enthusiasm of the pioneer clubwomen.—early conventions of the general federation of women’s clubs.—work as president of the new jersey woman suffrage association.—we visit the legislature.—campaign for school suffrage.—formation of new leagues.—lucy stone and her baby’s cradle.—rev. samuel smith, author of “america.”
the rapidity with which, in the latter part of the nineteenth century, women’s clubs sprang up all over the face of this broad land of ours was miraculous. we may say that this agency and that person helped in the development of the great movement, but there must have been a cause underlying it. the women of america had outgrown the old, narrow, often selfish life of utter absorption in the affairs of the individual home. they now longed for wider culture, for the broadening of their ideas by association with other women, for opportunities to improve not only their own, but all homes. for the club movement is only a part of the great, splendid world movement whereby the women of the race have advanced to take their place beside the men. in the beginning intellectual culture was the principal object of the clubs. yet we felt deep interest in the conduct of meetings and in the administration of affairs. why were the women so delighted with parliamentary law? because, all unconsciously, we were attending a school of citizenship and learning that order which is a part of the divine law.
the tremendous vitality of the club movement was shown by the almost magical growth of the general federation of women’s clubs. to sorosis, and especially to mrs. j. c. croly (jennie june), belongs the honor of founding this splendid and powerful organization. sorosis has shown a wonderful power of vision, for it founded also the “association for the advancement of women,” a pioneer body which did very important work.
yet the administration of both organizations soon passed into other hands. this was, as i think, because sorosis had not cultivated the executive powers of its members. hence when it came to questions of administration, other more active clubs assumed the leadership for which they had been trained. thus the new england woman’s club, full of good works and activity in civic movements, furnished the president, mrs. julia ward howe, who for many years guided the movements of “a. a. w.”
we must note a feature in the constitution of this national union of clubs which, helpful in the beginning, later proved a serious defect. the individual societies were directly affiliated with the general federation, every club president being also a vice-president of the national body. under the devoted leadership of mrs. charlotte emerson brown of east orange, whose soul was fairly absorbed in her work, this grew and prospered.
the “fault” in the method of formation became more and more evident as time went on. the number of clubs increased to such an extent as to make the national conventions unwieldy. it has been proposed at various times to limit the representation to the state federations, but the individual clubs, who have greatly enjoyed their membership in the national body, are very unwilling to give it up.
will the initial fault in construction end by destroying this splendid body? no one can now say. even should it perish, however, it will have fulfilled an important mission. we should look at the general federation as a part of the great movement by which our sex has been prepared for the new duties which women are now so splendidly fulfilling. viewed in this light, the stimulus which it gave to the formation of new clubs and the opportunities it afforded to the women of all parts of our country for meeting together have more than compensated for the defect in organization. had we waited to form first state federations, and out of those a national body, we should have lost the glow and enthusiasm of those wonderful early conventions of the g. f. w. c. we might have failed, also, in fulfilling the larger mission.
the conservative women often opposed us, but we of the liberal party prevailed in the end. gradually club and federation broadened their programs. at the first biennial convention of the general federation, held in chicago, we devoted our attention principally to questions relating to clubs and their management. should they be large or small? should we have club-houses? should we engage in philanthropic work? it seems strange now to remember the great enthusiasm with which we labored over these minor matters. but they were doubtless necessary steps in our progress.
the general federation now has departments of art, civics, legislation, public health, and many others. last and best of all, at the convention of 1914, the general federation endorsed suffrage for women. it was a moment of great excitement and enthusiasm. veteran suffrage leaders wept with joy and embraced one another, while the strains of the “battle hymn of the republic” sounded through the hall.
sister julia, with her strong intellectual tastes, early felt the attraction of the movement and joined the new england woman’s club. there were many clever and delightful women in its membership. she read papers before many of the clubs then springing up all about boston, and enjoyed doing so. thus she followed in the footsteps of our mother, who rejoiced in club life and had the true club spirit.
the two youngest sisters, laura and maud, have never possessed this in full measure. they have been much in demand as speakers before societies of women, and have belonged to these when occasion arose. both are fond of society as well as full of public spirit. mrs. richards has done much reform and charitable work in her adopted state of maine. mrs. elliott has not been behind her sister. in the progressive movement she was one of the leaders, and on the hughes “golden special” train she was one of the “big four” speakers. in the suffrage movement in rhode island she has done important service. last but not least she is the founder and moving spirit of the newport art association.
the fact remains that to neither of them have club work and club association been the real joy that they were to our mother and to me. when the young birds began to leave the nest, the sons to go to college and the daughter to study art in paris, i had more leisure to attend to outside matters. thus, when the monday afternoon club of plainfield was formed, in the late ’eighties, i was one of the charter members, succeeding the founder, miss elvira kenyon, as president. the general federation of women’s clubs was formed at about this time, and i was appointed chairman of correspondence for new jersey. this officer was a species of shepherd for the clubs of the state, a part of whose duty and pleasure it was to visit the various societies.
we chairmen of correspondence strove to hand on to others the inspiration received at the federation and club meetings. for in those bright days there was much exchanging of visits and many club festivities.
during my presidency, the monday afternoon club of plainfield gave its first luncheon, with the indispensable program of speeches. the amount of work we—the members of the executive board—put into the preparation, seems now almost incredible. we had plenty of zeal, but no experience. hence every detail of the arrangements was considered at great length. the cost of the luncheon was a burning question. we compromised on a dollar, if i remember aright. nowadays, a competent house committee would handle the whole matter quietly and easily. but we were like children with a new toy!
as the shepherd of new jersey, i proposed inviting the not yet federated clubs to our gala-day, in order that they might see for themselves the advantages of union. the scheme was so successful that one lady declared she had never known such a happy day before, not even her wedding-day! how we did enjoy it all! i see it now through a rosy mist. how delighted we were with the wit of the speakers! one of the lessons that we learn from club life is that women possess a keen sense of humor. the luncheon was brightened by toasts. rev. antoinette brown blackwell, mrs. mary mumford, of philadelphia, witty and delightful, and my mother were among the speakers.
on another gala-day, the national president, mrs. charlotte emerson brown, visited us.
in opening her speech she praised the beauty of our decorations and found the english language inadequate for the expression of her feelings. she passed from “how beautiful” to “wundersch?n” and, “magnifique,” ending impressively with “to kalon.” we all smiled, but only a little, because mrs. brown was very amiable and had devoted much time to the study of languages.
at a club festivity in boston, rev. samuel smith—“sammy smith,” as he was familiarly called, told us of the circumstances under which he wrote “america.” they were not thrilling. he was in his library, looking out upon the hills, if i remember aright. he seemed a kindly old gentleman, still vigorous, despite his silver hair. my mother also described the train of events which led to the writing of the “battle hymn of the republic.” she was often called upon to do this.
i had the pleasure of serving on the nominating committee at several biennial conventions—but none of the later ones resembled the lively session held at chicago in 1892. miss octavia bates kindly consented to act as our chairman, her good humor and good sense helping to straighten out the knotty problems that came before us. if the discussion became too animated she thumped on the floor with an umbrella!
one of the interesting women at these early conventions was dr. jennie de la m. lozier, a physician herself and the wife of one. at chicago in a moment of irritation she took the reporters to task, alluding to them as “the ink-slingers of the press.” fortunately, mrs. sarah perkins, of cleveland, ohio, came to the defense of the newspaper men, telling the convention how much a good cause often owed to them. at its close the reporters presented mrs. perkins with a beautiful basket of roses!
we learned some lessons in public speaking from miss susan b. anthony, the noted suffrage leader. in her own vigorous way she told us not to immerse our heads in our papers, but to hold them up, to look at the man in the last row of the parquette and address our remarks to him!
at the second biennial, held in philadelphia, i had the pleasure of taking part in the program of the evening meeting at the academy of music. i had received, shortly before, an absurd publication, treating in solemn vein of the management of husbands. this moved me to write, in serio-comic style, a short paper on “the duties of women’s clubs toward mankind.”
the club husband furnished food for humor in those early days, although many men attended our evening sessions.
it was interesting to me to see how the audience took the points—sometimes after a moment’s delay—and to note how waves of mirth one after another passed over the great throng.
kate upson clarke, always witty and delightful, spoke of “democracy in women’s clubs.”
in november, 1895, the general federation council met at atlanta, georgia, where the “cotton states and international exposition” was then in session. we did not quite relish being asked whether we were “daughters of the confederacy,” although the mistake was a natural one. it was gratifying to see the progress made by the southern women.
from atlanta we went on to new orleans, where a meeting of the association for the advancement of women was scheduled.
here we were delightfully entertained by mrs. king and her daughters, one of them being grace king, the novelist. my mother was no stranger to new orleans, having spent the winter of 1884–85 there, when she had charge of the woman’s section of the exposition.
many friends welcomed her on her return to the quaint old city. i had never seen it before, and was much interested in exploring as much of it as our short visit and the necessary attendance at the sessions of a. a. w. permitted. we made a visit to the ursuline convent on the occasion of the coronation of the image of the virgin with a crown of gold studded with jewels, contributed by the women of the city. when the crowning took place all applauded. the singing of the mass was very beautiful. in the address of the day we were told that the image had been brought over by the ursuline nuns from france. it was held to be of miraculous power. the sisters prayed to it at the time of the battle of new orleans; to their prayers, as we were told, was due the victory of general jackson and the troops under his command.
it is said that if you taste the water of the mississippi you will want to return to the crescent city. no one is rash enough to do that until the mud has been allowed to settle—perhaps in one of the beautiful great earthen jars resembling those in which the forty thieves took refuge.
clubwomen, as a rule, are very sensible. they all wish to be nicely and suitably dressed, but a parade of fine gowns is thought undesirable. it was amusing as well as sad to see aspirants for office appear at a convention in a succession of expensive dresses, which insured the failure of their hopes. these dear ladies could not understand why jenny wren in her simple gray gown was preferred before them!
at the milwaukee biennial we had the great pleasure of listening to a speech from octave thanet. she banished all possible stiffness by confessing to the audience, “when i forget what i want to say, i stop and take a drink of water.” after that, whenever she raised the tumbler to her lips we all laughed.
during this biennial word came to mrs. philip n. moore, treasurer of the federation, that her house in st. louis was on fire. she felt it her duty to remain at her post until, as retiring treasurer, she had signed all the checks. some one quoted apropos of this:
“ladybird, fly away home.
your house is on fire,
your children will burn.”
mrs. moore has since served as president of the general federation and held other important public positions. she is one of the ablest and most public-spirited women of our country, a college graduate, and last but not least, decidedly handsome.
the trips to the west on the “federation specials” were delightful. no men save those in charge of the train—with one or two club husbands—were allowed on them. we flitted from one car to another, talking with old friends. a good deal of preliminary business was arranged on these jaunts. but, oh, the sufferings of the conductor!
mrs. h——, having found a long-lost friend in car “zenobia,” desired to have her berth changed. how many women made these thoughtless requests it would be impossible to say. i only know that i have seen the conductor, sitting in his little end seat, balancing his accounts, with an expression of utter desperation on his face!
one great club enthusiast was so anxious to take the trip on the “federation special” that she started without waiting for her baggage. she took a heavy cold, which was probably the cause of her death later in the summer. our women have now learned to be more prudent and to husband their strength better.
as chairman of correspondence for new jersey, the desirability of a closer organization in the state became evident to me. mrs. charlotte emerson brown and mrs. sarah johnson, president of the orange woman’s club, were of the same mind, and we issued a call for the formation of a state federation, thus becoming its founders.
it was my pleasant duty to assist in the direction of the state federation during the first eight years of its existence. our beginnings were too sentimental for my taste. the discussions about a federation flower seemed to me distinctly superfluous. we went on, however, from strength to strength, developing after much the same fashion as the g. f. w. c.
our third president, mrs. emily e. williamson, of elizabeth, was one of the ablest women i have ever met. it was a pleasure to work with her, unless you happened to disagree with her in opinion. she made up her mind as to the best course, and could brook no opposition. in spite of this defect, which led to her making some mistakes, the state of new jersey owes her gratitude for her public services on the board of state charities and elsewhere.
among the things accomplished by the new jersey federation of clubs in those early years was the inauguration of a system of state traveling libraries and the preservation of the palisades. the former we owe especially to the indefatigable efforts of mrs. edward houghton, of cranford, the most devoted and unselfish of workers. the rescue of the palisades from the greed and selfishness of the men who were digging them down was no easy task. the new york state women joined us, and after great efforts these beautiful natural monuments were saved from the maw of the stone-crusher.
new jersey was the first state in the union to confer the franchise upon women, who exercised it for more than thirty years.
when the modern agitation for suffrage began, the women of the state remembered their ancient rights, of which they had been illegally deprived. i well remember lucy stone, the noted suffrage leader, whose baby’s cradle was attached because she refused to pay taxes. she was a comely woman, with a motherly face and soft, sweet voice, but possessed of iron determination! it might have paid the anti-suffragists to redeem and restore that cradle, for the baby grew up to be alice stone blackwell. she has carried on, with unfaltering and single-hearted devotion, the work so nobly begun by her parents, lucy stone and henry blackwell.
when they removed to massachusetts the movement flagged for a time. through the efforts of dr. mary d. hussey, a most devoted and unselfish suffrage-worker, a state association was formed in 1890.
in 1893 i was elected to the office of president, bringing to it the experience already acquired in the club and federation movement. the new jersey woman suffrage association now began the active career which has continued for a quarter of a century with ever-increasing momentum. when we, the pioneers, look at its wonderful growth, we are glad to think that ours was the privilege of doing the foundation work. of this the inauguration of branch leagues was an important part. these we established in essex county, union county, camden, trenton, asbury park, moorestown. in 1894 the law which permitted women to vote at school meetings was declared unconstitutional. the new jersey state constitution of 1844 (adopted without consulting the women whom it disfranchised) limited the right of voting for officers elective by the people to male citizens.
school trustees are officers elective by the people, therefore women clearly could not vote for them. but this same constitution cheerfully forgot to forbid women to hold office or to vote for the issuance of bonds, etc.
women were already serving acceptably as school trustees in different parts of the state. there seemed to be no reason why they should not continue to do so. they had also been voting during seven years for these officers and always for the benefit of the schools, according to the almost universal testimony of the educational authorities. a number of school-houses in new jersey owe their existence to the votes of women combined with those of progressive men.
the feminine voters were discouraged by the adverse decision of the supreme court. it was a part of our task to point out to them the rights still remaining and to encourage them to use these, for the benefit of the children.
finding that the constitution of the state was to be amended, we decided to ask the legislature to pass an amendment restoring to us the rights of school suffrage that we had lost. we hoped to have these extended to towns and cities, but were assured that it would be impossible to procure any extension of the school suffrage.
“asking the legislature” is a task requiring time and patience. i now understood for the first time the practical meaning of the word “lobbyist” and the practical necessity of his work. we had no private ax to grind—we went to trenton for the sake of the cause of education as well as for that of suffrage. yet our only chance to state our case was as the legislators passed “on the wing.” we found them courteous, but always in a hurry. they gave us good advice: “agitate the matter in the papers. get the people behind you.” we could not expect them to pass an amendment to the constitution unless the people wanted it. it was a part of our duty to educate the public. we also had hearings before legislative committees.
it did not seem as if our small and eminently reasonable request could be refused. so we perseveringly went to trenton and finally succeeded in having our amendment passed. my husband drew it up for us and helped us in every possible way.
on the last day of the session we had a narrow escape from defeat. receiving word that the legislature was about to adjourn, i hurried to trenton, where the lawmakers were already in that state of boyish nonsense which marks the last day. in the gallery i found one of our stanchest suffragists, scandalized by the playful exchange of books and courtesies going on below, and lurking, concealed, in a corner. where was our bill? no one knew. i hastily hunted up the clerk and informed him that the document must be found without delay. to have the amendment, which had cost us three years of labor, mislaid at the last moment was unthinkable. whether it had been pigeonholed by accident or on purpose we never knew, but presently he returned with it, duly draped with red tape. having seen it started on its proper course, my friend and i returned to the gallery, where we took our seats in full view of the gentlemen below. the athletic interchange of dictionaries by a parcel of boys young enough to be my sons had no terrors for me, as my countenance plainly indicated. our amendment was passed before the adjournment and our wrath was turned to rejoicing! we shook hands with the representatives and thanked them as they came out. they looked rather sheepish—perhaps on account of the dictionary incident.
we now began active work to influence the voters. meetings were held in all parts of the state and many articles were published, explaining the scope of the amendment.
our most valuable support came from the educational authorities, since theirs was expert opinion. we published letters from hon. charles j. baxter, state superintendent of education and others, setting forth the good effect which the votes of women had already had upon the school system. the republican state executive committee and many organizations endorsed the amendment. it was defeated by an adverse majority of ten thousand votes, sixty-five thousand persons voting for it. the opposition came almost entirely from the cities, where school suffrage had never existed, and especially from the germans.
our labor was not wasted, however, for the campaign widely advertised the fact that women still possessed the right to serve as school trustees and also to vote for appropriations and the issuance of bonds. we still held, in rural districts, the power of the purse-strings. it was a part of my policy to keep this fact always before the people of the state. every spring, shortly before the time of the annual school meetings, i prepared a circular which was printed and sent to the three hundred newspapers of new jersey. we were too poor, as an association, to afford clerk hire, devoted suffragists freely giving their time and labor.
the admission of women to the bar of the state was secured at this time. several of us spoke at a hearing of the judiciary committee of the legislature, but the most telling speech was that of mrs. carrie burnham kilgore, a lawyer of philadelphia.
she informed her hearers that, through interstate courtesy, she had been permitted to try cases in new jersey. “surely, gentlemen, you will not refuse to the women of your own state the privilege you have accorded to those from a neighboring commonwealth.” this argument produced a great effect on the men learned in the law. miss mary philbrook was very active and energetic in getting the law passed under which she was the first woman to become a lawyer in new jersey.
my husband gave her her first case—that of a neighbor whose husband had by his will tried to cut off her right of dower. miss philbrook won it.
the comments of the “antis,” or “remonstrants,” as we then called them, appealed strongly to one’s sense of humor.
i wrote a farce, “the judgment of minerva,” on this theme, and read it before the national woman suffrage convention in washington and elsewhere. it elicited much laughter. later it was acted by the college equal suffrage league at one of the boston theaters and by several other suffrage societies.
after serving as president of the new jersey woman suffrage association for eight years, i retired. mrs. cornelia hussey, a devoted suffragist, whose generous financial support had been indispensable to the state association, made me a life member of the national and through the vote of the state association i became its first honorary president. such recognitions of one’s work are always heartening because they testify to the approval of one’s fellow-workers. the greatest reward is the consciousness that one has done something, be it ever so little, for the “grand old cause of human freedom.”
my husband had been a “pooh bah” in scotch plains, and i now deserved the title in plainfield. our little unitarian church needed a president for its women’s alliance, and during eleven years i held the office. this did not involve long-distance excursions, however. in addition to working for the church, we prepared and read papers. it was a pleasure to meet with this intelligent body of women. in our plainfield chapter of the d. a. r. i enjoyed serving as regent and vice-regent for some years. as president of the local league i continued my work for suffrage.
