Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-12-09
4 Congress Of Women.
BY HELEN p. JENKINS
From Pittsburg Leader
II.

During the past week there assem-
bled IN Syracuse, n. Y, a congress of
women. Educated, rarely cultivated
women, from various parts of the ma
ton, gathered together to discuss and
confer upon important questions con-
cerning the advancement of women and
the welfare Of the race. The following
sentence from the call will give some
idea Of the character of this congress ::
"All that concerns women, as indi-
vidualS and as members Of society, as
recipients Of the law and order already
existing, and as participants in the
law making right and power, as edu-
Gators aad as educated. will come with
IN the scope OF It's deliberations. !"
The following are few of the sub
jects upon which papers were read and
which were discussed "Women on
School Boards - ''Health of Ameri-
can Girls - places open to Women;
''Statistcs of the Woman Ministry -
''Statistics Of Women in Journalism;
uses of Money; - '.Wnat Practical
Measures will Promote the Financial
Independence Of Womem;" Office of
Women in the Reform of Criminals of
their own Sex ) Efforts of Progress
i've Women in Europe )" Statistics Of
the Condition Of Women in this Coun-
try - "Superhuous Womeu.
This is one of the events which are
marking this era as an important one
III the civilization of humanity. 1t
means something when women, prov
erbially domestic, come from their
homes and gather in public assemblies
to deliberate upon subject, which reach
down to the very foundations Of socie-
ty. 1t at least indicates great change
since the time when women talked only
of household affairs and servants, or
gossiped Of apparel and, their neigh
bors when house work or home work
were deemed the only proper subjects
of interest for women though, among
the wealthy and fashionable, woman
was expected to be a pretty parIor or
nament, with about as much brains as
the canary which sang beside her.
But this miserable mockery Of woman
hood is fast falling into disrepute
1t is coming to be expected that
women should know something.
1t has even been getting fashionable
within the last few years for women to
be educated aud intellectual. [ am
conscious Of change wien [ remem-
Der that in an eastern city, where [
once resided, the leader Of fashionable
society was a lady whose diamonds far
outnumbered her ideas. Having
means, desire for display. exquisite
taste, and great personal beauty, she
dressed superbly and entertained almost
royalty, and was the acknowledged
queen of fashion, but she was
never known to utter a thought. She
was emphaticAily beautiful ''mush of
concessions" with tact enough to avoid
an unpleasant display Of her ignorance.
To-day good society rejects such frauds
however laden with diamonds and
velvet and laceS. respectable fashion
able society to day demands that its
queens shall be women of intellect.
Fashionable society today sends les
daughters to college and spares nc
money in their most thorough educa,
ton. Witness Vassar, with its four
hundred students, Sage college and
Smith and Wellesley colleges, which
rank with Yale & Harvard; witness the
women crowding into Washington uni
versity, Boston university, ard into g
dozen other colleges which have open.
ed their doors to women within the
past five years.
For 6.000 years it has been so gen.
orally believer that women are merely
a harmless necessity in the wor!d-a
comfortable convenience in the home
or pleasing decoration that it were a
pity to destroy, that it is somewhat
starling-like thunder in clear sky
to hear this noise about educating the
sex-to hear women in such numbers
the world over asserting their indiyid,