The age-herald., 1900-03-08
Georgia Woman Goes to
Paris as Commission el

farlS as C0mmlSSl0EeT
 In View of the recent appointment by Gov ernor Candler of Mrs. Joseph Thompson of Atlanta as a commissioner from Georgia to the Paris exposition the following extract from the Atlanta Constitution will be of in- terest:
 ''The news of this appointment will be received with great pleasure by Mrs Thompson's friends, both north and south, and Governor Candler is being congratu- lated on all sides in the excellent judg- ment which prompted his appointing on the Georgia commission a woman so eminently qualified to represent her state in any capacity or in any country. Prob ably no woman of her age in the south has met with the honors that have been conferred upon Mrs. Thompson in public Mfe, and none could have more satisfac- torily fulfilled the duties involved in these honors.
 "As will be seen in the governors com mission to Mrs. Thompson, it was given dn special recognition of the services she renederd Georgia, when, as president or ihe womans department of the Cotton States and International exposition, she was Che hoad of the first organized move ment undertaken by the women of the south, and out of WG9eh so many pro- gressive movements among the Geoi 3ta women tnve evolved.
 ''When in the incipiency of the exposition company there was suggested that there should be a womans department, and later a woman's building, the idea seemed almost radical, as the women of the south had attempted no organized movemeri. of that magnitude; but the wise heads of il1e executive board foresaw the force there would be in the united efforts of tine women in sucrl an enterprise, and 1t was resolved that there should be a woman's building, built through the efforts of tle women and patterned after that of the woman's building of the worlds fair. Then the question arose as to the woman that should be put at the head of thts important fea- ture of the exposition. when Mrs. Thomp- son was by unanimous vote appointed president of the woman's department
 "Her beauty. brilliancy and social promi- hence made her most eligible to the office, but there were those among her friends who questioned whether a woman of her youth and inexperience in public work could make success of such an undertaking. But from the very beginning she assumed the duties of her office with a judgment, force executive ability and tact that proved she was the right woman in the r.gtJt place. Her appointments were all charac- teristic of these qualities, while the prompt and business.ike manner in which the women of the board, by hard work and continued energy secured the sufficient sum of money for their building and its successful maintenance proved farther her attributes of inspiring leadership.
 'It is but to repeat history to refer to the success of the womans department under Mrs. Thompson's administration since no feature of the exposition proved a greater center of interest and through no other medium was the exposition better known throughout the country.
 But in the leadership of the woman's department of the exposition Mrs Thomp- sons duties did not end, for with her pa- trdotic desire that every side of the ex- position should be a success, MT. and Mrs. Thompson opened their beautiful home at Brookwood, and by their bountiful and hospitable entertainments they contributed to an unlimited extent to the social suc- cess of the exposition.
 "Indeed it was said by distinguished man who was fin Atlanta at the time. and who attended several of the beautiful entertain ments at which Mrs. Thompson presided, and at which distinguished guests from New England. the north, west, Mexico. and South America met in friendly converse, that she did more during the short period of the exposition to establish band of social relationship between the north and south | than had been accomplished by any inf1u- l ence since the days of the Confederacy.
 ''It was similar appreciation that prompt ed Mrs. Potter Palmer, after her visit to Mrs. Thompson during the exposition, to present her with silver loving cup, bear dng an appropriate inscription