The History of Woman Suffrage Volume IV Part 114

CHAPTER LVI.

NEW YORK.[376]

The State of New York, home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.

Anthony, may be justly described as the great battle-ground for the rights of women, a t.i.tle which will not be denied by any who have read the preceding three volumes of this History. The first Woman's Rights Convention in the world was called at Seneca Falls in 1848.[377] New York was also a pioneer in beginning a reform of the old English Common Law, so barbarous in its treatment of women. And yet, with all the splendid work which has been done, the State has been slow indeed in granting absolute justice. At the commencement of the new century, however, the legal and educational rights of women are very generally conceded, but their political rights are still largely denied. Except during the Civil War, there has not been a year since 1851 when one or more conventions have not been held to demand these rights, and when a committee of women has not visited the Legislature to secure the necessary action. A State a.s.sociation was formed in 1869.

The convention of 1884 met in the Common Council Chamber at Albany, March 11, 12, with the usual large attendance of delegates from all parts of the State, and the evening sessions so crowded that an overflow meeting was held in Geological Hall. Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, the president, was in the chair and addresses were made by Mesdames Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mary Seymour Howell, Caroline Gilkey Rogers and Henrica Iliohan; and by Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Illinois and Mrs. Helen M.

Gougar of Indiana, who had come from the national convention in Was.h.i.+ngton. On the way to Albany a large reception had been tendered to them at the Hoffman House in New York. On March 13 a hearing was held in the a.s.sembly Chamber before the Judiciary Committee on the bill for Full Suffrage for women. The room was filled and strong speeches were made by all of the above women. Gov. Grover Cleveland gave a courteous reception to the delegates.

In 1885 the convention took place in Steinway Hall, New York, February 12, 13, all the counties being represented by delegate or letter. The speakers were Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers and the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Eaton and Mrs. Delia S.

Parnell (mother of Charles Stewart Parnell). On the evening of the 12th a large reception to Mrs. Stanton was given at the Murray Hill Hotel.

The convention of 1886 met in Masonic Hall, New York, March 23, 24.

Addresses were made by Miss Susan B. Anthony, James Redpath, Mesdames Blake, Howell, Rogers and Iliohan, Gov. John W. Hoyt of Wyoming and Mrs. Margaret Moore of Ireland. A reception was tendered to Dr.

Clemence S. Lozier at the Park Avenue Hotel.

In the fall an interesting observance was arranged by the State Suffrage a.s.sociation when the statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, given to the American nation by France, was unveiled on October 28. There was a great excursion down the bay to witness this ceremony and the a.s.sociation chartered a boat which was filled with friends of the cause. A place was secured in the line between two of the great wars.h.i.+ps, and, while the cannon thundered a salute to the majestic female figure which embodied Freedom, speeches were made on the suffrage boat by Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Margaret Parker of England, Mrs.

Harriette R. Shattuck of Ma.s.sachusetts, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell and others.

The convention met again in New York at Masonic Hall, April 21, 22, 1887, and was addressed by Madame Clara Neymann, Rabbi Gustave Gottheil, Mrs. Florence McCabe, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Dr. Lozier and others.

In 1888 the annual meeting a.s.sembled at the same place, March 22, 23.

It was attended by the many delegates who had come from European countries to the International Congress of Women about to be held in Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. Among the speakers were Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg of Finland and Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Mrs. Alice Scatcherd and Mrs. Zadel Barnes Gustafson of England. On the evening preceding the opening of the convention a large reception was given to these foreign ladies at the Park Avenue Hotel.

The State convention was held in Rochester, Dec. 16, 17, 1890, in the First Universalist Church. Its distinguis.h.i.+ng feature was the reception given in the Chamber of Commerce to Miss Susan B. Anthony by her fellow townsmen, as a welcome home from her long and hard campaign in South Dakota. The large rooms were handsomely decorated and over 600 people were present during the evening, including President David Jayne Hill and a number of the faculty of Rochester University, several members of Congress and many men of prominence.

The speakers at the convention were Miss Mary F. Eastman of Boston, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, Mrs. Greenleaf, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Miss Anthony. Mrs. Blake positively declined a re-election, having served eleven consecutive years, and Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf was elected president. During Mrs. Blake's presidency she had many times canva.s.sed New York and had extended her lecture tours into various other States, going as far west as California.

Henceforth, in addition to annual conventions, the a.s.sociation adopted the plan of holding mid-year executive meetings in various cities for the transaction of business, with public sessions in the evenings addressed by the best speakers.

In 1891 the convention met in Auburn, November 10, 11, the audiences crowding the opera house on both evenings. Miss Anthony, Mrs.

Greenleaf, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Miss Shaw were the speakers, with an address of welcome from Mrs. J. Mary Pearson. Reports showed that the members.h.i.+p had doubled in the last year, and that Woman's Day had been observed at many fairs, resulting in the forming of county organizations. A resolution was adopted urging the Legislature to appoint some women on the State Board of Managers for the Columbian Exposition in 1893. The convention closed with a reception at the elegant home of Mrs. Eliza Wright Osborne, niece of Lucretia Mott and daughter of Martha C. Wright, two of those who called the first Woman's Rights Convention.

Syracuse was selected for the annual meeting of 1892, November 15-17.

Miss Anthony, president of the National a.s.sociation, was in attendance, and the opera house was filled at all the sessions. Mrs.

Martha T. Henderson, vice-president-at-large, who had been appointed to represent the State, was delegated to arrange for the noon-day suffrage meetings during the Columbian Exposition. Mrs. Greenleaf's address reviewed the great debate which had taken place at the New York Chautauqua a.s.sembly the preceding August, between the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw and the Rev. J. M. Buckley, editor of the _Christian Advocate_, and emphasized the evident sympathy of the immense audience with the side of the question presented by the former. Suffrage Day had been observed at the Ca.s.sadaga Lake a.s.sembly with an address by Miss Anthony, and also at the State Fair. The a.s.sociation was congratulated on the fact that there had been a further extension of School Suffrage during the year.

All interest centered in the approaching convention to revise the const.i.tution of the State, through which it was hoped a woman suffrage amendment would be obtained. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Howell had been appointed to address the Legislature, which they had done in April of this year, for the purpose of securing women delegates to this convention, that was to be held in 1893, but eventually was deferred one year. Committees were appointed which visited the political State conventions the following summer, asking a declaration in their platforms for this amendment, but were unsuccessful.

The annual meeting of 1893 was held at Brooklyn, in Long Island Historical Hall, Nov. 13-16. It was welcomed by Mrs. Mariana Wright Chapman, president of the Brooklyn suffrage society. The plan of work was perfected, which had been prepared by Miss Anthony and Mrs.

Stanton, for an active canva.s.s of the State in behalf of a plank in the approaching Const.i.tutional Convention. Addresses were made by Mrs.

Julia Ward Howe and Henry B. Blackwell of Boston, Miss Anthony, the Rev. Miss Shaw, national vice-president-at-large; Mrs. Ella A. Boole, Aaron M. Powell, Gen. C. T. Christiansen, Mrs. Anna C. Field, Mrs.

Emma Bourne, Mrs. Blake and others. Among the resolutions adopted was the following:

The thanks of this a.s.sociation are due to Gov. Roswell P. Flower for his recognition of woman's ability in the appointment to a State office of our national president, Susan B. Anthony, viz: as one of the Board of Managers of the State Industrial School at Rochester.

The great campaign of 1894, undertaken to secure a clause for woman suffrage in the revised State const.i.tution, will be considered further on in this chapter.

The annual convention met in Ithaca, Nov. 12-14, 1894, the opera house being filled with the usual large audiences. It was welcomed by Mayor Clinton D. Bouton and President Jacob Gould Schurmann of Cornell University. Miss Anthony was present and a galaxy of eloquent New York women made addresses.

Newburgh entertained the convention Nov. 8-12, 1895. The speakers were Miss Anthony, Dr. Edward McGlynn, Miss Elizabeth Burrill Curtis, daughter of George William Curtis; Miss Arria S. Huntington, daughter of Bishop Frederick D. Huntington; Miss Margaret Livingston Chanler, Madame Neymann, Mrs. Maude S. Humphrey, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Cornelia K.

Hood, Miss Julie Jenney, Mrs. Boole, Mrs. Annie E. P. Searing, Mrs. M.

R. Almy, Miss Harriette A. Keyser, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell, the Rev.

Miss Shaw and Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee. Miss Anthony was especially stirred by a previous speech which reflected on the dress, manners and social standing of the pioneers in the movement for the rights of women, and which felicitated the present advocates on their great superiority in these respects. She named the pioneers, one by one, paid warm tribute to their beautiful personality and commanding ability and asked where a woman could be found in all the present generation to excel, if, indeed, to equal them.

The delegates enjoyed visits to the many interesting places in the neighborhood, including West Point and Va.s.sar College. A beautiful reception was given by Mrs. C. S. Jenkins. It was supposed that the disappointment of the previous year in failing to secure an amendment from the Const.i.tutional Convention would result in a falling off in members.h.i.+p, but instead this was found to be considerably augmented.

At the close of the convention the delegates went to New York to attend Mrs. Stanton's eightieth birthday reception at the Metropolitan Opera House.

The convention of 1896 was held in Rochester, November 18, 19, with more delegates present than ever before. It was preceded by a reception on the evening of the 17th, where the guests were delighted to greet Miss Anthony and her little band, who had arrived that morning from their arduous field of labor in the California amendment campaign. The welcome for the city was extended by Mayor George Warner. Many of the speakers of the previous year were present, with the addition of the Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first ordained woman minister, and the noted colored woman of anti-slavery days, Harriet Tubman. The press chairman, Mrs. Elnora Monroe Babc.o.c.k, reported that, instead of the 135 newspapers of the year before, 253 in the State were now using suffrage matter regularly furnished by her committee.

On the Friday night succeeding the convention a banquet was given in honor of Miss Anthony, with over 200 guests. Mrs. Mary Lewis Gannett was toastmistress and Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw made interesting addresses.

Mrs. Greenleaf, who had done such heroic work during the past six years and sustained the a.s.sociation on so high a plane, felt obliged to decline a re-election, and Mrs. Mariana Wright Chapman was unanimously chosen for her place. Mrs. Greenleaf was appointed fraternal delegate to the annual meeting of the State Grange, and Mrs.

Howell to the State Labor Convention, and both were cordially received. The Grange had on several occasions declared for woman suffrage.

Geneva extended a welcome to the convention Nov. 3-5, 1897, and successful meetings were held in Collins Hall and the opera house. The speakers from abroad and many delegates were entertained at the handsome home of Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, daughter of Gerrit Smith. Added to the usual list were Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, recording secretary of the National a.s.sociation; the Rev. Annis Ford Eastman, Mrs. Gannett, Mrs. Mary E. Craigie, and Miss M. F. Blaine, Charles Hemiup, W. Smith O'Brien, the Rev. Remick and Dr. William H.

Jordan of Geneva. A pleasant event of the year had been the carving of Miss Anthony's face on the stairway of the magnificent new Capitol building at Albany, by order of George W. Aldridge, State superintendent of public works.

On April 28, 29, 1898, the fortieth anniversary of the first Woman's Rights Convention was held in Rochester. This city also had entertained that convention which had adjourned in Seneca Falls to hold a session here. The anniversary proceedings took place afternoons and evenings in the Central Presbyterian church with a fine corps of speakers.[378]

On Nov. 8-11, 1898, the annual meeting was held in the court house at Hudson. It was welcomed by the mayor, Richard A. M. Deeley, for the city and by Mrs. Mary Holsapple for the local suffrage club. An address of greeting also was given by Judge Levi S. Longley, and the Hudson Club extended its courtesies. A letter from Mrs. Stanton was read by her daughter, Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch of England, who also made an address. Many of the strong speakers were present who have been frequently mentioned in connection with these State conventions.

The treasurer reported receipts for the year $3,220.

Chautauqua County invited the convention of 1899 to Dunkirk, November 1-3, and entertained it royally. There was a reception on the first evening, and a luncheon was given every day to the delegates who wished to remain at the hall between sessions. Both day and evening meetings were large and enthusiastic, the former held at the Woman's Union, the latter in Academy Hall. Mayor Alexander Williams welcomed the convention for the city, and Mrs. Ellen Cheney for the county in a witty poem, Mrs. Chapman responding. Stirring addresses were made by the Hon. F. S. Nixon and Dr. J. T. Williams. Miss Anthony was present, with many of the old speakers and several new ones, among them Mrs.

Carrie E. S. Twing.

The last annual meeting of the century convened at Glens Falls, Oct.

29-Nov. 1, 1900, in Ordway Hall. Addresses of welcome were made by the Hon. Addison B. Colvin and the president of the Warren County a.s.sociation, Mrs. Susie M. Bain. Mrs. Chapman Catt, Miss Shaw, Mrs.

Boole, president State Woman's Christian Temperance Union; Mrs.

Chapman, Mrs. Howell and Miss Harriet May Mills were among the princ.i.p.al speakers. A notable feature was the presence of many bright and enthusiastic young workers. Pledges of support were made for the national bazar to be held the next month in New York.

Among the resolutions adopted was one congratulating Miss Anthony upon her success in raising the last of the $50,000 fund which was to open the doors of Rochester University to women.

In addition to this long array of conventions without a break, the mid-year executive meetings in various cities have been of almost equal interest. At nearly every one of these State conventions Miss Anthony has a.s.sisted with her inspiring presence and strong words of counsel. To many of them Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, not able to come in person, has sent ringing letters of encouragement, for which the affectionate greetings of the delegates have been returned. New York has the largest members.h.i.+p of any State in the Union and pays the largest amount of money into the national treasury each year, not alone in auxiliary dues, but in private subscriptions.

The State a.s.sociation has had but three presidents in over twenty years: Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, 1879-1890; Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf, 1890-1896; Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman, 1896 and still serving.

Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage was continuously in office from the time a State a.s.sociation first existed.[379]

With active work in progress for so many years, and with suffrage organizations in the counties and towns throughout all of this large State, it would be impossible to make personal mention of even a small fraction of those who have aided the movement. The hundreds who have furnished the money and the thousands who have served in a quiet way through all the years would require a separate chapter.[380]

It would be equally impossible to describe the efforts made from year to year, the meetings held, the memorials presented to political conventions, the debates, the parliamentary drills, the lecture courses, the millions of pages of literature distributed, the struggles to place women on the school boards, the special efforts of the standing committees on legislation, press, industries, work among children, etc. It is far more difficult to write the history of a State where so much has been done than where the tale may be quickly told. No State is better organized for suffrage work.[381] There is no doubt that a strong sentiment exists outside of New York City in favor of the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women. However, with the adverse influence always exerted by a great metropolis, it is impossible to foretell when this will be accomplished.

CONSt.i.tUTIONAL AMENDMENT: The history of the struggle of a comparatively few women to secure a clause for equal suffrage in the State const.i.tution, when it was revised in 1894, told in the fewest possible words, is as follows:[382]