The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-11-21
THE woMAN's CONGRESS.

A Brief Account of the Recent Meeting
in Toronto of the A. A. W.
The eighteenth annual meeting of the
Association for the Advancement of
Women, which has just been held in
Toronto, was a notable gathering. 1t
was the first time the Association has
held its annual convention outside
the United States. and it brought to-
gether many women from different parts
of Canada, as we'll as from a dozen or
more Of the States of the Union. New
York, Michigan and Massachusetts
were the States most numerously repre-
scented.
| Toronto lavished attentions upon its
visitors. The platform of the great
Pavilion, which was placed at the dis
posal of the Association, was hung with
English and American flags, conspic-
uous among them the maple flag" of
| Canada; and in the center was the in
scription Welcome to Torontor' in
| large letters of coloring as warm as the
| hearts of our entertainers. We were
invited to visit all the public buildings,
| the excellent schools, the flourishing
Womcn's Medical College, the uni
versity, and other points of interest A
committee of city officials took all who
wished to go for long carriage-ride
through the city and suburbs, past the
handsome private residences and public
buildings, by the magnificent new Par
lament House i'll process of erection,
through tho beautiful tree-shaded
streets, planted with some of the finest
mountain ashes / ever saw laden at this
season with vivid red berries; out to the
breezy reservoir, and across picturesque
Rosedale Ravine, deep natural chasm
overlooking with following naples.
Intelligent and interested audiences
assembled at every meeting, and the
daily papers gave very full and friendly
reports. A great deal OF hard work in
preparing for the Congress had been
done by DR.. Emily Stowe and the mem
bers of the Woman's Acknowledgement
Association, to whom the gratitude of
the A. A. w. is especially due.
To anyone attending even single
convention of the A. A. W., it is easy to
see why these annual Congresses of
women do 50 much good, and why in ev-
cry city where they are held, women's
clubs, Educational and Industrial
Unions, and other useful associations
of women spring up in their wake.
They not only stimulate thought, show
what women can do, and encourage self
respect, mutual fellowship. and esprit de
corps among women, but they make it
evident to the men of the community
kot - I'll, L. o11o Il
ments are not necessarily eccentric,
aggressive, or disagreeable. In the
gracious and dignified presence of Mrs.
Howe, the sweet face of the young
secretary, and the intelligent and pleas
ant-looking group of distinguished
women who surrounded them upon
the platform, there was an object
lesson stronger than any words. The
good sense and merit of the papers
and addresses also carried their own
moral The chairman of the local exc
cutive committee, School Inspector
Hughes, put the matter in nutshell !
when he said in his closing address:
Before the A. A. W. came to Toronto, |
many men were little afraid of the |
scientific women We are entirely |
cured We have learned that you are a |
body of women whom we can respect,
and with whom it is an honor to co
operate"
heard women and girls with shin
ing eyes declare that they had never at
tended any meeting so inspiring in their
lives;they had never before had the faint |
est idea of what women were doing and |
could do. Strong men said the same;
and both men and women realized with |
heartfelt Joy what good the A. A. w.
has been doing for nearly twenty years.
Long may it fourish!-Alice Stone |
Blackwell, in Woman's Column.