Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-07-14
OF WOMEN
The Colored Association Begins Its
First Annual Convention.
MRS. DOUGLASS MAKES an ADDRESS
Thinks There Should Be a Woman
on Police Court Bench.
TIL E poor

The first annual convention OF the Ma
tional League of Colored Women began
this morning at the Fifteenth Street Pres
byterian Church. Rev. F. j. Grinlke, l.. D.,
pastor, and will continue for three days
and evenings. The attendance was excel
lent nearly the entire auditorium being
filled. .e--,-
The church was beautifully decorated
with flags and bunting and waving growing
plants. At 1918 O'Clock the convention was
called to order by Miss A. " Thompkins Of
Washington. who said she had been re-
quested by Mrs. Helen A. Cook. the oresi-
dent of the league, as she was herself i'll.
to do SO. Miss Thompkins then continued
the duties of chairman.
After prayer by Mrs. NJ. L. Meriwether of
Washington Miss Thompkins read the ad-
dress of welcome prepared by Mrs. Cook,
and this was followed by a long address
by Mrs Helen A. Douglass, widow of Fred
erick Douglass, who, among other things,
said:
Ever since George Washington and Bet
Sey Ross put their heads together 10 evolve
Old Glory, woman has been doing her part
in lifting the nation up toward all Old
Glory ought to signify.
Coming down to practical questions of to-
day. Mrs. Douglass said: would the wo-
men of Washington unite on the work of
purifying the alleyways. breeders of dis
ease and moral DEATH shielded as they are
sometimes behind the fine houses of the
West End for the rent they pay. these al
leys and the Division itself, intrenched
though 1t may be in the favor of Congress,
would disappear.
There Is another department CT public
interest in which it may be that this Wo-
mans League may some time serve the
ends of both humanity and justice-the Po-
lice Court Of our city. 1t Is our duty as
workers for public morality to look over
/ of,,lN. A. Tl~l.
may know for what reason and in what
manner the long line of offenders are sum
moned to appear III court
mo one can read these reports without
observing with what alacrity our brave
preservers of the public peace snatch up
tiny little boys and poor old, homeless men
and women and present them promptly at
court
"Tv what nerversftv of iust,ce does 4,
happen that the taking of a human life by
the rich and thoughtless is made the occa-
sion of excessive SOlicitude and lenfency on
| the part of officials. while the sinking down
upon the sidewalk of WORKOUT old man,
and the innocent picking up of few mag
nolia blossoms by an ignorant child are
promptly made the occasion Of arrest and
detention?
Such Irregularities of justice turn the
heads of the poor against the administra-
ton of law and create in their minds the
impression that Its province is to protect
the interests Of the rich, but not those CT
irons, but a woman as associate judge of
the Police Court and warden of the wo-
mems department Of the jail
The Delegates.
The following was the list of delegates as
reported:
Washington, D. C.-Mls Helen A. Cook
Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Slade, Mrs. Fannie E.
Smith, Miss Luli, S. Chase, Mrs. Anna e.
Murray Miss Emma F. G. Merritt. Mrs. o.
son Taylor. Mrs. NJ. L. Meriwether. Miss
NJ E. Jordan. Miss Dora E. Smith. Miss
Julia A. Grant. Miss Patterson, Mrs. Hill,
Miss A. V. Thompkins. Mrs. Redmon. Bal
tmore-Mrs. Ruth NJ. Collett, Miss Ada
Trusty, Miss Ida Cummings, Miss Carrie
Cock. Miss Mamie Grooms. Mrs. Louise
Watty. Kansas City. Mo.-Mrs. Mary F.
Handy. Mrs. Frances J. Jackson. Miss
Miss Lottle Mcguire. Miss Lucinda Day.
Denver, Col.-Mrs. L. NJ. OIden, Miss Eva
johnson. Mics Mae De Priest. Cambridge
Mass--Mrs A. H. Jewell Miss Ella Jewell.
Campbell. Miss Sara T. Billiard. Miss H.
Eva Hood. st. 'Paul-Mrs. F. H. Lyles
I'hiladeiphia-Miss Julia F. Jones, DR.. Re
beeca J. Cole. Mrs. Fannie Jackson Cop
pin. Gloucester, Va.-Editorial Club Miss
Estelle Sprague. Mrs. Rosetta Douglas
Sprague. Providence. r. LINTON Mission
airy Society. Mss Mary E. Jackson. Miss
Dunbar Mrs Kelly. Temperance unions
s.ssippi. Mrs. Ella Shepherd Moore. the
Brownie Club. Mrs. Lucy Messer Davis,
Miss Alice Waring. fraternal delegates from
the Womans Afro-American Union Of
Brooklyn, n. Y. Mrs. ]. P. Richardson;
Atbeville. SC, Mrs. E.V. Williams. Miss L.
Harper; Kansas and Missouri, Mrs. Mary
Handy, Miss Anna H. Jones. Mrs. May
Nero: Norfolk, Va, Mrs. Titus. Miss Wood.
ley. Mrs Elm Bell. Mrs P. L. Barber, Mrs
w. Moseley, Miss l.. Rainey; Y. NJ. c. A.
of District Of Columbia, Miss jamie Page
Mrs. E. L. Misehears; sojourner Truth
lief Corps. Julia Mason Layton; Women's
Progressive Union. Mrs. Annie E. Taylor
Mrs. Lucy Green, Miss Williams. Miss
Jor es. Miss Mills. Mss Jackson, Miss
Walker.
Reports Read.
Reports OF the work accomplished by the
City. Miss Anna Holland Jones; Philadel-
phia. Miss Julia Jones; Norfolk, Va. Mrs.
L. E. Titus: Harper's Ferry, W. Va, Miss
Campbell: Baltimore. Md, Mrs Collett:
Boston, Mrs. Watson: st. Paul, Mimi. Mrs
]. T. Lyles; Denver Mrs. l.. NJ. Olden; Ala
bama. Miss Georgia Washington; Wash
ington. d. c.. Miss NJ. l.. Jordan All the
reports contained much that was very en-
oouraging TO those interested in the cause
but that from Baltimore was so highly
that. after Mrs Collett finished reading her
report the chair. Miss Thompkins, said she
desired to bear witness to the fact that
Baltimore, now as in the past even in
slavery days. was in the van of movements
which have for their object the upbuilding
of the colored race Her remarks occa-
stoned loud and long continued applause,
as did also those Of Miss Georgia Wash
ington as she recounted the many kind
resses toward the colored people of Ala
bama by the white citizens there.
Committees Appointed.
Chairman Thompkins announced the ap-
pointment Of the following committees:
Resolutions-Mrs. F. j. Coppin of Ph.la-
delphia. Miss A. II. Jones' Kansas City;
Miss Ruth NJ. Collett, Baltimore; Mrs. L. t.
Titus. Norfolk. Va; Miss c. L. Franklin,
Harpers Ferry, w. Va; Mrs. A. H. Jewell
Cambridge. Mass; Miss A. v. Thompkins,
Mrs. T. H. Lyles. st. Paul; Miss Georgia
Washington, Mt Meigs, Ala.
Credentials-Mrs. j. NJ. Layton, Mrs. F. J.
Jackson, Miss Ada Trusty, Miss Josephine
Williams, Miss H. E. Hood, Miss Ella Jew
ell.
Courtesies-AIiss NJ. P shadd, Miss Lula
Chase. Mrs. /. d. Baily.