New York Headquarters established, 1909.
National Suffrage Convention, Seattle, Wash., 1909.
International Suffrage Alliance, London, England, 1909.
National Suffrage Convention, Washington, D.C., 1910.
International Council, Genoa, Italy, 1911.
National Suffrage Convention, Louisville, Ky., 1911.
International Suffrage Alliance, Stockholm, Sweden, 1911.
National Suffrage Convention, Philadelphia, Pa., 1912.
International Council, The Hague, Holland, 1913
National Suffrage Convention, Washington, D.C.; 1913.
International Suffrage Alliance, Budapest, Hungary, 1913.
National Suffrage Convention, Nashville, Tenn., 1914.
International Council, Rome, Italy, 1914.
The
winning of the
suffrage states, the work in the
states not yet won, the conventions,
gatherings, and
international councils in which women of every
nation have come together, have all combined to
make this quarter of a century the most
brilliantperiod for women in the history of the world. I
have set forth the record baldly and without com-
ment, because the bare facts are far more eloquent
than words. It must not be forgotten, too, that these
great achievements of the
progressive women of
to-day have been
accomplished against the opposi-
tion of a large number of their own sex--who, while
they are out in the world's arena fighting against
progress for their sisters, still
shatter the ear-drum
with their incongruous war-cry, ``Woman's place
is in the home!''
Of our South Dakota
campaign in 1890 there re-
mains only one
incident which should have a place
here: We were attending the Republican state
nominating convention at Mitchell--Miss Anthony,
Mrs. Catt, other leaders, and myself--having been
told that it would be at once the largest and the
most interesting
gathering ever held in the state
as it proved to be. All the leading politicians of the
state were there, and in the wake of the white men
had come tribes of Indians with their camp outfits,
their wives and their children--the groups forming
a
picturesquecircle of tents and tepees around the
town. It was a great occasion for them, an Indian
powwow, for by the law all Indians who had lands
in severalty were to be permitted to vote the fol-
lowing year. They were present,
therefore, to
study the ways of the white man, and an edifying
exhibition of these was
promptly offered them.
The crowd was so great that it was only through
the
courtesy of Major Pickler, a member of Con-
gress and a
devotedbeliever in
suffrage, that Miss
Anthony, Mrs. Catt, and the rest of us were able to
secure passes to the convention, and when we
reached the hall we were
escorted to the last row of
seats on the
crowdedplatform. As the space be-
tween us and the speakers was filled by rows upon
rows of men, as well as by the band and their in-
struments, we could see very little that took place.
Some of our friends
pointed out this condition to the
local committee and asked that we be given seats
on the floor, but received the reply that there was
``absolutely no room on the floor except for dele-
gates and
distinguished visitors.'' Our persistent
friends then suggested that at least a front seat
should be given to Miss Anthony, who certainly
came under the head of a ``
distinguished visitor'';
but this was not done--probably because a large
number of the best seats were filled by Russian la-
borers wearing badges inscribed ``Against Woman
Suffrage and Susan B. Anthony.'' We remained,
perforce, in our rear seats,
finding such interest as
we could in the back view of hundreds of heads.
Just before the convention was called to order it
was announced that a
delegation of
influential In-
dians was
waiting outside, and a
motion to invite
the red men into the hall was made and carried with
great
enthusiasm. A committee of leading citizens
was ap
pointed to act as
escort, and these gentlemen
filed out, returning a few moments later with a
party of Indian warriors in full war regalia, even
to their gay blankets, their
feathered head-dresses,
and their paint. When they appeared the band
struck up a
stirring march of
welcome, and the en-
tire
audience cheered while the Indians, flanked by
the admiring committee, stalked
solemnly down the
aisle and were given seats of honor directly in front
of the
platform.
All we could see of them were the
brilliant feathers
of their war-bonnets, but we got the full effect of
their
reception in the music and the cheers. I dared
not look at Miss Anthony during this remarkable
scene, and she, craning her
venerable neck to get a
glimpse of the
incident from her obscure corner,
made no
comment to me; but I knew what she was
thinking. The following year these Indians would
have votes. Courtesy,
therefore, must be shown
them. But the women did not matter, the politi-
cians reasoned, for even if they were enfranchised
they would never support the element represented
at that convention. It was not
surprising that,
notwithstanding our hard work, we did not win
the state, though all the conditions had seemed
most
favorable; for the state was new, the men
and women were
working side by side in the fields,
and there was
discontent in the ranks of the political
parties.
After the
election, when we analyzed the vote
county by county, we discovered that in every county
whose residents were
principally Americans the
amendment was carried,
whereas in all counties
populated largely by foreigners it was lost. In cer-
tain counties--those inhabited by Russian Jews--
the vote was almost solidly against us, and this not-
withstanding the fact that the wives of these Rus-
sian voters were doing a man's work on their farms
in
addition to the usual women's work in their
homes. The fact that our Cause could be defeated
by
ignorant laborers newly come to our country was
a humiliating one to accept; and we realized more
forcibly than ever before the difficulty of the task
we had assumed--a task far beyond any ever under-
taken by a body of men in the history of democratic
government throughout the world. We not only
had to bring American men back to a
belief in the
fundamental principles of
republican government,
but we had also to
educateignorant immigrants,
as well as our own Indians, whose degree of civiliza-
tion was indicated by their war-paint and the