The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1920-08-26

When Miss Anthony began talking
in public of "woman's rights" she was
derided and hissed by the men in her
audiences as "freak of nature" I'm
dismayed, she carried the campaign
to congress and to the states. During
the Civil war she demanded that wom-
en- be given equal rights with the new
ly enfranchised negroes. The answer
she got was: "This is the negrO's
hour" For several years after the
Civil war Miss Anthony endeavOred to
secure an Interpretation of the four
teenth and fifteenth amendments
which would allow women to vote.
Finally, in 1872 at Rochester. n. Y,
she tried to force an Interpretation by
voting at the polls. She was arrested
and fined. She refused to pay the
fine, but was not sent to jail
In 1875 Miss Anthony drafted the
amendment to the Constitution which
has now been ratified In 1878 the
amendment was introduced in the SEN
ate by Senator Sargent of California.
1t was defeated in 1887 and thereafter
was not even debated in congress un-
til 1914.
During the years the constitutional
amendment campaign was making no
progress the women won many vic
tories in the states. They secured full
suffrage in Wyoming CSG9), Colorado.
Utah and Idaho OS9D, Washington
Q910), California Q91D, Kansas, Ari-
zona and Oregon (1912), Montana and
Nevada Q91D, New York G91O, ok
lahOma, South Dakota and Michigan
Q91S). They won presidential suf-
frage in Illinois G913), Nebraska,
Rhode Island and North Dakota
Q91D, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana.
Maine, Minnesota, Missouri and Ten
nessee Q919) and Kentucky (192O).
Partial suffrage prevails in many of
the states. In Illinois, for example,
women vote for candidates for all Of
fees not mentioned by the state con-
stitution.
The National American Woman
Suffrage association in 1912 opened
headquarters in Washington and be-
gan an active campaign for the
passage of the amendment In 1916
it established branch headquarters
there which were devoted entirely to
the amendment campaign.
The National Woman's party, or
ganiZed in 1910 by Alice Paul, estab-
lished Washington headquarters in
1913 and introduced the militant into
the campaign.
Alice Paul-the third Quakeress to
immortalize herself-is the spectacu-
lar figure of the struggle. She is a
practical politician and developed the
deadliest card index on members of
congress that practical politics has
ever seen. Pretty soon she was serv-
ing notice through the White House
pickets that the president was the
imam higher up" The arrest of near
ly 500 of these pickets and the impOsi-
ton of Jail sentences had no effect.
incidentally Miss Paul herself served
seven terms in Jail.
The amendment was beaten three
times in the senate and once in the
house before 1t was finally passed by
the Sixty-sixth congress June 4, 1919,
by the necessary two-thirds majority.
The resumption of woman suffrage
work after the Civil war was marked
by the organization in 1869 of two ma
tional organizations: National Wom-
an Suffrage association, with Mrs
Stanton and Miss Anthony leaders and
headquarters in New York; American
Woman Suffrage association, with
Mary A. Livermore, Julia Ward Howe
and Lucy Stone leaders and headquar-
ters In Boston. The line of division
was this: The former wished to
concentrate on the passage of q con-
stitutionaI amendment; the latter
was in favor of obtaining the suf-
frage through amendments to state
constitutions. In 1890 the two organ
izatiOns we're united under the name
Of National American Woman Suf-
| fage Association, and work was
pushed along both lines Of endeavor.
Mrs. Stanton was president until
1892. Miss Anthony served until
1900, resigning at the age of eighty.
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Gait was its
head, 1000-1oO4. DR. Anna Howard
Shaw, recently deceased and possibly
best loved Of all the leaders-a wom-
an Of transcendent gifts and elo-
! quence-was president until 1915.
Mrs. Gait was then again chosen.
Mrs. Frank Leslie left a large legacy
TO Mrs. Gait to be used in the work.
The National association made mr.
rangements at the st. Louis conven-
ton Of 1919 to dissolve it's organiza-
tion and become the League Of Wom-
en- Voters. These arrangements be-
came effective at the Chicago conven-
tion In February last.