in their hands the power to make or unmake
politicians.
The present session of the Legislature (1900) passed a bill exempting
women from jury service. Gov. Frank W. Hunt returned it with his veto,
in which he said that this was in response to the protests of the
women themselves, who objected to being deprived of this right. There
was some talk in the Legislature of passing it over his veto, but this
was finally abandoned. The women took the ground that while the
ostensible object was to relieve them of an onerous duty, the real one
was to protect the gamblers and other law-breakers to whom women
jurors show no favor.
It is to be regretted that Governor Hunt could not have been
influenced by the protests of women on another point. The law of Idaho
provides that while a wife may hold property in her own name, the
husband shall have control of it. The present Legislature passed an
act giving married women control of their separate property. This was
vetoed by the Governor, who said:
Our statutes as they now exist provide complete adjustment of the
property relations between man and wife, placing them upon equal
terms, excepting that the husband has the management and control
of his wife's property during marriage, unless it should be taken
from him on complaint of the wife for causes set forth in Sec.
2,499.
As the law stands the wife can secure control over her own property
only by going into court, showing that her husband is mismanaging it,
and obtaining a decree taking it away from him.
The law regarding the inheritance of the separate estates is the same
for husband and wife, but not so of the community. Upon the death of
the wife the entire community property belongs to the husband without
administration. Upon the death of the husband one-half the community
property belongs to the wife; the other half is subject to his
testamentary disposition, or in the absence of that goes to his
descendants in equal shares. If he leave neither will nor descendants,
it goes to the wife.
The earnings of the wife belong to the husband unless she is living
separate from him.
No provision is made compelling the husband to support the wife, but
if he is infirm she must support him.
If the wife desire to engage in business she must apply to the court
for permission, showing the necessity for it; and every time she
wishes to remove to another place she must repeat this process.
The father is the legal guardian of the children. At his death the
mother, if suitable, is guardian while she remains unmarried.
The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 years in
1893, and from 14 to 18 in 1895. The penalty is imprisonment in the
penitentiary for not less than five years, and this may be extended
for life.
SUFFRAGE: Women have complete suffrage.
OFFICE HOLDING: Women are eligible to all offices. (See previous
pages.)
OCCUPATIONS: Naturally none are forbidden to women.
EDUCATION: The State University and all other educational institutions
are open to both sexes.
In the public schools there are 344 men and 558 women teachers. The
average monthly salary of the men is $56.11; of the women, $44.83.
FOOTNOTES:
[230] The History is indebted for this chapter to William Balderston,
editor of the Boise _Daily Statesman_, and Mrs. Eunice Pond Athey,
secretary of the State Suffrage Association during the amendment
campaign of 1896, when women became enfranchised.
[231] It was through the influence of Mr. Balderston more than that of
any other one man that the suffrage amendment was passed by the
Legislature. His power politically was felt during all the campaign.
It was only his personal influence which secured for the measure the
help of the _Daily Statesman_ of Boise, which it was so necessary to
have. Through his persuasion the co-operation of the National Woman
Suffrage Association was invited. He was our principal adviser
throughout, and with money, voice and pen aided the cause in every
possible way. [Eunice Pond Athey.
[232] Republican: We favor the amendments to the constitution of this
State proposed by the late Republican Legislature, including equal
suffrage for men and women, and recommend their adoption.
Silver Republican: We favor the adoption of the proposed amendment to
the constitution of the State providing for the extension of the right
of suffrage to women.
People's Party: Believing in equal rights to all and special
privileges to none, we favor the adoption of the pending woman's
suffrage amendment to the constitution.
Democratic: We recommend to the favorable consideration of the voters
of the State the proposed constitutional amendment granting equal
suffrage, believing that the great question should receive the earnest
attention of every person as an important factor in the future welfare
of the State.
[233] Among those who aided this movement were Judge J. H. Richards,
the Hon. Fremont Wood, Ex-Secretary of State George J. Lewis, Judge C.
O. Stockslager, J. H. Hawley, U. S. Marshal Joseph Pinkham, Judge J.
H. Beatty, the Hon. J. A. McGee, the Hon. Joseph Perrault, the Hon.
Edgar Wilson, and their wives; also the wives of the Justices of the
Supreme Court; Mesdames Martha B. Keller, M. A. Wright and Mina J.
Mathew, and Miss Annette Bowman of the faculty of the State
University.
[234] Gov. Frank Steunenberg thus testified: "It is conceded by all
that Miss French is the best officer in that capacity the State ever
has had. The place she occupies is one of unusual importance with
us.... Of the three women in the Legislature it may also be said that
they made most acceptable public officers, serving with ability and
success."
[235] See Appendix--Testimony from Woman Suffrage States.
[236] Prof. L. F. Henderson of the State University says that equal
suffrage, even in the few years it has been in operation in Idaho, has
proved itself a thing so simple, so natural, so entirely free from any
objectionable features, that it is now generally accepted and looked
upon as a matter of course. It has already converted the majority of
the men who were opposed and, which is still more remarkable, has
converted also the majority of the women.
Mrs. Henderson says the intelligent women take more interest in
suffrage than the ignorant ones; that women have suffered no loss of
consideration or social influence, but are treated, if anything, with
more respect. The possession of the ballot has made them much more
intelligent about public questions, as it has stimulated the study of
these.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ILLINOIS.[237]
The Illinois Equal Suffrage Association has had only four presidents
in the past sixteen years. Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert retired from
this office at the annual meeting of Sept. 25, 1884, and was succeeded
by Mrs. Mary E. Holmes, who served until the autumn of 1889, when Mrs.
Harbert again filled the presidency for one year. At the convention of
1890 Mrs. Holmes was re-elected, and held office until her resignation
in 1897. In May of this year, Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn was elected. In
1899 Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch was made president, and in 1900
Mrs. Harbert resumed the position for one year. The other officers
elected were: Vice-president, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith; corresponding
secretary, Mrs. Mary Munn; recording secretary, Miss S. Grace
Nicholas; treasurer, the Rev. Kate Hughes; chairman executive
committee, Mrs. Elmina E. Springer.
As the work is divided into districts and counties, and as there are
twenty-two districts and 102 counties partially organized, it will not
be possible to name in this chapter the hundreds of quiet but very
efficient workers, men and women, or to tell of their unselfish
devotion, shown often in the face of fierce opposition.
The association has held a State convention each year, except 1893,
the year of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, when it was decided
instead to attend the World's Congress of Representative Women, which
met in May.[238] At many of these meetings national officers were
present, among them Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, and the halls
were seldom large enough to accommodate the crowds in attendance.
There have been also district and county conventions every year, while
Fourth of July celebrations, county fairs and Chautauqua assemblies
have been utilized to disseminate suffrage sentiment.
In 1888 Senator Miles B. Castle, Judge C. B. Waite, Mrs. Dunn and Mrs.
Helen M. Gougar, the last-named from Indiana, held suffrage
conferences in various cities. Later in this and the following year,
similar meetings were held in a number of other places by the Illinois
workers, with the assistance of Mrs. Gougar and the Rev. Anna Howard
Shaw.
In 1891 occurred a series of conventions which extended over six weeks
and was conducted by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace of Indiana and Mrs.
McCulloch. In November Mrs. Holmes made a two-weeks' lecturing trip.
In 1892 and '93 Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe canvassed the State, speaking in
nearly fifty towns and cities, and raising enough money to defray all
expenses and put a handsome amount in the treasury for legislative
work.
In March, 1893, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national
organization committee, made a lecture tour of the central and
southern part of Illinois.
In 1897 the National Association held a series of meetings in Illinois
with Miss Mary G. Hay of New York, Mrs. Jennie Hutchins, Mrs. Leonora
Beck, as managers, and Mrs. Dunn and the Rev. Ida C. Hultin as
speakers. During the summer Mrs. Dunn, with Mrs. Martha A. B. Conine
of Colorado lectured in numerous cities; and in November the national
officers held a conference in Chicago, in which Miss Anthony and Miss
Shaw, president and vice-president of the National Association, Mrs.
Chapman Catt and also many local workers participated.
In 1898 Miss Lena Morrow made speeches for the State association and
spent a month lecturing before labor organizations. She secured
suffrage resolutions from unions representing a membership of 25,000.
Mrs. McCulloch gave the month of June, 1890, to canvassing South
Dakota in the interest of the suffrage amendment there; and in the
fall of 1898 Mrs. Dunn and Miss Morrow were sent to that State to
assist in its second campaign for one month, at the expense of the
Illinois association. Miss Morrow worked also in the amendment
campaign of 1900 in Oregon for two-and-one-half months, a portion of
her expenses being contributed by Illinois suffragists.
The Chicago Political Equality League was organized by Miss Ellen A.
Martin, who was at its head for many years.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: In 1891, at the request of the State E.
S. A., a joint resolution was presented to the Legislature for an
amendment to the constitution enfranchising women. This was championed
in the House by George W. Curtis and brought to a vote. It received 54
votes, a majority of those cast but not a constitutional majority,
which is one over one-half of the whole membership. Charles Bogardus
managed the bill in the Senate, but was not able to secure a vote upon
it. The hard work for this Amendment Bill, however, paved the way for
the passage of the School Suffrage Bill later in the session.
This bill had been prepared by the State Woman's Christian Temperance
Union, and was introduced into the Senate by T. C. MacMillan. Although
there were many more petitions asking for the amendment than for
School Suffrage, their combined influence, with Senator MacMillan's
earnest work, was sufficient to pass this bill through the Senate by
29 ayes, 4 noes. At the closing hour of the last session in the House,
Dr. H. M. Moore, one of the members of a third party that finally had
assisted the Democrats to elect John M. Palmer as United States
Senator, made an urgent plea that something should be done for the
women; and because of his eloquence, or the gratitude of the
Democrats, or the keen sense of justice among all the members, the
Senate School Suffrage Bill was passed by 83 ayes, 43 noes.
As it was the general impression that women had received the full
School Franchise by this bill, they proceeded to vote on bonds,
location of buildings and various other matters pertaining to the
schools, and also for county superintendents. The bill was obscurely
worded, and it has taken four decisions of the Supreme Court of
Illinois to decide just the points which it covered and the limits to
which it might be constitutionally extended. As it now stands, under
this law women can vote only for candidates for such school offices
as have been created by the Legislature. (See Suffrage.)
However, this bill was useful in securing from the Supreme Court the
ruling that the Legislature had power to regulate the suffrage
concerning all positions created by itself. Heretofore the weight of
judicial opinion had been the other way; that no change whatever could
be made in the suffrage except by constitutional amendment.[239]
During the session of 1893 R. W. Coon secured the passage in the
Senate of a Township Suffrage Bill prepared by the State association.
Its members argued that if school offices not named in the
constitution are creations of the Legislature, so are most of the
township offices and therefore it has power to grant women the
suffrage for these. This bill was accompanied by a petition of 12,000
names. Senator Bogardus made a spirited report on these, extolling the
character of the signers, whose standing he had ascertained from the
senators of their districts. It passed the Senate by 26 votes, a
constitutional majority. In the House the committee reported it
favorably, many members pledged themselves to its support, and it went
through the second reading safely; but just when expectation ran
highest, it was referred back to the committee and smothered.
In this same Legislature a bill to repeal the School Suffrage Law was
defeated in the House, less than 40 of the 153 members voting aye. It
was not brought to a vote in the Senate.
In 1895 Senator Coon introduced the Township Bill again, but owing to
absentees it received only 23 votes, 26 being necessary to pass it.
Fearing that a majority of the members of the House were pledged to
vote for it, the chairman of the committee to which it was referred
made a sub-committee of three notorious opponents who took care that
it never was reported.
In 1897 Senator G. W. Monroe took charge of the State association's
measures. Bills for Township and Bond Suffrage, and for suffrage for
certain city, county and township officers and for Presidential
electors, were introduced by him but failed to pass.
In the special session of 1898 only such matters could be considered
as were named by Gov. John R. Tanner in calling it. The State
association petitioned him to include woman suffrage in the list, but
he did not grant the request. One of the subjects named was taxation.
The association prepared a bill to exempt the property of women from
taxation until they were allowed to vote. All the metropolitan papers
were interested in or amused by this bill, and gave it considerable
publicity, but it was not acted upon.
In 1899 the three bills championed by Senator Monroe in 1897 were
managed by Senator Isaac H. Hamilton. He forced two of them to a vote,
but neither received a majority.
During all this time Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, a practicing
lawyer of Chicago, auditor of the National Association and former
president of the State E. S. A., was the very efficient legislative
superintendent. She pressed the bills with a force which almost
brought success by its own momentum, and yet by her good judgment and
fair methods kept the respect of legislators who were bitterly opposed
to her measures.[240]
Sometimes the hearings on these bills occurred in the Senate Chamber
or the House of Representatives. One of the most noteworthy was in
1895, when about twenty women, representing many different localities,
societies and nationalities, made clever five-minute speeches.
The State association has sent the _Woman's Journal_, the _Woman's
Column_ and other suffrage literature to members of the Legislature
for months at a time. Petitions always have accompanied the bills.
Added to those presented in 1899 were resolutions adopted by various
Chicago labor organizations of men, representing a membership of
25,000. The petitions of the State association generally have exceeded
all those presented for all other measures.[241]
There has been no distinction between husband and wife in the laws of
inheritance since 1873. The surviving wife or husband is endowed of a
third part of all the real estate of which the other dies possessed.
If either die without a will, leaving a surviving child or children,
or descendants of such, the survivor receives, in addition, one-third
of the personal estate absolutely. If, however, there are no lineal
descendants, the widow or widower receives absolutely one-half of the
real estate and the whole of the personal estate. If there are no
descendants and no kindred, the whole estate goes to the surviving
widow or widower.
A married woman has held her property in her own name since 1861. She
has been entitled to engage in business, control her earnings, sue and
be sued and make contracts since 1869.
Until 1901 the father was entitled to the care of the persons and
education of the minor children. In 1898 Mrs. McCulloch published, in
the form of a story called Mr. Lex, a _resume_ of the terrible
injustice and cruelty possible under this law; and also pointed out
the same possibilities in the administration of other laws which seem
entirely fair to the casual observer. It was widely reviewed by the
Chicago press and aroused much interest. In the winter of 1901 a bill
was passed by the Legislature giving fathers and mothers equal
guardianship and custody of their minor children. Mrs. McCulloch,
representing the State E. S. A., had charge of this bill. A copy of
her book, Mr. Lex, was sent to every member, as well as the full facts
from every State which had such a law as the one proposed. She also
obtained the indorsement of numerous organizations and influential
persons, and had many individual letters written to members. All this
simply to give mothers equal guardianship with fathers of their own
children!
Mrs. McCulloch was ably assisted by the Rev. Kate Hughes. The bill
passed by the large vote of 34 ayes, 8 noes, in the Senate; 119 ayes,
one no, in the House. It was signed by Gov. Richard Yates on May 18.
The wife is entitled to support suited to her condition in life. The
husband is entitled to the same support out of her individual
property. They are jointly liable for family expenses. Failure to
support the wife and children under twelve years of age is a
misdemeanor, and may be punished by a fine of not less than $100 or
more than $500, or imprisonment in the county jail, house of
correction or workhouse not less than one month nor more than twelve
months, or both such fine and imprisonment. The wife may sue for
separate maintenance without divorce.
The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 years in
1887, but it never has been possible to have this age extended. The
penalty is imprisonment in the penitentiary for from one year to life.
In 1893 Mrs. Florence Kelley and Miss Mary Kenney, aided by the
women's and men's labor organizations of Chicago and by many women's
clubs, secured a Factory Inspection Law. It contained a prohibition
against the employment of a woman over eight hours daily in any
factory or workshop, but this section was declared unconstitutional
because it was a restriction upon the right to contract.
SUFFRAGE: The Legislature which adjourned in 1891 left the School
Suffrage Law obscure, incomplete and with no provisions to carry out
its intentions. In many cases the women had to provide their own
ballots and ballot-boxes. To the credit of the large majority of the
judges of election it can be said that they accepted the votes of the
women with no certainty that they were acting legally or would be
sustained by future decisions. In a number of instances, however, in
the more ignorant parts of the State, the votes were insolently
refused.
In the country and unincorporated towns, in villages and small cities,
where the school boards are elected by the people, there are a number
of officers for whom women may vote;[242] but in places like Chicago,
where the board is appointed by the mayor, the only vote they have is
for three trustees of the State University every two years.
In the summer and fall of 1893 the officers of the State association
agitated the question of asking for the nomination of a woman as one
of these trustees, and in March, 1894, the convention in Danville
approved this suggestion. The auxiliary societies were urged to use
all their influence to have delegates from their counties to the State
political conventions instructed to vote for a woman candidate. Later
in the spring several of the suffrage officers and prominent women of
Chicago appeared before the Republican State Central Committee, and
the same day visited the Republican State Editorial Association,
asking their influence to secure the nomination of a woman for
trustee. Letters were sent to 200 leading politicians of different
parties giving reasons why such action should be taken and asking for
their co-operation. Personal appeals were made to the editors of the
Chicago dailies for their influence.
Then came the most important work of all--securing the indorsement of
the Cook County conventions. Previous to that of the Republicans Mrs.
McCulloch interviewed leading members of the county committee and
received an invitation to present the matter to the convention, which
she did, representing both the State E. S. A. and the Woman's Club of
Chicago. Mrs. Elmina D. Springer also made an address. They were
invited to meet the resolutions committee, were treated with great
courtesy, and the resolution asking that delegates to the State
convention be instructed to vote as a unit for the nomination of a
woman for University trustee, was adopted.
The Chicago Woman's Club sent fifty women to the Cook County
Democratic Convention and secured the same pledge.
Committees were then appointed to manage this question in the State
conventions of the parties. Just a few days before the first
(Democratic), the attorney-general, who was a Democrat, gave the
opinion that women could not legally vote for trustees or be trustees,
and published it widely in the Chicago press. Mrs. McCulloch followed
him with a carefully prepared brief which also was given to the press.
This new difficulty made it imperative for her to attend the
Democratic State Convention to present her view of the disputed legal
point, and this she did with marked success. Whenever any of the
delegates said, "Why, haven't you read Maloney's opinion that a woman
can not hold the office or vote for trustee?" she would answer, "Yes,
but haven't you read my opinion that she can?" She addressed the
entire convention, and the nomination of Dr. Julia Holmes Smith was
made unanimously. The other political parties then had to follow with
the nomination of a woman or fall behind the Democrats in chivalry.
As the Chicago Woman's Club sent a strong representation to the
Republican convention, and as pledges already had been secured from
the delegates, the committee appointed by the suffrage association did
not deem it necessary to attend. Mrs. Lucy L. Flower was nominated by
this body.
The Prohibitionists nominated two women, one of them the secretary of
the Illinois E. S. A., Prof. Rena Michaels Atchison.
This recognition from the different parties so encouraged the women
that in 1894 they voted enthusiastically throughout the State,
especially in Chicago where the candidates were well known. Before the
election, however, a difficulty arose from an unexpected quarter. The
men composing the Board of University Trustees became alarmed, and
employed an attorney who gave an opinion that women neither could vote
for trustees nor be elected to the office. He rushed into print; Mrs.
McCulloch, who might have been worn to shreds by this time, patiently
answered the young man, and "the women went right on voting."
Professor Atchison had the compliment of receiving about 3,000 votes
more than the men on the same ticket as herself, and Dr. Smith
likewise ran ahead of her ticket.[243] Mrs. Flower was the successful
candidate, also leading the nominees of her party.
The Republican women organized by appointing a State Central
Committee, and placed upon it a woman from each congressional
district.[244] The Democratic women formed a Cornelia Club which
worked for the interest of their party's nominee.
OFFICE HOLDING: A statute of Illinois (1873) provides that no person
shall be debarred from any occupation, profession or employment
(except the military), on account of sex, and that this shall not be
construed to affect the eligibility of any person to an elective
office.[245]
The following have served as trustees of the State University: Mrs.
Lucy L. Flower, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Mrs. Mary Turner Carriel, Mrs.
Alice Asbury Abbott, Mrs. Carrie Thomas Alexander. The term of office
is six years.
Women are eligible to all school offices (1873) and large numbers have
served as county superintendents, members of city boards of education
and directors of district schools. All the principal cities now have
women on their school boards. In Chicago there are two at the present
time. Ten counties have women for superintendents.
Miss Cora B. Hirtzell was appointed as assistant by C. S. Thornton,
corporation counsel of Chicago, and served during his whole term of
office.
Miss Mary M. Bartelme was appointed by Gov. John R. Tanner Public
Guardian of Cook County, and is the only woman in the United States to
fill such a position. Her duties are to look after the persons of
minors and their small estates, when no one else will take the
guardianship, and she has over 200 children under her care. She
received the highest commendation from Judge Christian C. Kohlsaat,
formerly of the Probate Court, and continues to hold office under his
successor.
A decision of the Supreme Court permits a woman to be Master in
Chancery, but only one ever was appointed.
Women may be official court reporters, but only two have been
appointed. The office of a Judge being elective he naturally feels
obliged to give these places to voters.
Women have been notaries public for over twenty years.
Miss Kate O'Connor was deputy clerk of Winnebago County for ten years,
and Miss Rose Beatson was deputy county treasurer. Mrs. A. T. Ames was
deputy sheriff of Boone County.
Frequently the position of State Librarian has been filled by a woman,
and of late years that of postmaster in the House and the Senate. The
librarian of the Southern Normal University at Carbondale is a woman.
Women have served as presidents of library boards in various places.
Women sit on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Farmers'
Institute. One of the State Commissioners of Public Charities was a
woman; but she resigned because of the introduction of politics into
the board. A woman has served on the State Board of Health.
The Home for Juvenile Female Offenders was established in 1893. It is
under the control of five trustees, two of whom are women. The
superintendent also is a woman.
The Soldiers' Widows' Home was established by a law of 1895, which
provided that of the five trustees three should be women and members
of the State Woman's Relief Corps. The entire board is now composed of
women.
Chicago has three women deputy factory inspectors, and formerly had a
chief inspector, Mrs. Florence Kelley, who served four years with
great ability.
Miss Jane Addams of Hull House was appointed garbage inspector of the
nineteenth ward of Chicago by Mayor George B. Swift. She served one
year and was succeeded by Miss Amanda Johnson, also a resident of Hull
House. Under their care this ward, which had been one of the most
neglected in the city, became famous for cleanliness and order.
Volunteer associations of women in Chicago did so much in this
direction that some of their members finally took the civil service
examinations for garbage inspectors or contractors and several
received official positions. Among the most prominent of these is Mrs.
A. Emmagene Paul, who superintends a large force of men in the first
ward of Chicago. As this is a down-town ward it is one of the hardest
in the city to keep clean, but she performs the work to the
satisfaction of all except "gang" politicians, who have made every
possible effort to have Mayor Carter Harrison remove her.
Mrs. Bertha Honore Palmer of Chicago was appointed United States
Commissioner at the Paris Exposition of 1900 by President McKinley,
the only woman distinguished by any government with so important a
position. Miss Addams was appointed a member of the Jury of
International Awards, Department of Social Economics, for the same
exposition. Her election as vice-president of this jury made her
eligible to membership in the Group Jury, on which she also served.
This was a distinction conferred upon no other woman.
OCCUPATIONS: All occupations were opened to women by a statute of
1873, which declared also that they should not be required to work on
streets or roads or serve upon juries.
They were not allowed to practice law until 1872, Mrs. Myra W.
Bradwell having been the first to make application in 1869.[246] Since
that time ninety women have been admitted to the bar. Among those who
have done noteworthy work is the daughter of Judge and Mrs. Bradwell,
Mrs. Bessie Bradwell Helmer, who was chief editor of twenty volumes of
the Appellate Court Reports and, since the death of her mother, has
been president of the _Chicago Legal News_ Company, which issues the
principal law publications of the State.
Mrs. Catharine V. Waite published the _Chicago Law Times_ for two
years; Mrs. Marietta B. R. Shay wrote The Student's Guide to Common
Law Pleading; and Miss Ellen A. Martin organized the National Woman
Lawyer's League, and is its secretary. Women are members of the State
and the Chicago Bar Associations and of the Chicago Law Institute.
The World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, opened
large fields of usefulness and power to women. Those of Illinois were
especially conspicuous in the wonderful work done by their sex during
this World's Fair. Its Board of Lady Managers was appointed under an
Act of Congress to represent the special interests of women at the
exposition, and Mrs. Bertha Honore Palmer was elected president. Mrs.
Ellen M. Henrotin of Chicago was vice-president and active
superintendent of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress
Auxiliary.
A complete official report of nearly 1,000 pages of the Congress of
Representative Women, the greatest assemblage of women which ever had
been held up to this date, was prepared by the Chairman of the
Organization Committee, Mrs. May Wright Sewall of Indianapolis, who
made several trips abroad in the interest of the Congress. To her
great executive capacity and untiring efforts for three years, with
those added of its secretary, Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery of
Philadelphia, and the splendid co-operation of the committee of
Chicago women--Miss Frances E. Willard. Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson,
Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Mrs. Lydia Avery Coonley, Mrs. Elizabeth
Boynton Harbert and Mrs. William Thayer Brown--is due the fact that
this Congress was the most conspicuous success of any held during the
Exposition, with the exception of the Parliament of Religions. It
convened May 15, 1893, and continued one week, during which eighty-one
meetings were held in the different rooms of the Art Palace.
Twenty-seven countries and 126 organizations were represented by 528
delegates. According to official estimate the total attendance
exceeded 150,000.[247]
EDUCATION: The law colleges never have been closed to women. Union
College of Law was the first in the United States to graduate a woman,
Mrs. Ada H. Kepley, in 1870.
Some of the medical schools are still bitterly opposed to admitting
women. All the homeopathic colleges are open to them with the
exception of the Chicago Homeopathic. At Harvey Medical College about
half the students are women, and several of the full professorships
are filled by them. Hahnemann College admits them but has no woman
professor or instructor. In 1899 Dr. Julia Holmes Smith was elected
dean of the National Medical College (Homeopathic) with no dissenting
vote, and in 1900 she was re-elected. She is the only woman dean of a
medical institution composed of both sexes. Women are received in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, which is the medical department of
the State University. Rush College, one of the largest of the
allopathic institutions, has just been opened to them. All of the
colleges named above are in Chicago. Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson was
the first woman admitted to the American Medical Association.
The theological schools generally are closed to women. They are
admitted to the full courses of the Garrett Biblical Institute of the
Northwestern University. Lombard University gives them the full
privileges of its Divinity School (Universalist). In 1898 the Chicago
Union Theological Seminary (Congregationalist) opened its doors to
them. They may also enter the theological department of Chicago
University, but its circular of information says: "Women students
receive no encouragement to become ministers."
The State University and all of the other large universities and
colleges in Illinois are open to women, although some of the minor
institutions are still closed.
There are in the public schools 6,973 men and 18,974 women teachers.
The average monthly salary of the men is $60.42; of the women, $53.27.
In the Chicago schools women receive the same pay as men for the same
work, but the highly salaried positions are largely monopolized by
men.
An incident which has no parallel deserves a place on these pages. In
Chicago it was long the custom, whenever retrenchment of taxes became
necessary, to cut down the salaries of the school teachers. In 1899
they could not get even what was legally due to them, and in 1900 the
same condition prevailed.
Various reasons were given for the shortage of funds, but two of the
teachers. Miss Margaret Haley and Miss Catharine Goggin, obtained
information that the reason of the deficit was that some of the
largest corporations in the State were not assessed for taxes. Without
any backing they began an investigation. When proof positive was
secured, through a long search of official records, they laid the case
before the Teachers' Federation of 4,000 members, who authorized them
to prosecute it to the end and supplied the necessary funds.
They went before the Board of Equalization with proofs that hundreds
of millions of dollars of corporation property was not assessed for
taxation; but the board refused absolutely to act. Then they filed a
mandamus to compel it to do so, and brought the matter into the
courts. Every legal, political and financial influence that could be
secured in the State was used to fight these courageous women. They
carried the case through the lower courts and into the Supreme Court,
which confirmed their contention that these corporations should be
taxed (Oct 24. 1901.)
The Union Traction Company and the Chicago Consolidated Traction
Company, two of the greatest corporations which for years had been
avoiding their legal taxes, applied to the United States Circuit Court
for an injunction to restrain the State Board of Equalization from
assessing them. They invoked the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal
Constitution, which says that private property shall not be taken
without due process of law. The injunction was refused.
This decision will increase the revenues of Chicago not less than
$5,000,000 a year, unless some scheme is evolved for circumventing the
law, which has not been enforced up to this time. (July, 1902.)
* * * * *
During the campaign of 1900 both Republican and Democratic clubs of
women were formed. The Democratic Club of Chicago announced that it
would be permanent, and at all times would oppose every legislative
and congressional candidate who should be unfavorable to woman
suffrage.
The Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs has been a great educator. It
was organized in 1894, and is composed of 225 clubs with a membership
of 20,000. The Chicago Woman's Club is one of the largest in the
United States and does a vast amount of practical work.
Miss Frances E. Willard belonged to Illinois as well as to the world,
and it was through her powerful influence that the great organization
of the W. C. T. U. was first swung into line for the enfranchisement
of women. By voice and pen she aided this cause for over twenty years.
Among other staunch supporters are Mrs. Lydia Avery Coonley-Ward,
whose home and purse and pen are used for the benefit of woman
suffrage; and her mother, Mrs. Susan Look Avery, who speaks and writes
with the vigor of youth, although eighty-three years of age. Mrs.
Emily M. Gross is one of the large contributors.
Senator Miles B. Castle was chairman of the Illinois E. S. A.
executive committee for over twenty years, and edited and published
the State organ, the _Suffragist_, for five years, supplying the
deficit from his own pocket. The Rev. C. C. Harrah, now of Iowa, did
valiant service for many years as chairman of the State advisory
committee. He sent his leaflet, Jesus Christ the Emancipator of
Woman, at his own expense to hundreds of ministers throughout the
country, and it is still in use by the National Association.
Mrs. Eva Munson Smith, vice-president of the State association,
published a volume entitled Woman in Sacred Song, which contains poems
written by 830, and 150 musical compositions by 50 different women.
Mrs. Carrie Ashton Johnson, secretary, compiled a popular Suffrage
Dime Speaker. Miss Mary H. Krout, for ten years connected with the
_Inter-Ocean_, never has failed to use her influence in favor of woman
suffrage. Mrs. Fannie H. Rastall gave her services as editor-in-chief
of the _Woman's Forum_ for several years.
Sixteen years ago but one paper in Illinois had a woman's department;
now this is a feature of all, and 161 are regularly publishing
suffrage matter furnished by the State press bureau.
FOOTNOTES:
[237] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Mary E. Holmes
of Chicago, who has been officially connected with the State Equal
Suffrage Association since 1884.
[238] State conventions have been held as follows: Watseka, 1884;
Geneseo, 1885; Sandwich, 1886; Galva, 1887; Rockford, 1888; Joliet,
1889; Moline, 1890; Kewanee, 1891; Aurora, 1892; Chicago (World's
Fair), 1893; Danville, 1894; Decatur, 1895; Harvey, 1896; Waukegan,
1897; Springfield, 1898; Barry, 1899. The twenty-seventh annual
meeting took place in Edgewater, Oct. 11, 12, 1900.
[239] Among the officers for whom the Legislature has the power to
allow women to vote are Presidential electors, members of the State
Board of Equalization, clerk of the Appellate Court, county collector,
county surveyor, members of the Board of Assessors, sanitary district
trustees, members of the Board of Review, all officers of cities,
villages and towns (except police magistrates), supervisor, town
clerk, assessor, collector and highway commissioner.
The Legislature has power also to permit women to vote on general
questions submitted to the electors, besides voting in all annual and
special town meetings.
[240] During these years various suffrage bills were introduced by
other organizations. The school board of Winnetka had one to give
women a right to vote on all matters relating to schools; the W. C. T.
U. one for a constitutional amendment; and members of the Legislature
occasionally on their own responsibility introduced bills.
[241] In 1891 an anti-suffrage petition, signed by twelve persons,
aroused some interest on account of its novelty. In later Legislatures
their petitions do not seem to have appeared, but some of those twelve
signers can be found composing the Chicago Anti Suffrage Society of
the present day.
[242] In April, 1891, fifteen women of Lombard voted at the municipal
election under a special charter which gave the franchise to citizens
over twenty-one years of age. The judges were about to refuse the
votes, but Miss Ellen A. Martin, of the law firm of Perry & Martin in
Chicago, argued the legal points so conclusively that they were
accepted. No one has contested that election, and the women have
established their right to vote.
[243] Although Dr. Smith was defeated she was really the first woman
who served as trustee of the State University, for Gov. John P.
Altgeld appointed her to fill a member's unexpired term and she took
her seat one month before Mrs. Flower, serving eighteen months. At the
next election her name was again placed on the Democratic ticket,
which was again defeated.
[244] They continued to hold delegate conventions every two years to
nominate a woman for trustee, until the Primary Election Law, recently
passed, provided that delegates to nominating conventions must be
elected at the polls.
[245] During the Legislature of 1873 a Joint Special Committee was
appointed to revise the laws. Through the heroic efforts of Miles B.
Castle in the Senate and Judge James B. Bradwell in the House, with
the assistance of the veteran law professor and reviser of statutes,
the Hon. Harvey B. Hurd, a most liberal legislation for women, in all
directions possible at that time, was secured.
[246] See History Woman Suffrage, Vol. II, p. 601.
[247] Mrs. Sewall's report will be found in most public libraries. A
graphic account of this Congress is contained in the Life and Work of
Susan B. Anthony, Chap. XLI. See also present volume of this History,
Chap XIV.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
INDIANA.[248]
The earliest woman suffrage society in Indiana was formed in Dublin
only three years after that first memorable convention at Seneca
Falls, N. Y., in 1848, and annual meetings were held until the
beginning of the Civil War, and resumed after its close.
That of 1884 took place December 9, 10, in the Methodist Church at
Kokomo with delegates present from a number of cities. The resolutions
included one of sorrow over the deaths of Frances Dana Gage, a pioneer
suffragist, and Laura Giddings Julian, daughter of Joshua R. Giddings
and wife of George W. Julian, M. C., both staunch advocates of the
enfranchisement of women, as she herself had been. Dr. Mary F. Thomas,
who had joined in the call for the first meeting in 1851, was
re-elected president and the Hon. William Dudley Foulke made
vice-president-at-large. Among the speakers were the Reverends
Frazier, Hudson and McCune, Dr. Gifford and Judge Pollard.
The annual meeting of 1885 was held at Warsaw, October 22, 23, and
welcomed by Mayor Royse. On account of the advanced age of Dr. Thomas
her resignation was accepted and Mrs. Mary S. Armstrong elected
president. Henry B. Blackwell and Lucy Stone were present throughout
the sessions.
The State convention of 1886 met in Richmond, November 8, 9, in the
Eighth Street Friends' Meeting House and was welcomed by the Mayor.
Addresses were made by Mr. Blackwell, Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Zerelda G.
Wallace, Dr. Thomas, Mr. Foulke, Mrs. Mary E. Haggart, Mrs. Armstrong,
Mrs. Mattie Stewart Charles, Sylvester Johnson and others.
In 1887 the convention took place at La Porte, December 1, 2, and was
addressed by Mr. Foulke, Professor Hailman and Mrs. Eudora F. Hailman,
the Rev. Mr. Grant, General Packard, Mrs. J. W. Ridgway, Mrs.
Rhenton, Sylvanus Grover and others. Mr. Foulke was elected president
and Mrs. Haggart vice-president-at-large.[249]
Up to this time these annual meetings had been convened under the
auspices of the American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1878 a strong
society had been organized in Indianapolis with Mrs. Zerelda G.
Wallace, president, Mrs. May Wright Sewall, secretary, and 175
members. It had held numerous meetings and done a large amount of
legislative and political work, but had made no State or national
alliances. In May, 1887, however, it called a convention, which met in
Plymouth Congregational Church, and with the assistance of Miss Susan
B. Anthony a State organization was effected, auxiliary to the
National Woman Suffrage Association. The officers elected were:
President, Mrs. Helen M. Gougar; vice-president-at-large, Mrs.
Wallace; secretary, Mrs. Ida Husted Harper; treasurer, Mrs. Juliette
K. Wood; chairman executive committee, Mrs. Sewall; superintendent of
press, Miss Mary E. Cardwill.
In November, under the management of this board, two days' conventions
were held in each of the congressional districts of the State, at
Evansville, Vincennes, Bloomington, Kokomo, Logansport, Wabash,
Lafayette, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Muncie, Madison, New Albany and
Terre Haute. The speakers were Miss Anthony, Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Sewall
and Mrs. Gougar, the meetings being arranged by Mrs. Harper. They were
well attended, a great deal of suffrage sentiment was aroused and a
balance was left in the treasury.
The annual convention took place at Indianapolis in the Grand Opera
House, May 15, 16, 1888, with delegates present from every
congressional district. Among the speakers were Mr. Foulke, Mrs. Annie
Jenness Miller and Miss Anthony. The board of officers was re-elected.
The third convention met at Rushville, Oct. 10, 11, 1889. Miss Anthony
was in attendance. By previous arrangement delegates from the
American branch were present and, with unanimous consent, a union of
two bodies into one State organization was effected. Although
receiving a majority vote, Mrs. Sewall, Miss Cardwill and Mrs. Harper,
for personal reasons, refused longer to serve. The election finally
resulted: President, Mrs. Gougar; vice-president-at-large, Mrs.
Wallace; secretary, Mrs. Caroline C. Hodgin; treasurer, Mrs. Hattie E.
Merrill; chairman executive committee, Mrs. E. M. Seward;
superintendent of press, Mrs. Georgia Wright. A resolution was adopted
mourning the death of Dr. Mary F. Thomas.
State meetings were held for several years afterward, but the records
of them are not available.
In 1899, the State association having been apparently defunct for a
long time, a conference of the officers of the National Association
was called to meet in Indianapolis, at the earnest request of
Mrs. Sewall and a committee. There were present on December
7, 8, Miss Anthony, president, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw,
vice-president-at-large, Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, treasurer, Miss
Laura Clay and Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, auditors, and Mrs.
Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the organization committee. Mrs.
Sewall gave two receptions to enable the people of the city to greet
them; a large one was given by Mrs. Lucy McDowell Milburn, wife of the
Rev. Joseph A. Milburn, of the Second Presbyterian Church; and a
luncheon at the handsome residence of Mrs. Alice Wheeler Peirce by the
committee.
Business meetings were held at the Denison Hotel. The evening
meetings, in Plymouth Church, were large and enthusiastic. A new State
association was formed and also a new local club for Indianapolis,
while the staunch and steadfast old societies of Kokomo and Tipton
were aroused to new activity.[250]
At the State meeting in Indianapolis in November, 1900, the old board
of officers was re-elected, except that Mrs. Mary Shank was made
vice-president and Mrs. Ethel B. McMullen, treasurer.
A very considerable sentiment in favor of woman suffrage exists
throughout the State and many well-known individuals advocate it,
among them U. S. Senator Albert J. Beveridge and most of the
Congressional delegation, State officials, judges, clergymen and
prominent members of the women's clubs, but there is so slight an
organization that little opportunity is afforded for public expression
or action.
From 1884 down to the present women have appeared many times in person
and by petition before county and State conventions of the different
political parties, asking for a recognition in their platforms of the
right of women to the suffrage. Although these efforts have met with
no response from the Democratic party, and none from the Republican in
State meetings, a few county conventions have adopted planks to this
effect. In 1889 the Greenback and the United Labor State Conventions
unequivocally indorsed the franchise for women. In 1892 the Populist
and the Prohibition State platforms contained declarations for woman
suffrage. In 1894 the Populists again adopted the plank. Similar
action was taken by the Social Democratic Party in 1900. Among those
appearing before these bodies are found the names of Mrs. Sewall, Mrs.
Gougar, Mrs. Haggart, Mrs. Pauline T. Merritt, Miss Flora Hardin, Mrs.
Florence M. Adkinson, Mrs. Augusta Cooper Bristol and Mrs. Harper.
During the past sixteen years a number of women have sat as delegates
in the State conventions of the Greenback, Prohibition, Populist,
Socialist and Labor parties. Women have shown great interest in
politics for many years, crowding the galleries at the State
conventions and forming at least one-half of the audiences at the
campaign rallies. Among those who have canvassed the State in national
campaigns are the noted orators, Miss Anna E. Dickinson, and Mrs.
Nellie Holbrook Blinn of California, for the Republican party; Mrs.
Mary E. Lease and Mrs. Annie L. Diggs, both of Kansas, for the
Populist; Miss Cynthia Cleveland for the Democratic, and Mrs. Helen M.
Gougar for the Republican, Prohibition and Populist.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: It is most difficult to look up the
history of legislation on any subject in Indiana. The original bills
are not printed but are presented in writing, stowed away in
pigeon-holes and thenceforth referred to only by number, with perhaps
a fragment of their titles. After several women, deeply interested in
the question, had attempted to make a list of the suffrage bills
during the last sixteen years and had given up in despair, they
appealed to one of the best lawyers in the State, who is a firm
believer in the enfranchisement of women. He responded that no
accurate report could be made without first going through all the
pigeon-holes and over all the journals of the two Houses during that
period, which would require weeks of time and great expense. As very
few of these bills ever were reported from the committees, it seemed
unnecessary to undertake their resurrection for the purposes of this
History.
The Indiana Legislature meets biennially and there is seldom a session
in which bills are not presented for municipal or full suffrage. In
1893 bills were before this body asking for the Municipal ballot, and
newspaper accounts speak of Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace, Mrs. Mary S.
Armstrong and Mrs. Laura G. Schofield as working industriously for
their passage.
In 1895 Judge George B. Cardwill introduced two bills without request,
one for an amendment to the constitution striking out the word "male;"
the other to amend the law so as to make it obligatory to have one
woman on the school board of every city. The women made no effort to
secure consideration of these bills, and they lay dormant in
committee.
It never has been thought worth while to make the struggle for School
Suffrage, as Indianapolis is the only city which elects its school
board. In the others this is appointed by the Common Council.
On Feb. 5, 1897, Miss Susan B. Anthony, who was visiting Mrs. Sewall,
addressed the Legislature in joint session asking it to recommend to
Congress the passage of a Sixteenth Amendment to the Federal
Constitution enfranchising women.
In 1898, under the auspices of Mrs. M. A. Tompkins, State
superintendent of franchise for the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union, an active and systematic canvass was begun to secure from the
Legislature the submission of an amendment to the State constitution
to strike out the word "male." She was assisted by members of her
organization in every county; short, convincing articles were
prepared for the newspapers, petitions circulated and 30,000 names of
men and women obtained.
Accompanied by these a joint resolution was presented to the
Legislature of 1899--in the Senate by O. Z. Hubbell, in the House by
Quincy A. Blankinship, and both labored strenuously for its passage.
The Senate Bill was referred to the Committee on Revision of Laws,
Frederick A. Joss, chairman, and the House Bill to the Judiciary
Committee, Silas A. Canada, chairman. They granted hearings, were
addressed by Miss Marie Brehm of Chicago, national superintendent of
franchise for the W. C. T. U., and reported the bill favorably. It
passed the Senate by unanimous vote, January 25. The members of the
House had been personally interviewed by Mrs. Tompkins and Miss Brehm,
and two-thirds of them were pledged to vote for the measure.
The law provides that not more than two bills for amending the State
constitution can be before the Legislature at one time, and, as two
preceded this one, Speaker Littleton, who was opposed to it, ruled it
out of order and would not permit it to be considered. The same
condition existed in the Senate but that body deemed its action
perfectly legal, as all which could be done was to submit the bill to
the next Legislature. Thus all the work of nearly two years was
lost.[251]
In 1899 a number of Factory Inspection Laws were passed, some of them
especially intended to protect women. While these serve their purpose
in one way they may defeat it in another, as those, for instance,
limiting the work of women to ten hours a day and prohibiting their
employment at night in any manufacturing concern, when no such
restrictions are imposed on men, which often is to their advantage
with employers. Seats for women employes, suitable toilet-rooms and a
full hour for the noonday meal are commendable features of these new
laws.
Through the efforts of Robert Dale Owen and a few other broad-minded
men, when the constitution of Indiana was revised in 1851 the laws for
women were made more liberal than those of most other States at that
period, although conservative compared to present standards. Unjust
discriminations have been abolished from time to time since then,
until now, in a very large degree, the laws bear equally upon husband
and wife. Some distinctions, however, still exist, as is shown by the
introduction of bills in almost every Legislature "to remove the
existing disabilities of married women."
Dower and curtesy are abolished. If a husband die, with or without a
will, one-third of his real estate descends to the widow in fee
simple, free from all demands of creditors; provided, however, that
where the real estate exceeds in value $10,000, the widow shall have
one-fourth only, and where it exceeds $20,000, one-fifth only as
against creditors. If a husband die without a will and leave a widow
and one child, the real estate is divided equally between them; the
personal estate is divided equally if there are not more than two
children; if there are more than two the widow still has one-third. If
a man has children living by a former marriage and none by a
subsequent marriage, the widow can have only a life interest in her
share of his estate. If a wife die, with or without a will, one-third
of her real and personal estate descends to the widower, regardless of
its value, but subject to its proportion of her debts contracted
before marriage. If a husband or wife die without a will, leaving no
child, but father or mother, one or both, three-fourths of the entire
estate goes to the widow or widower, unless it does not exceed $1,000,
in which case it all goes to the widow or widower. If there are
neither children, father nor mother, the entire estate goes to the
widow or widower.
The husband is liable for the wife's debts incurred before marriage to
the extent of any property received by him through her. He is not
liable for his wife's contracts with respect to her separate property,
business or labor, or for torts committed by her.
She may sue in her own name for injury to her person, property or
character. The husband may maintain action for the loss of her society
and services.
A wife can not convey or encumber her separate real estate without the
joinder of her husband, nor can he do this with his separate real
estate unless she joins. Husband and wife each may dispose of
two-thirds of their real and personal estate by will without the
consent of the other.
A married woman may without any legal formalities carry on business or
trade or perform any labor or services on her sole and separate
account and her earnings shall be her sole and separate property,
provided she keeps her business distinct from her husband's, as all
their joint earnings are his property.
A wife can act as executor or administrator of an estate only with her
husband's consent.
No married woman can become surety for any person.
The father has the custody of the persons and the control of the
education of the minor children, even though there may be a guardian
appointed for their property. (1896.)
A wife may sue for support: (1) If deserted by her husband and left
without means of support; (2) if he has been convicted of a felony and
put in State prison; (3) if he is a habitual drunkard; (4) if he join
a religious society prohibiting marriage. The court may award
necessary support according to circumstances, may sell lands of the
husband, or allow the wife to sell her lands without his joining.
(1896.)
The "age of protection" for girls is 14 years. No bills presented by
women to have it raised ever have been allowed to get beyond a
legislative committee. The penalty is imprisonment in the penitentiary
from one to twenty-one years.
SUFFRAGE: Women possess no form of suffrage. A decision of the Supreme
Court, Feb. 1, 1901, that an amendment to be adopted must receive a
majority of the highest number of votes cast at the election, has made
it practically impossible to secure the franchise for women by
changing the State constitution. It is held, however, by lawyers whose
opinion is of value, that this even now may be legally construed so as
to permit them to vote.
Sustained in her own belief by these views and by a Supreme Court
decision of 1893, which interpreted this constitution to permit women
to practice law (see Occupations), Mrs. Helen M. Gougar decided to
make a test case, and offered her vote in the State election, Nov. 6,
1894, at her home in Lafayette. It was refused and she brought suit
against the election board in the Superior Court of Tippecanoe County.
Sayler & Sayler and John D. Gougar, husband of the plaintiff, were
her attorneys, but she was herself admitted to the bar and argued her
own case before Judge F. B. Everett, Jan. 10, 1895. She based her
masterly argument on the rights guaranteed to all citizens by the
Federal Constitution, and on the first article of the constitution of
Indiana, which declares that "the General Assembly shall not grant to
any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities which,
upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens;" and
she used with deadly effect the parallel between the decision of the
Supreme Court in the case of Antoinette D. Leach, by which she was
enabled to practice law, and the claims which were now being made as
to the right of women to vote.[252]
The long, adverse decision of Judge Everett was based upon his
declaration that "suffrage is not a natural right or one necessarily
incident to such freedom and preservation of rights as are upheld by
the National and State constitutions;" that "the intention of their
framers to limit the suffrage to males is so strong that it can not be
disregarded;" and that "the legal and well understood rule of
construction is that the express mention of certain things excludes
all others."
Mrs. Gougar then carried her case to the Supreme Court of Indiana, and
was herself the first woman admitted to practice before that body. Her
brief was filed by her attorneys and she made her own argument before
the full bench, the court-room being crowded with lawyers and members
of the Legislature. It was said by one of the judges to be the
clearest and ablest oral argument presented since he had been a
member.
Nevertheless the judgment of the lower court was affirmed. The
decision, in which the five judges concurred, was founded almost
exclusively upon the affirmation that "that which is expressed makes
that which is silent cease." This decision reversed absolutely the one
rendered in the case of Leach for the right to practice law, which had
declared that "although the statute says voters may practice, it says
nothing about women, and therefore there is no denial of this right to
them;" or in other words "that which is expressed does _not_ make that
which is silent cease." Yet both of these opinions were written by
the same Chief Justice--Leonard J. Hackney!
The decision closed by saying: "Whatever the personal views of the
Justices upon the advisability of extending the franchise to women,
all are agreed that under the present constitution it can not be
extended to them."
As it is practically impossible to amend the State constitution, the
outlook for woman suffrage in Indiana appears hopeless except through
an amendment to the National Constitution.
OFFICE HOLDING: Women are not eligible for election to any offices
within the gift of the voters, except those pertaining to the public
schools.
In 1873 the Legislature enacted that women should be eligible to any
office the appointment or election to which is or shall be vested in
the Governor or General Assembly.
In 1881 it was enacted that women should be eligible to any office
under the general or special school laws of the State.
Notwithstanding these liberal provisions there is scarcely one of the
Northern States where so few women have served in office. There never
has been even a woman candidate for that of State Superintendent. Many
years ago there were a few county superintendents but none now fill
that office and not half a dozen women ever have sat on local school
boards. These are appointed by the Common Council in all the towns and
cities except Indianapolis. On one occasion its Local Council of Women
nominated two of its members for school trustees, but both were
defeated. Women themselves were not allowed to vote, but their
interest brought out an unusually large number of men.[253] At present
not one woman is known to be filling any school office.
The law of 1873 includes the boards of all penal and benevolent
institutions, State Librarian, custodians of public buildings, and
many minor offices, but women have found it practically impossible to
secure any of these. The explanation for this probably lies in the
fact that Indiana is a pivotal State in politics and the parties are
so evenly divided that the elections are equally apt to be carried by
either party. It thus becomes vitally necessary to utilize every
office for political purposes and none can be spared to persons
without votes. For a number of years the two parties elected women as
State Librarian, and they gave much satisfaction, although several
times the political pressure has been so great that the office has had
to be given to men.[254]
A number of times bills have been presented to require the Governor to
put a representation of women on the boards of all State institutions
where women and children are confined, but they never have been
carried.
In 1873 the first State prison in the United States exclusively for
women was opened in Indianapolis, but the management was vested in a
board of men with a visiting board of women and a woman
superintendent. In 1877 a bill was passed placing the entire
management of this Woman's Reformatory in the hands of women. An
Industrial School for Girls is now under the same supervision.[255]
In 1889 an act of the Legislature established the State Board of
Charities and Corrections and provided that two of its six trustees
should be women. It exercises supervision over the State penal and
benevolent institutions. In 1899 a legislative act required that on
petition of fifteen citizens of any county the Circuit Judge must
appoint a board to exercise the same supervision over its
institutions, to consist of four men and two women.
The only other women serving on State boards are one for the Soldiers'
and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown and one for the Home for
Feeble-minded Youth at Ft. Wayne.[256]
The State Board of Charities and Corrections has made great effort to
secure women physicians at all State Institutions and, though there is
no law authorizing it, there is now one at each of the four Hospitals
for the Insane, and at the Woman's Prison and Girls' Industrial
School. One was appointed for the Home for Feeble-minded but a man now
holds the position.
Almost every State, county and city office has women deputies,
assistants or stenographers. It is said that one-third of the employes
in the State House are women. Many serve as notaries public, and a
number as court stenographers.
The need of a Police Matron in Indianapolis was so obvious and it had
been so impossible to persuade the authorities of this fact, that in
November, 1890, the Meridian W. C. T. U. obtained permission from the
Mayor and Commissioners to place one on duty at the central station
house at their own expense. This was continued until March, 1891, when
a change in the city charter vested the authority in a Board of
Safety. The matron, Mrs. Annie M. Buchanan, had given such
satisfaction that on petition of the Woman's Local Council she was
regularly employed by the city, with full police powers, at a salary
of $60 per month and two furnished rooms for her occupancy. The first
year 852 women and children came into her charge, 24 of the latter
being under five years of age.
The State W. C. T. U. appointed Mrs. Buchanan as the head of a
movement to secure Police Matrons in all cities of 7,000 inhabitants.
A bill for this purpose was presented in 1893 but failed to pass. In
1895 the Local Council of Women also made this a special line of work,
and to Mrs. Buchanan's petition, signed by one hundred of the leading
men and women of the State and the entire Common Council, were added
the names of the presidents of the forty-nine societies composing the
Council of Women, representing 8,000 members. It asked for a law
compelling the appointment of Police Matrons in all cities of 10,000
inhabitants. This time the bill passed both Houses but so altered as
to merely permit the Mayor and Commissioners to appoint such Matrons,
a power they already possessed.
Mrs. Buchanan remained in office seven years, until her marriage. The
experiment in Indianapolis has been so successful that matrons are now
employed in Evansville, Terre Haute, Richmond and Lafayette, but these
by no means include all of the cities of over 10,000 inhabitants.
OCCUPATIONS: The only occupations forbidden to women are those of
working in mines and selling liquor. Women have served as bank
cashiers and directors for twenty years.
In 1875 Miss Elizabeth Eaglesfield was admitted to practice law at
the Vigo County bar, through the efforts of Judge William Mack, and
had a number of cases in the courts of Indianapolis. Eighteen years
later Mrs. Antoinette D. Leach, although properly qualified, was
refused a license to practice in Greene County. The lower court based
its refusal on a clause in the State Constitution which says: "Every
person of good moral character, _being a voter_, shall be entitled to
practice law in all the courts of the State." She carried the case to
the Supreme Court which reversed this judgment. Its decision, June 14,
1893, says that "while voters are granted admission to practice there
is no _denial_ of such right to women, and it must be held to exist as
long as not forbidden by law. That which is expressed does not make
that which is silent cease." (See Suffrage on previous page.) The
decision continued:
The right to practice law is not a political question, but
belongs to that class of rights inherent in every citizen, and
pertains to the fundamental duty of every inhabitant to gain a
livelihood. Judge Cooley says: "To forbid to an individual or a
class the right to the acquisition or enjoyment of property in
such manner as should be permitted to the community at large,
would be to deprive them of liberty in particulars of primary
importance." In Story on the Constitution it is said that the
right to acquire, possess and enjoy property and to choose from
those which are lawful the profession or occupation of life, are
among the privileges which the States are forbidden by the
Constitution to abridge.[257]
Basing her claims on this decision, a woman the next year, 1894,
applied for license to sell liquor. This was refused on the ground
that the statute reads: "Any _male_ inhabitant having certain other
specified qualifications may obtain a license." The Supreme Court
decided that "by the use of the word 'male' women are inhibited from
obtaining license to vend intoxicating liquor at retail."
Thus within three years--1893, '94, '95--the same Supreme Court
rendered three decisions each absolutely reversing the others.
EDUCATION: The State University was opened to women in 1867. They are
admitted on equal terms with men to all State institutions of
learning, including Purdue University (agricultural). The only
colleges closed to them are Wabash at Crawfordsville, and the Rose
Polytechnic at Terre Haute. There are women on the faculties of most
of the co-educational universities. A number of women have been
graduated from the various Law and Medical Schools.
In the public schools there are 7,252 men and 8,236 women teachers.
The average monthly salary of the men is $48.80; of the women $43.55.
* * * * *
The Women's Clubs number considerably over one hundred, and there are
also many which are composed of both men and women. The State Press
Association had both as charter members. The Union of Literary Clubs,
a strong organization of 104 branches, includes many of these and also
those composed of women alone and of men alone.
The Woman's Club of Indianapolis, founded in 1875, is the oldest in
the city. Under its auspices and through the inspiration of Mrs. May
Wright Sewall, the Propylaeum, a handsome club house, was built at a
cost of over $30,000. It was dedicated in 1891 with imposing
ceremonies, in which the Governor, the Mayor and many distinguished
guests assisted the board of directors. All of the stock is held by
women and the construction was entirely superintended by women. It is
one of the important institutions of the city, and is used by a number
of men's and of women's clubs and for many public and private
functions.
In numerous forms of organized work, sanitary inspection, free
kindergartens, flower missions, training schools for nurses,
collegiate alumnae, art associations, musical clubs, industrial unions,
patriotic societies, church missionary boards, lodge auxiliaries and
countless others--women render conspicuous and inestimable service.
The State Monograph for the World's Fair, previously referred to,
gives detailed information of the associated work of Indiana women in
nearly fifty distinct departments.
FOOTNOTES:
[248] The History is indebted to Mrs. Alice Judah Clarke of Vincennes
for much of the information contained in this chapter.
[249] The other names which appear most frequently during these years
as officers and workers are the Rev. A. Marine, Doctors Isabel
Stafford and Anna B. Campbell, Miss Mary D. Naylor and Mesdames Laura
C. Schofield, Georgia Wright, Sarah E. Franklin, Laura Sandefur, Laura
C. Arnold, C. A. P. Smith, S. S. McCain, H. R. Ridpath, Mary B.
Williams, Laura Kregelo, H. R. Vickery, Emma E. Dixon, Pauline T.
Merritt, Eliza J. Hamilton, L. May Wheeler and Florence M. Adkinson.
[250] State officers: President, Mrs. Bertha G. Wade; vice-president,
Mrs. Mary S. Armstrong; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Alice Wheeler
Peirce; recording secretary, Mrs. Hester Moore Hart; treasurer, Mrs.
Alice E. Waugh; auditors, Mrs. Grace Julian Clarke and Mrs. Albertina
A. Forrest.
Among the strong members of the Tipton club are Judge and Mrs. Dan
Waugh, State Senator and Mrs. G. W. Gifford, Representative and Mrs.
W. R. Ogleboy, Postmaster and Mrs. M. W. Pershing, Dr. and Mrs. M. V.
B. Newcomer and W. H. Barnhart, editor of the _Advocate_.
[251] In 1901 the suffrage societies had a similar bill before the
Legislature, supported by a large petition. It was passed by the House
on March 5 by 52 ayes, 35 noes. Enough votes to carry it had been
pledged in the Senate, but the night following its success in the
House hurried consultations were held and the element which fights
woman suffrage to the death issued its edict. The next morning the
vote was reconsidered and the measure defeated. It was therefore
unnecessary to bring it before the Senate.
[252] Mrs. Gougar's argument in full, with authorities cited, was
published in a pamphlet of sixty pages.
[253] In 1901 the Political Equality Club of Indianapolis put up a
woman candidate who polled over 4,000 votes but was not elected.
[254] The women who have filled this office are Sarah A. Oren,
1873-75; Margaret F. Peelle, 1879-1881; Elizabeth O. Callis,
1881-1889; Mary A. Ahern, 1893-1895; Mrs. E. L. Davidson, 1895-1897.
At present the first and second assistants are women.
[255] For particulars of this unique institution see Vol. III, p. 970.
[256] A Monograph on the Associated Work of Indiana Women, prepared in
1893 by Mrs. Ida Husted Harper for the Columbian Exposition, showed
about twenty county and city orphans' home entirely controlled by
women, and also a number of Homes for the Friendless, Old Ladies'
Homes, Children's Aid Societies, etc.
[257] Some of the highest legal authorities in the State declare that
this is not the law and that it will be so decided whenever the
question is presented to another Supreme Court. If this should happen
then women could practice law only by an amendment of the
constitution. What then would be the status of the cases in which Mrs.
Leach and other women had acted as attorney?