History of Woman Suffrage/Volume 4/Chapter 56
CHAPTER LVI.
NEW YORK.[1]
The State of New York, home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, may be justly described as the great battleground for the rights of women, a title which will not be denied by any who have read the preceding three volumes of this History. The first Woman's Rights Convention in the world was called at Seneca Falls in 1848.[2] New York was also a pioneer in beginning a reform of the old English Common Law, so barbarous in its treatment of women. And yet, with all the splendid work which has been done, the State has been slow indeed in granting absolute justice. At the commencement of the new century, however, the legal and educational rights of women are very generally conceded, but their political rights are still largely denied. Except during the Civil War, there has not been a year since 1851 when one or more conventions have not been held to demand these rights, and when a committee of women has not visited the Legislature to secure the necessary action. A State association was formed in 1869.
The convention of 1884 met in the Common Council Chamber at Albany, March 11, 12, with the usual large attendance of delegates from all parts of the State, and the evening sessions so crowded that an overflow meeting was held in Geological Hall. Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, the president, was in the chair and addresses were made by Mesdames Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mary Seymour Howell, Caroline Gilkey Rogers and Henrica Iliohan; and by Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Illinois and Mrs. Helen M. Gougar of diana, who had come from the national convention in Washington. On the way to Albany a large reception had been tendered to them at the Hoffman House in New York. On March 13 a hearing was held in the Assembly Chamber before the Judiciary Committee on the bill for Full Suffrage for women. The room was filled and strong speeches were made by all of the above women. Gov. Grover Cleveland gave a courteous reception to the delegates.
In 1885 the convention took place in Steinway Hall, New York, February 12, 13, all the counties being represented by delegate or letter. The speakers were Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers and the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Eaton and Mrs. Delia S. Parnell (mother of Charles Stewart Parnell). On the evening of the 12th a large reception to Mrs. Stanton was given at the Murray Hill Hotel.
The convention of 1886 met in Masonic Hall, New York, March 23, 24. Addresses were made by Miss Susan B. Anthony, James Redpath, Mesdames Blake, Howell, Rogers and Iliohan, Gov. John W. Hoyt of Wyoming and Mrs. Margaret Moore of Ireland. A reception was tendered to Dr. Clemence S. Lozier at the Park Avenue Hotel.
In the fall an interesting observance was arranged by the State Suffrage Association when the statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, given to the American nation by France, was unveiled on October 28. There was a great excursion down the bay to witness this ceremony and the association chartered a boat which was filled with friends of the cause. A place was secured in the line between two of the great warships, and, while the cannon thundered a salute to the majestic female figure which embodied Freedom, speeches were made on the suffrage boat by Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Margaret Parker of England, Mrs. Harriette R. Shattuck of Massachusetts, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell and others.
The convention met again in New York at Masonic Hall, April 21, 22, 1887, and was addressed by Madame Clara Neymann, Rabbi Gustave Gottheil, Mrs. Florence McCabe, Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Howell, Dr. Lozier and others.
In 1888 the annual meeting assembled at the same place, March 22, 23. It was attended by the many delegates who had come from European countries to the International Congress of Women about to be held in Washington, D. C. Among the speakers were Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg of Finland and Mrs. Ashton Dilke, Mrs. Alice Scatcherd and Mrs. Zadel Barnes Gustafson of England. On the evening preceding the opening of the convention a large reception was given to these foreign ladies at the Park Avenue Hotel.
The State convention was held in Rochester, Dec. 16, 17, 1890, in the First Universalist Church. Its distinguishing feature was the reception given in the Chamber of Commerce to Miss Susan B. Anthony by her fellow townsmen, as a welcome home from her long and hard campaign in South Dakota. The large rooms were handsomely decorated and over 600 people were present during the evening, including President David Jayne Hill and a number of the faculty of Rochester University, several members of Congress and many men of prominence.
The speakers at the convention were Miss Mary F. Eastman of Boston, the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, Mrs. Greenleaf, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Miss Anthony. Mrs. Blake positively declined a re-election, having served eleven consecutive years, and Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf was elected president. During Mrs. Blake's presidency she had many times canvassed New York and had extended her lecture tours into various other States, going as far west as California.
Henceforth, in addition to annual conventions, the association adopted the plan of holding mid-year executive meetings in various cities for the transaction of business, with public sessions in the evenings addressed by the best speakers.
In 1891 the convention met in Auburn, November Io, 11, the audiences crowding the opera house on both evenings. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Greenleaf, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Miss Shaw were the speakers, with an address of welcome from Mrs. J. Mary Pearson. Reports showed that the membership had doubled in the last year, and that Woman's Day had been observed at many fairs, resulting in the forming of county organizations. A resolution was adopted urging the Legislature to appoint some women on the State Board of Managers for the Columbian Exposition in 1893. The convention closed with a reception at the elegant home of Mrs. Eliza Wright Osborne, niece of Lucretia Mott and daughter of Martha C. Wright, two of those who called the first Woman's Rights Convention.
Syracuse was selected for the annual meeting of 1892, November 15-17. Miss Anthony, president of the National Association, was in attendance, and the opera house was filled at all the sessions. Mrs. Martha T. Henderson, vice-president-at, large, who had been appointed to represent the State, was delegated to arrange for the noon-day suffrage meetings during the Columbian Exposition. Mrs. Greenleaf's address reviewed the: great debate which had taken place at the New York Chautauqua Assembly the preceding August, between the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw and the Rev. J. M. Buckley, 'editor of the Christian Advocate, and emphasized the evident sympathy of the immense audience with the side of the question presented by the former. Suffrage Day had been observed at the Cassadaga Lake Assembly with an address by Miss Anthony, and also at the State Fair. The association was congratulated on the fact that there had been a further extension of School Suffrage during the year.
All interest centered in the appproaching convention to revise the constitution of the State, through which it was hoped a woman suffrage amendment would be obtained. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Howell had been appointed to address the Legislature, which they had done in April of this year, for the purpose of securing women delegates to this convention, that was to be held in 1893, but eventually was deferred one year. Committees were appointed which visited the political State conventions the following summer, asking a declaration in their platforms for this amendment, but were unsuccessful.
The annual meeting of 1893 was held at Brooklyn, in Long Island Historical Hall, Nov. 13-16. It was welcomed by Mrs. Mariana Wright Chapman, president of the Brooklyn suffrage society. The plan of work was perfected, which had been prepared by Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton, for an active canvass of the State in behalf of a plank in the approaching Constitutional Convention. Addresses were made by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe and Henry B. Blackwell of Boston, Miss Anthony, the Rev. Miss Shaw, national vice-president-at-large; Mrs. Ella A. Boole, Aaron M. Powell, Gen. C. T. Christiansen, Mrs. Anna C. Field, Mrs. Emma Bourne, Mrs. Blake and others. Among the resolutions adopted was the following:
The great campaign of 1894, undertaken to secure a clause for woman suffrage in the revised State constitution, will be considered further on in this chapter.
The annual convention met in Ithaca, Nov. 12-14, 1894, the opera house being filled with the usual large audiences. It was welcomed by Mayor Clinton D. Bouton and President Jacob Gould Schurmann of Cornell University. Miss Anthony was present and a galaxy of eloquent New York women made addresses.
Newburgh entertained the convention Nov. 8-12, 1895. The speakers were Miss Anthony, Dr. Edward McGlynn, Miss Elizabeth Burrill Curtis, daughter of George William Curtis; Miss Arria S. Huntington, daughter of Bishop Frederick D. Huntington; Miss Margaret Livingston Chanler, Madame Neymann, Mrs. Maude S. Humphrey, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Cornelia K. Hood, Miss Julie Jenney, Mrs. Boole, Mrs. Annie E. P. Searing, Mrs. M. R. Almy, Miss Harriette A. Keyser, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell, the Rev. Miss Shaw and Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee. Miss Anthony was especially stirred by a previous speech which reflected on the dress, manners and social standing of the pioneers in the movement for the rights of women, and which felicitated the present advocates on their great superiority in these respects. She named the pioneers, one by one, paid warm tribute to their beautiful personality and commanding ability and asked where a woman could be found in all the present generation to excel, if, indeed, to equal them.
The delegates enjoyed visits to the many interesting places in the neighborhood, including West Point and Vassar College. A beautiful reception was given by Mrs. C. S. Jenkins. It was supposed that the disappointment of the previous year in failing to secure an amendment from the Constitutional Convention would result in a falling off in membership, but instead this was found to be considerably augmented. At the close of the convention the delegates went to New York to attend Mrs. Stanton's eightieth birthday reception at the Metropolitan Opera House.
The convention of 1896 was held in Rochester, November 18, 19, with more delegates present than ever before. It was preceded by a reception on the evening of the 17th, where the guests were delighted to greet Miss Anthony and her little band, who had arrived that morning from their arduous field of labor in the California amendment campaign. The welcome for the city was extended by Mayor George Warner. Many of the speakers of the previous year were present, with the addition of the Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first ordained woman minister, and the noted colored woman of anti-slavery days, Harriet Tubman. The press chairman, Mrs. Elnora Monroe Babcock, reported that, instead of the 1 35 newspapers of the year before, 253 in the State were now using suffrage matter regularly furnished by her committee.
On the Friday night succeeding the convention a banquet was given in honor of Miss Anthony, with over 200 guests. Mrs. Mary Lewis Gannett was toastmistress and Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw made interesting addresses.
Mrs. Greenleaf, who had done such heroic work during the past six years and sustained the association on so high a plane, felt obliged to decline a re-election, and Mrs. Mariana Wright Ghapman was unanimously chosen for her place. Mrs. Greenleaf was appointed fraternal delegate to the annual meeting of the State Grange, and Mrs. Howell to the State Labor Convention, and both were cordially received. The Grange had on several occasions declared for woman suffrage.
Geneva extended a welcome to the convention Nov. 3-5, 1897, and successful meetings were held in Collins Hall and the opera house. The speakers from abroad and many delegates were entertained at the handsome home of Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, daughter of Gerrit Smith. Added to the usual list were Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, recording secretary of the National Association; the Rev. Annis Ford Eastman, Mrs. Gannett, Mrs. h Mary E. Craigie, and Miss M. F. Blaine, Charles Hemiup, W. . Smith O'Brien, the Rev. Remick and Dr. William H. Jordan of Geneva. A pleasant event of the year had been the carving of Miss Anthony's face on the stairway of the magnificent new Capitol building at Albany, by order of George W. Aldridge, State superintendent of public works.
On April 28, 29, 1898, the fortieth anniversary of the first Woman's Rights Convention was held in Rochester. This city also had entertained that convention which had adjourned in Seneca Falls to hold a session here. The anniversary proceedings took place afternoons and evenings in the Central Presbyterian church with a fine corps of speakers.[3]
On Nov. 8-11, 1898, the annual meeting was held in the court house at Hudson. It was welcomed by the mayor, Richard A. M. Deeley, for the city and by Mrs. Mary Holsapple for the local suffrage club. An address of greeting also was given by Judge Levi S. Longley, and the Hudson Club extended its courtesies. A letter from Mrs. Stanton was read by her daughter, Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch of England, who also made an address. Many of the strong speakers were present who have been frequently mentioned in connection with these State conventions. The treasurer reported receipts for the year $3,220.
Chautauqua County invited the convention of 1899 to Dunkirk, November 1-3, and entertained it royally. There was a reception on the first evening, and a luncheon was given every day to the delegates who wished to remain at the hall between sessions. Both day and evening meetings were large and enthusiastic, the former held at the Woman's Union, the latter in Academy Hall. Mayor Alexander Williams welcomed the convention for the city, and Mrs. Ellen Cheney for the county in a Witty poem, Mrs. Chapman responding. Stirring addresses were made by the Hon. F. S. Nixon and Dr. J. T. Williams. Miss Anthony was present, with many of the old speakers and several new ones, among them Mrs. Carrie E. S. Twing.
The last annual meeting of the century convened at Glens Falls, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 1900, in Ordway Hall. Addresses of welcome were made by the Hon. Addison B. Colvin and the president of the Warren County association, Mrs. Susie M. Bain. Mrs. Chapman Catt, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Boole, president State Woman's Christian Temperance Union; Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Howell and Miss Harriet May-Mills were among the principal speakers. A notable feature was the presence of many bright and enthusiastic young workers. Pledges of support were made for the national bazar to be held the next month in New York.
Among the resolutions adopted was one congratulating Miss Anthony upon her success in raising the last of the $50,000 fund which was to open the doors of Rochester University to women.
In addition to this long array of conventions without a break, the mid-year executive meetings in various cities have been of almost equal interest. At nearly every one of these State conventions Miss Anthony has assisted with her inspiring presence and strong words of counsel. To many of them Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, not able to come in person, has sent ringing letters of encouragement, for which the affectionate greetings of the delegates have been returned. New York has the largest membership of any State in the Union and-pays the largest amount of money into the national treasury each year, not alone in auxiliary dues, but in private subscriptions.
The State association has had but three presidents in over twenty years: Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, 1879-1890; Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf, 1890-1896; Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman, 1896 and still serving. Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage was continuously in office from the time a State association first existed.[4]
With active work in progress for so many years, and with suffrage organizations in the counties and towns throughout all of this large State, it would be impossible to make personal mention of even a small fraction of those who have aided the movement. The hundreds who have furnished the money and the thousands who have served in a quiet way through all the years would require a separate chapter.[5]
It would be equally impossible to describe the efforts made from year to year, the meetings held, the memorials presented to political conventions, the debates, the parliamentary drills, the lecture courses, the millions of pages of literature distributed, the struggles to place women on the school boards, the special efforts of the standing committees on legislation, press, industries, work among children, etc. It is far more difficult to write the history of a State where so much has been done than where the tale may be quickly told. No State is better organized for suffrage work.[6] There is no doubt that a strong sentiment exists outside of New York City in favor of the enfranchisement of women. However, with the adverse influence always exerted by a great metropolis, it is impossible to foretell when this will be accomplished.
Constitutional Amendment: The history of the struggle of a comparatively few women to secure a clause for equal suffrage in the State constitution, when it was revised in 1894, told in the fewest possible words, is as follows:[7]
As early as 1887 Gov. David B. Hill, at the earnest request of the State Suffrage Association, had recommended that women should have a representation in the convention which would frame this revision. Miss Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake. Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell and Mrs Caroline Gilkey Rogers addressed a joint committee of the Legislature urging that women delegates should be permitted to sit in this convention. Mrs. Blake also prepared a strong written appeal which was sent to every member. Gov. Roswell P. Flower in his message in 1892 made a similar recommendation. Again Miss Anthony, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Howell made a plea for women this time before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
The original bill provided for a certain number of delegates to be appointed by the Governor, among these four to represent the Prohibitionists, three the Labor Party and three the Woman Suffrage Association. The power of the Governor to appoint was afterwards declared unconstitutional. A ball allowing three women delegates passed the Assembly, but was defeated in the delegates should be elected, and that there should be two representatives each for the Prohibition, Labor and Socialist parties. None was granted to the Suffragists; but the law said: "The electors may elect any citizen of the State above the age of twenty-one years."
The following was then sent to each of the political party conventions, through properly accredited delegates:
The names presented were those of Miss Anthony, Mrs. Howell and Miss Emily Howland, the last a large taxpayer and an excellent businesswoman. The ladies were courteously listened to by the Democrats, and refused an opportunity to speak by the Republicans. Similar efforts were made in district conventions.
Both Republicans and Democrats, however, refused to nominate any women, the compensation of $10 per day. in addition to the political power conferred, making the positions entirely too valuable to give to a disfranchised class. The name of even Susan B. Anthony was declined by the Republicans of her dis
| MARY S. ANTHONY | JEAN BROOKS GREENLEAF. |
| Rochester, N. Y. | Rochester, N. Y. |
| MARIANA W. CHAPMAN, | |
| Brooklyn. N Y. | |
| EMILY HOWLAND. | ELIZA WRIGHT OSBORNE. |
| Sherwood, N. Y. | Auburn. N. Y. |
trict. The Democrats of that district, who were in a hopeless minority, made the one exception in the whole State and nominated Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf, who ran some votes ahead of the rest of the ticket.
Every effort was now directed toward obtaining a clause in the new constitution, as there was little doubt that if this could be done it would be adopted with the rest of that instrument. An eloquent appeal was issued to all the friends of liberty throughout the State, urging them to assist in securing this measure of justice to women. A campaign was carefully planned with an ability which would have been creditable to experienced political managers, and $10,000 were raised and expended with the most rigid economy.[8]
To save rent headquarters were established in Miss Anthony's own home in Rochester, which soon became a beehive of industry, and the work increased until practically every room was pressed into service. The president of the State association and campaign committee, Mrs. Greenleaf, and the corresponding secretary, Miss Mary S. Anthony, gave practically every hour of their time for six months to this great effort. The postoffice daily sent mail sacks to the house, which were filled with petitions and other documents and set out on the porch for collection.
Miss Anthony herself, at the age of seventy-four, spoke in every one of the sixty counties of the State, contributing her services and expenses. This series of mass meetings was managed by Miss Harriet May Mills and Miss Mary G. Hay. The Rev. Anna Howard Shaw spoke at forty of these, and Mrs. Howell at a large number. The entire management of New York City was put into the hands of Mrs. Blake, while the campaign for Brooklyn was conducted by Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt made thirty-eight speeches in these two cities and vicinity. Mrs. Stanton, from her home in New York, sent many strong articles to the metropolitan press, which were copied throughout the State. Mrs. Martha R. Almy, State vice-president, was an active worker.
Women. of social influence in this city, who never had shown any public interest in the question, opened headquarters at Sherry's, held meetings and secured signatures to a suffrage petition. The leaders of this branch were Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell, Mrs. Joseph H. Choate, Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, Mrs. J. Warren Goddard, Mrs. Robert Abbe, Mrs. Henry M. Sanders and Miss Adele M. Fielde. Among those who signed the petition were Chauncey M. Depew, Russell Sage, Frederick Coudert, the Rev. Heber Newton, the Rev. W. S. Rainsford, Bishop Henry C. Potter, Rabbi Gustave Gottheil, John D. Rockefeller, Robert J. Ingersoll and William Dean Howells.
One of the surprises of the campaign was the organization in Albany of a small body of women calling themselves "remonstrants," under the leadership of the Episcopal bishop, William Croswell Doane, and Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn. Another branch was organized in New York City by Mrs. Francis M. Scott, and one in Brooklyn with Mrs. Lyman Abbott at the head and the support of her husband's paper, The Outlook.
The suffrage forces circulated 5,000 petitions and secured 332,148 individual signatures, about half of them women (including 36,000 collected by the W. C. T. U.) and memorials from labor organizations and Granges, bringing the total, in round numbers, to 600,000.[9] The "remonstrants" obtained only 15,000 signatures, yet at that time and ever afterwards many of the newspapers insisted that the vast preponderance of sentiment among men and women was opposed to equal suffrage.
A part of the work was to collect statistics showing the amount of property on which taxes were paid by women. It was impossible to obtain these in New York City, but in three-fifths of the towns and cities outside it was found to be $348,177,107. In Brooklyn women paid one-fourth of all the taxes. The drudgery of preparing these tax lists and recounting and labeling all the petitions was done chiefly by Miss Isabel Howland.
During the convention an office and a reception room in the Capitol were granted for the use of the women. On May 24 Miss Anthony and Mrs. Greenleaf addressed the Suffrage Committee of the Constitutional Convention in the Assembly Chamber of the Capitol at Albany. A large crowd was present, including the committee and most of the delegates. Mrs. Greenleaf's remarks were brief but forcible, and Miss Anthony spoke earnestly for three-quarters of an hour, seeming to have the full sympathy of her audience.
The women of New York City were accorded a hearing on May 31, and strong arguments were made by Dr. Jacobi, Miss Margaret Livingstone Chanler, Mrs. Blake and Miss Harriette A. Keyser. On June 7 the Suffrage Committee was addressed by representative women, in five-minute speeches, from all of the Senatorial districts outside of New York City.[10] Mrs. Greenleaf presided at all these meetings.[11]
The final hearing was accorded June 28, when U. S. Senator Joseph M. Carey, who had come from Wyoming by invitation for this purpose, made a most convincing argument based on the practical experience of his own State for twenty-five years. He was followed by Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Mary T. Burt, president of the State W. C. T. U.
All of these addresses in favor of recognizing woman's right to the franchise were valueless except for the creation of public sentiment and as a matter of history, for the chairman of the convention, the Hon. Joseph H. Choate, had appointed a Suffrage Committee the large majority of whom were known antisuffragists, and he was reported to have said before the convention met that the amendment should not be placed in the constitution. The committee made an adverse report, which was discussed by the convention on the evenings of August 8 and 15, with the Assembly Chamber crowded at each session.[12] The advocates of adopting a woman suffrage plank were led by the Hon, Edward Lauterbach and the opponents by Mr. Root and William P. Goodelle, chairman of the Suffrage Committee.[13]
While the ballot was being taken Mr. Choate went on the floor among the delegates, and himself gave the last vote against the amendment. The ballot resulted — in favor of the amendment, 58; opposed, 98.
Even though a defeat, this was a decided advance over the Constitutional Convention of 1867, when there were but 19 ayes and 125 noes. Then less than one-seventh, this time more than one-third of the members were in favor of the enfranchisement of women.
The following month Miss Anthony and Mr. Lauterbach addressed the Committee on Resolutions of the State Republican Convention, and Miss Anthony and Mrs. Blake that of the Democratic, asking for a recognition of woman suffrage in their platforms, but both ignored the request.
Legislative Action: Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony were the pioneers in legislative work for woman suffrage, the former making her first speech before a committee — in behalf of property rights — as early as 1845, and continuing her appeals for the various rights of women during twenty-five years, after which her addresses were given usually before the committees of the United States Congress. Miss Anthony made her first appearance in Albany in 1853, and her last one before a committee there in 1897. She devoted her strongest efforts to the Legislature of her own State until the demands of national work became so great as to absorb most of her time, and then she, too, transferred her appeals to the legislative body of the United States, although assisting always the work in New York.
Meanwhile other competent laborers had come into the field. In 1873 Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake began her legislative work, and for twenty-five years there were few bills in the interests of women under consideration at Albany which were not managed by her, with an able corps of assistants, chief among whom was Mrs. Mary Seymour Howell.
For fifty years there is an almost unbroken record of the efforts of women to secure equality of rights from the Legislature of New York, and they have succeeded to the extent that now, with the exception of the statute providing for dower and curtesy, but few serious discriminations exist against women in the laws, although the injustice of disfranchisement has been mitigated in only a slight degree.
When the Legislature assembled on Jan. 1, 1884, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Howell were at hand to further the interests of the pending bill "to prohibit disfranchisement on account of sex." On March 13 a hearing was held in the Assembly Chamber before the Judiciary Committee and a large audience. The speakers were Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert of Illinois and Mrs. Helen M. Gougar of Indiana, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Caroline Gilkey Rogers. On May 8, after an exciting debate, the bill was defeated — 57 ayes, 62 noes.
The bill of 1885 was drawn by Mrs. Blake and was accompanied by a strong written argument, with many court decisions to show that it was within the power of the Legislature itself to protect all citizens from disfranchisement. This was presented by Gen. James W. Husted, speaker of the House. Two hearings were given in the Assembly Chamber, at which addresses were made by Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers and Gov. John W. Hoyt of Wyoming.
The bill was debated April 7. General Husted, Mayor James Haggerty and Dr. J. T. Williams spoke in favor; Gen. N. M. Curtis and Kidder Scott in opposition. The vote stood 57 ayes, 56 noes, but a constitutional majority was lacking.
During the summer Mrs. Blake spoke in almost every district whose member had voted against the measure.
In 1886 a bill for Municipal Suffrage only was presented, drawn by Augustus Levy and introduced in the Senate by George Z. Erwin, in the House by Speaker Husted. On February 10a hearing took place in the Assembly Chamber. Mrs. Blake presided and the speakers were Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mrs. Howell, Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Annie Jenness Miller. On March 2 the Senate gave a hearing to Mr. Levy and James Redpath. The campaign this winter was one of the most vigorous ever made. Besides the executive officers of the State association, who were in Albany some days of every week, much help was secured by the occasional visits of prominent women and the numerous letters of influential people from all parts of the State. On the night of the final vote the Assembly Chamber was filled by friends of the measure and many officials were present, including the Lieutenant-Governor and the Attorney-General. As this bill would give women only the right to vote in municipal affairs, it had many supporters who would not have favored full suffrage. The debate was long and earnest, Mr. Erwin, General Husted, Mr. Longley of Brooklyn, Mr. Freligh of Ulster and others speaking in favor, and General Curtis, William F. Sheehan and others in opposition. The roll-call was taken in great excitement, and the ayes went up until their number reached 65, the constitutional majority. A round of applause broke out, but in an instant two men arose and changed their votes from the affirmative to the negative, so that on the final call the vote stood, 63 ayes, 52 noes.
This winter another law was enacted to remove all doubts as to the constitutionality of the one of 1880, which conferred School Suffrage on women in villages and country districts. Representative Charles Sprague introduced a bill making mothers and fathers joint guardians of their children, but it was defeated.
In 1887 Mrs. Howell drew up the Municipal Suffrage Bill, which was introduced by Senator Erwin. She spent ten days personally interviewing every senator until she had the promise of the twenty votes which were given the bill on its final passage, seventeen being necessary. There were but nine noes.
After the clerk had read the bill in the Assembly, Speaker Husted said: "If there is no objection this bill will go at once to the third reading." Wm. F. Sheehan, the leading opponent of woman suffrage, was asleep at the time and so it was thus ordered. Mrs. Howell continued her efforts, but the measure was defeated — 48 ayes, 68 noes — by a moneyed influence from New York City, after nearly enough votes to carry it had been promised.
A bill providing police matrons in cities, with the exception of New York and Brooklyn, was secured from this Legislature. It had been passed in 1882, but not signed by Gov. Alonzo B. Cornell; passed again in the Assembly in 1883, but defeated in the Senate by the Police Department of New York City. The bill was finally secured by the Woman's Prison Association, but it was not made mandatory and no attention was paid to it by the city authorities.
A bill was presented this year to relieve women from the death penalty, on the ground that since they had not the full privileges of men they should not suffer equal punishment. The measure was ably supported, but failed to pass.
In 1888 the Municipal Suffrage Bill was presented in the Senate by Charles Coggeshall, and in the Assembly by Danforth E. Ainsworth. A hearing in the Senate Chamber on February 15 was addressed by Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Rogers and the Rev. Anna Garlin Spencer of Rhode Island. The bill was lost in the Senate by a tie vote, 15 ayes, 15 noes; in the House by 48 ayes, 61 noes.
Laws were enacted at this session providing that there shall be women physicians in all State insane asylums where women are patients; and also that there shall be at least one woman trustee in all public institutions where women are placed as patients, paupers or criminals.
In 1889 the Municipal Suffrage Bill was again presented in the Assembly by Mr. Ainsworth, but it was lost by 56 ayes, 43 noes, not a constitutional majority.
In 1890 the Municipal Suffrage Bill was presented by Speaker Husted, but was defeated by 47 ayes, 52 noes.
In 1891 no legislative work was attempted beyond the efforts toward securing a representation of women in the Constitutional Convention, which it was supposed would be held at an early date.
In 1892 an act was passed to enable women to vote for County School Commissioners, which received the signature of Gov. Roswell P. Flower.
This year a Police Matron Bill was obtained which was made mandatory in cities of 100,000 and over. This bill had been passed several times before and vetoed, but it finally obtained the Governor's signature. Even then the Police Commissioners Of New York refused to appoint matrons until the matter was taken up by the Woman Suffrage League of that city. This was the end of a ten years' struggle on the part of women to secure police matrons in all cities. Most active among the leaders were Mrs. Mary T. Burt, Mrs. Abby Hopper Gibbons — and Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell, backed by the W. C. T. U, the Prison Reform, the Suffrage and various other philanthropic and religious societies.
In 1892 Hamilton Willcox, who had worked untiringly in the Legislature for many years, had a bill introduced in the Assembly to give a vote to self-supporting women. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee, but met with general disfavor. Mrs. Howell being in the Assembly Chamber with friends one evening, three of its members invited her to go to their committee room and draw up a bill for Full Suffrage, telling her they would report it favorably in place of the Working Woman's Bill. This she did and the new bill was at once reported. The next week she gave every moment to working with the members for it, aided by General Husted, Mr. Willcox and William Sulzer. On Friday morning, one week from the day the bill was reported, it came to the final vote and passed by 70 ayes, only 65 being required for the constitutional majority. Excitement ran high at this success and ten minutes were given for congratulations to Mrs. Howell by friends and foes alike. The Monday following she carried the bill from the Engrossing Committee to the Senate. Only three days of the session were left and the committee held no more meetings, so she saw separately each member of the Judiciary Committee and all gave a vote in favor of considering the bill. Mr. Sheehan was now Lieutenant-Governor and presiding officer of the Senate and would allow no courtesies to Mrs. Howell, but one senator, Charles E. Walker, arranged for her to see every member, and she secured the promise of 18 votes, 17 being required. On Thursday evening, although Senator Cornelius R. Parsons made many attempts to secure recognition, the bill was not allowed to come before the Senate. There Was every reason to believe Governor Flower would have signed it.[14]
In 1893 Mrs. Cornelia H. Cary worked for a bill providing that on all boards of education one person out of five should be a woman, but it failed to pass. The measure making fathers and mothers joint guardians of their children, so often urged, became a law this year chiefly through the efforts of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union of Buffalo, which had been hampered constantly in its efforts to care for helpless children by the interference of worthless fathers.[15]
A law also was enacted, championed by Col. George C. Webster, giving to a married woman the right to make a valid will without her husband's consent.
The season of 1894 was given wholly to the work of securing a woman suffrage amendment in the revised State constitution.
In 1895 Mrs. Martha R. Almy, as chairman of the Legislative Committee, began work in Albany early in January and was absent but one legislative day from that time until May. She was assisted by Mrs. Helen G. Ecob, and their effort was to secure a resolution to amend the constitution by striking out the word "male." In order to submit such an amendment in New York, a resolution must be passed by two successive Legislatures.
Judge Charles Z. Lincoln, the legal adviser of Gov. Levi P. Morton, drew up the resolution and it was introduced January 22 in the Assembly by Fred S. Nixon, and in the Senate by Cuthbert W. Pound. It was favorably reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee early in the session. The chairman of the Assembly Committee, Aaron B. Gardenier, was very hostile, and after every effort to get a report had been exhausted, Mr. Nixon and Mrs. Almy made a personal appeal to the committee and were successful. On March 14 six men brought in the mammoth petition for woman suffrage which had been presented to the Constitutional Convention the previous year. The resolution was passed by 80 ayes, 31 noes. This was a remarkable action for the first Legislature after the great defeat in the Constitutional Convention only a few months before.
When the measure came to the Senate it was moved by Senator Pound to substitute Mr. Nixon's resolution for his own, as they were identical. But Amasa J. Parker[16] objected in order to make it run the gauntlet of the Senate Committee again, and this gave the anti-suffragists an opportunity to oppose it. He then asked for a hearing for Bishop William Croswell Doane and others before the State Judiciary Committee, of which he was a member, which Chairman Edmond O'Connor granted. The committee met but once a week, and twice the hearing was postponed to accommodate the opposition. The second time, as no one appeared against the resolution, it was again reported favorably. Just after this had been done Mr. Parker appeared and objected, and the chairman agreed to recall it and give the opposition one more chance. On April 10, the time appointed for the hearing, Bishop Doane sent a letter declining the honor of appearing, but a delegation from New York City came up, and Mrs. Francis M. Scott and Prof. Monroe Smith of Columbia University addressed the committee opposing the measure. Mrs. Almy and Mrs. Mary H. Hunt replied in its behalf. For the third time the resolution was reported favorably by the Senate Committee, and April 18 the vote was taken. Senators Pound, Coggeshall and Bradley spoke in favor, and Jacob H. Cantor in opposition. It was carried by 20 ayes, 5 noes.
When the resolution went to the Revision Committee it was found that in one section there was a period where there should have been a comma. Mrs. Almy was obliged to remain two weeks and get an amendment through both Houses to correct this error. Finally the resolution was declared perfect, and was ordered published throughout the State, etc. Then it was discovered that the word "resident"? was used instead of "citizen," and the entire work of the winter was void. As it is not required that copies of original bills shall be preserved, the responsibility for the mistake never can be located.
The Senate of 1896, by a change in the term of office, was to sit three years instead of two; and a concurrent resolution, in order to pass two successive Legislatures, would have to be deferred still another year, so no work was attempted.
On Jan. 4, 1897, when the Legislature assembled, every member found on his desk a personally addressed letter appealing for the right of women citizens to representation, signed by all the officers of the State Suffrage Association and by the presidents of all the local societies. The resolution asking for a suffrage amendment was introduced in the Senate by Joseph Mullen, in the Assembly by W. W. Armstrong, and was referred to the Judiciary Committees. Repeated interviews by Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman, Mrs. Mary E. Craigie, chairman of the legislative committee, and other members were not sufficient to secure a favorable vote even from the committees, as they were frightened by the action of the preceding Legislature.
The New York Society Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women was at work on the spot, and every legislator received a letter urging him not to consider any kind of a bill for woman suffrage. Finally a hearing was appointed by the Senate Committee for March 24. In the midst of a snowstorm, all the way from Rochester came the National president, Miss Anthony; from New York City, the State president, Mrs. Chapman; the chairman of the national organization committee, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt; Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and Miss Elizabeth Burrill Curtis; from Syracuse, Miss Harriet May Mills; and in Albany already were Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Almy, Mrs. Julia D. Sheppard and a number of local suffragists. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Chapman Catt and Miss Mills addressed the committee. As the delegation withdrew one senator said to another: "I do not know what is to become of us men when such women as these come up to the Legislature." Nevertheless the resolution was not reported by the committee.
Under the auspices of a Civic Union of all the boroughs of the proposed "Greater New York," an active campaign was carried on during this winter to secure various advantages for women under the new charter, but it met with no especial success.
In 1898 Mrs. Mary Hilliard Loines was chairman of the legislative committee, and Mrs. Florence Dangerfield Potter, a graduate of Cornell and of the New York University Law School, acted as attorney. The Suffrage Amendment Resolution was introduced the first week of the session by Representative Otto Kelsey, a steadfast friend of woman suffrage. The usual number of letters was sent throughout the State to secure co-operation and a hearing was given March 2 in the Assembly library. The speakers introduced by Mrs. Loines were Mrs. Chapman, Miss Mills, Mrs. Craigie, Miss Margaret Livingstone Chanler and Mrs. Martha A. B. Conine, a member of the Colorado Legislature. The Rev. William Brundage of Albany spoke forcibly in favor of the amendment. No opponents were present. Al though the chairman and some members of the committee were in favor, it was learned that the majority were opposed, so a vote was not pressed. The Senate committee being the same as the previous year, it was thought not worth while to introduce the resolution into that body.
In 1899 the legislative work differed from that of the years directly preceding, the executive committee having decided that it might be wiser to ask for some form of suffrage which the Legislature itself could grant without submitting the question to the voters. The following bills were authorized:
A great many letters had been sent to Gov. Theodore Roosevelt, then newly elected, asking him to recognize the rights of women in his inaugural address, which he did by calling the attention of the Legislature to "the desirability of gradually extending the sphere in which the suffrage can be exercised by women." These two bills, therefore, were sent to him for approval and he appointed an interview at Albany with a committee from the State association. Mrs. Loines, Mrs. Blake, Miss Mills, Miss Mary Lyman Storrs and Mrs. Nellie F. Matheson went with the State president to this interview, and the Governor cordially indorsed the bills.
Letters were sent to the legislators and also to the presidents of the county suffrage societies, asking them to influence their representatives. The bill for the Taxpayers' Suffrage was introduced into the Assembly by Mr. Kelsey. That good work was done was evident by the vote — 98 ayes, 9 noes.
But the battle was with the Senate, where the bill was introduced by W. W. Armstrong. On February 22 a hearing was given in the Senate Chamber before the Judiciary Committee. Suffragists and opponents were there in force. The latter were represented by Mesdames Arthur M. Dodge, W. Winslow Crannell and Rossiter Johnson. The State president introduced the suffrage speakers, Miss Chanler, Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch, the last being qualified from residence to testify to the good effect of this kind of suffrage in England. Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Miller, Miss Anne Fitzhugh Miller and others were present. Owing largely to the influence of Elon R. Brown the committee brought in an adverse report.[17] Senator Armstrong moved to disagree and the vote, thus called for, in the Senate stood 21 ayes, 24 noes — a vote on the report, not on the bill, but it put the Senate on record.
The Bill for Women on Appointed Boards of Education, which had been changed under protest of the suffragists to "one-third of the members of the board" from "at least one woman," was voted on April 19. In the Assembly it received 59 ayes, 23 noes; but 76 was the constitutional majority, so Senate action was useless. It was bitterly opposed by many prominent school officers.
In 1900 the Legislature made a glaring exhibition of the position in which a non-voting class can be placed. Early in the session a resolution was offered on the motion of Senator Thomas F. Grady of New York City, "that it is not expedient or advisable to attempt at this session any changes in the constitution in regard to woman suffrage." It passed by 26 ayes, 17 noes. Let it be said, for the honor of the State, that there were senators who protested indignantly against such trampling upon the rights of the people. Several who voted in favor of this resolution afterwards voted for the suffrage bill.
The Bill for Woman Suffrage on Tax Questions was introduced the very next day by Senator Armstrong. Soon afterward it was presented in the Assembly by Mr. Kelsey. On March 22 it passed with only two negative votes — John Hill Morgan of Brooklyn and James B. McEwan of Albany. When this bill came to the Senate there were so many before it that April 4 its friends moved to take it up out of order by suspension of rules. Senators Armstrong, Coggeshall and Lester H. Humphrey spoke in favor, Senator Grady against. The vote in favor was 23 ayes, Ig noes (nine of these from New York City), but twenty-six votes were necessary to suspend. The situation, however, was more encouraging than the year before. The legislative committee of the State W. S. A. this year consisted of Mesdames Loines, Blake, Matheson, Priscilla D. Hackstaff and Ella Hawley Crossett.
In 1901 the committee was composed of Mesdames Loines, Hackstaff, Craigie, Jean Brooks Greenleaf and Lucy P. Allen. All efforts were centered on the bill to give taxpaying women the right to vote on questions of taxation. A conference with Governor Odell showed his friendliness to the bill and disclosed the fact that he had used his influence to amend the charter of his own city of Newburg to give this privilege to women.
Speaker Nixon, in his opening address, referred to the bill as a measure of justice which he hoped would be introduced every year until it became a law. Mr. Kelsey for the third time constituted himself its champion, and worked earnestly for its success. Letters poured in from all parts of the State, the W. C. T. U. co-operated cordially, and hearings were granted by House and Senate committees. The bill passed the Assembly February 26 by 83 ayes, 29 noes. Of the latter 18 were from New York City. Of the 38 absent or not voting 22 were from that city.
In the Senate the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee as usual. On March 20 a hearing before this committee was arranged for those in favor and opposed. It was conducted by Mrs. Loines for the suffragists, who were represented by Mrs. Chapman, Miss Chanler, a large taxpayer in Dutchess County, and Miss Alice Stone Blackwell of Boston, but a taxpayer in New York. Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge was at the head of the eighteen women who came from the anti-suffrage society to protest against taxpaying women being granted a representation on questions of taxation. The other speakers were Mrs. Rossiter Johnson of New York City, Mrs. Crannell of Albany, and Mrs. William Putnam of Groton who read a paper written by Mrs. Charles Wetmore. The first took the ground that the bill was unconstitutional. The second protested against the attempt "to force widows, spinsters and married women to vote against their will." The third begged the members of the Senate Committee "not to be hoodwinked into believing this was not a suffrage measure," and assured them that "many of the members had pledged themselves to vote for it without recognizing that it was a suffrage bill." She also said: "For the last fifty years, while the suffragists have been wasting their strength in the effort to get the ballot, we, and women like us, have been quietly going ahead and gaining for women the rights they now enjoy in regard to education, property and the professions. The suffragists had nothing to do with it."
The friends of the bill in the Senate tried in vain to obtain a report from the Judiciary Committee, the chairman, Edgar Truman Brackett, being opposed to the bill. Finally, on April 11, Senator Humphrey moved "to discharge the committee from further consideration," which was carried by 22 ayes, 20 noes. On April 19 it was brought to a vote and passed by 27 ayes, 14 noes, 8 of the latter from New York City. Mr. Grady was absent.
The bill was signed by Gov. Benjamin F. Odell, April 24, 1901. It was generally understood that U. S. Senator Thomas C. Platt was in favor of the measure. Judge Charles Z. Lincoln, chairman of the Statutory Revision Committee, gave most valuable assistance.
The effect of this bill was far greater than had been anticipated, because of the importance of New York as a State. Before six months had passed women in considerable numbers had voted in a dozen different places. Although it applied only to towns and villages, these numbered about 1,800. What was of more importance, the principle had been recognized. There was scarcely a newspaper in the United States that did not contain an editorial upon the subject, which in the vast majority of cases declared the law to be just.
Laws: Dower and curtesy obtain. If the husband die without a will the widow is entitled to the life use of one-third of the real estate and, after the payment of the debts, to one-third of the personal estate absolutely. If there are no children she may have one-half of the latter — stocks, cash, furniture, pictures, silver, clothing, etc. — and the other half goes to the husband's relatives, even down to nephews and nieces. The widow may, however, have the whole if it does not exceed $2,000. If it exceed that amount, $2,000 may be added to her half. If there are no relatives of the husband she may have all the personal property. If there has been a living child the widower has a life interest in all the wife's estate. If there have been no children he takes all the personal property absolutely, and her real estate goes to her next of kin. If there is a child living he has one-third of the personal property absolutely.
The husband is liable for the wife's debts before marriage to the extent of any property acquired from her by ante-nuptial agreement. She holds her separate property, however acquired, free from any control of the husband and from all liability for his debts. She can live on her own real estate, and forbid her husband entering upon it.
Either husband or wife can make a will without the knowledge or consent of the other, the latter disposing of all her separate property, the former of all but the wife's life interest in one-third of the real estate. The law provides, however, that no person having husband, wife, child or parent can bequeath over one-half of his property, after payment of debts, to any institution, association or corporation.
The wife can mortgage or convey her real and personal estate without the husband's signature. He may do this with his personal property but not with his real estate.
A married woman may carry on any trade or business and perform any labor or services on her own account, and her earnings are her sole and separate property. She may sue and be sued as if unmarried, and may maintain an action in her own name and the proceeds of such action will be her separate property.[18]
She may contract as if unmarried and she and her separate estate are liable. A woman engaged in business can not be arrested for a debt fraudulently contracted. All women enjoy certain exemptions from the sale of their property under execution which in the case of men are granted only to householders — that is, a man who provides for a family.
The husband's creditors have no claim to a life insurance unless the annual-premiums have exceeded $500; and it is also exempt from execution for the wife's debts.
Common Law marriages are legal, requiring neither license nor ceremony, and 14 years is the legal age for the girl.[19]
Absolute divorce is granted only for adultery. In case of either absolute or limited divorce the husband may be required to pay alimony to the wife during her life, even if she should marry again.
Every married woman is joint guardian of her children with her husband, having equal powers, rights and duties in regard to them, and on the death of either parent the survivor continues guardian. (1893.)
A husband is required to support his wife commensurately with his means and her station in the community, without regard to the extent of her individual property. If he fail to do this or if he abandon his family he may be arrested and compelled to give security that he will provide for them and will indemnify the town, city or county against their becoming a charge upon the public within one year. Failing, he may be sent to prison or penitentiary for not less than six months' hard labor, or until he gives such bond, but none of this is obligatory on the court.
In 1887 the "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 16 years, and it was made optional with the court to impose less than the existing penalty of ten years' imprisonment. A few years afterward it was proposed to reduce the age to 12 years. Mrs. Mary H. Hunt, in behalf of the W. C. T. U., went before the Judiciary Committee and said: "I represent 21,000 women and any man who dares to vote for this measure will be marked and held up to scorn. We are terribly in earnest." The matter was dropped. In 1895 the age was raised from 16 to 18, with a penalty for first degree of not more than twenty years" imprisonment; for second degree, not more than ten. No mint mum penalty is named. Trials may be held privately, and it 1s the testimony of the various protective associations of women — that it is almost impossible to secure convictions.
The laws contain many provisions for the benefit of female employes; among them one that if any employer in New York City fail to pay wages due up to $50, none of his property is exempt from execution and he may be imprisoned without bail.
Suffrage: In 1880 a law was enacted by the Legislature declaring that "no person shall be deemed ineligible to serve as any school officer, or to vote at any school meeting, by reason of sex, who has the other qualifications now required by law."
It was the undoubted intention to give School Suffrage to all women by this law, but at once Attorney-General Hamilton Ward rendered a decision that it did not apply to cities but only to places where separate "school meetings" were held, mainly country districts and villages.
In 1881 another attempt was made by the Legislature to confer School Suffrage on all women by striking out the word "male" in an old statute of 1864, but as it failed to amend the very portion of the law which referred to School Commissioners, this left the condition unchanged.
In 1886 the Legislature tried it again by enlarging the qualifications of voters, but as the words "school district' were used it did not succeed in giving the suffrage to any women except those who already possessed it.
In 1892 the Legislature once more came boldly to the rescue, and undertook to enact that women should have a vote for District School Commissioners, which would bring under its provisions all the women of the State. The Act read: "AII persons without regard to sex, who are eligible to the office of School Commissioner, and have the other qualifications required by law, shall have the right to vote for School Commissioner."
As the Act of 1880 had said specifically that "no person shall be deemed ineligible to serve as any school officer by reason of sex, this seemed to settle the question. The Act further provided that "All persons so entitled to vote for School Commissioner shall be registered as provided by law for those who vote for county officers, and whenever School Commissioners are to be elected it shall be the duty of the county clerk to prepare a ballot to be used exclusively by those who, by reason of sex, can vote only for School Commissioner."
This Act went into effect in April, 1893, and in the autumn Mrs. Matilda Joslyn Gage registered in Manlius, Onondaga County. Immediately the board of inspectors were requested to remove her name from the registry. They refused and application was made to the Supreme Court to strike off her name, on the sole contention that she was not a lawful voter on account of her sex. The application was granted on the ground that the Act conferring upon women the right to vote for School Commissioner was unconstitutional. The inspectors obeyed the order. Mrs. Gage appealed to the General Term, where the order was affirmed, and then she carried her case to the Court of Appeals. The decision here was in brief that a School Commissioner is a county officer, and that by the State constitution only male citizens may vote for such officers. The decision closed by saying: "A Constitutional Convention may take away the barrier which excludes the claimed right of the appellant, but until that is done we must enforce the law as it stands."[20]
Thus after twenty years of time, four acts of the Legislature and three decisions of the highest courts, the School Suffrage for women is still confined exclusively to those of the villages and country districts. The law condensed reads as follows:
This was the only suffrage granted to women until 1901, when the following was enacted by the Legislature:
This law is believed to include about 1,800 places. The bill for it was managed by a committee of the State Suffrage Association in three successive Legislatures.
By the city charters of eleven of the thirty-six third-class cities — Amsterdam, Cohoes, Corning, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Newburg, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Oswego and Watertown, taxpaying women have a vote on special appropriations. Hornellsville also conferred this privilege but it was declared illegal by the corporation council, because the word "resident" was used instead of "citizen."
Office Holding: By a statute of 1880 women are eligible for any school office. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected by the Legislature. Instead of county superintendents, as in most States, New York has District Commissioners. A district may comprise either a part or the whole of a county, but no city may form any part of it. At present ten women are serving as District Commissioners. A considerable number sit on the school boards of cities and villages but no exact record is kept. In Greater New York thirty women serve as school inspectors; there are also four supervisors in the departments of sewing, cooking, kitchen-garden and physical culture, at salaries ranging from $2,000 to $2,500.
The same law which enables women to serve as District School Commissioners makes them eligible to all district offices, including those of trustee, collector, treasurer and librarian, as the law in prescribing qualification, omits the word "male."[22]
Women also are eligible to the office of village clerk. They serve as notaries public, clerks of the Surrogate Court and deputy
tax collectors. Miss Christine Ross of New York City is a certified public accountant and auditor.
Most cities have police matrons. Sixty fill this position in Greater New York at a salary of $1,000 per annum.
Women are employed as city physicians in several places. The law requires one woman physician in each State hospital for the insane and eleven are at present employed, leaving only the State Homeopathic Hospital at Gowanda[23] and the Manhattan Hospital on Long Island without one.
One woman trustee is required on the board of every State institution where women are placed as patients, paupers or criminals, but this is not strictly obeyed. A list of the boards of eleven hospitals shows twelve women and sixty-five men, but four have no women members. Two women are on the board of Craig Colony of Epileptics; three on that of the Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded.
The following are serving as State officials: On State Board of Charities of twelve commissioners, one woman, with thirteen employed in different departments at from $480 to $1,400 per annum; State Superintendent Woman's Relief Corps, at $1,500; two State hospital accountants at $1,400, three at $700; principal of House of Refuge for Women at Hudson, $1,200; superintendent Western House of Refuge, $1,200; five in Commission of Lunacy Department, $700 to $1,400; fourteen in the State Library, $50 to $175 per month; seven in Administrative Department of the Board of Regents of the University of New York, and thirteen in the College and High School Departments (not teachers), $720 to $1,200 per annum; ten in Home Education Department, $50 to $150 per month; in the Department of Public Instruction, five confidential clerks at from $900 to $2,000; in Bureau of Examinations seven women at $900 (men in same positions receive $1,800); in State Museum one woman at $600; in Training Class Bureau two women clerks at $900; three women in office of Secretary of State at $900; one index clerk in Bureau of Charitable Institutions at $1,050; one in State Comptroller's office at $1,050; one examiner for Civil Service Commission at $900 (men receive $1,400 for same work), and three stenographers at $600 to $900; two State’s prison stenographers at $1,000; a Bertillon indexer, $1,200; one clerk for Commission of Labor, $1,200; one for Free Employment Bureau, $900; under Superintendent of Insurance, five women, $1,200 to $1,400; in office of State Architect three, $626 to $900; in Bureau of Records two clerks, $1,200; thirteen women are Factory Inspectors or employes in that department, $600 to $1,500; twelve in the service of Commissioner of Excise, $720 to $1,080.
Occupations: No profession or occupation is legally forbidden to women. Several are presidents of banks, a number are brokers, many are directors of corporations and there are women managers of countless enterprises.
Education: The two great universities, Cornell at Ithaca and Columbia in New York City, admit women to all departments and grant them the full degrees. In Cornell they recite in the same classes with the men students, and have the additional advantage of a residential hall on the campus. There are no women on the faculty. Dr. M. Carey Thomas, president of Bryn Mawr College, has been a member of the board of trustees for several years. The women undergraduates of Columbia have class-rooms and residence in Barnard, an independent corporation but an affiliated college, its dean having the same relation to Columbia as the heads of all the other colleges. The faculty is composed partly of the regular Columbia staff and partly of special professors, among whom are a number of women. The seniors attend certain courses in philosophy and science in the regular university classes, and all of these are open to post graduates. The University of New York, situated in and near the city, is co-educational in its post-graduate courses and in its Departments of Law, Pedagogy and Commerce. Its Law Department is celebrated for the prominent women it has graduated. Pratt Institute of Brooklyn is open to both sexes alike.
The Universities of Syracuse and Rochester are co-educational. The latter was opened in 1900 through the efforts of the women of the city in raising a fund of $50,000. The project would have failed, however, had it not been for the assistance of Miss Anthony. On the morning of the day when the limit would expire which had been fixed by the trustees for the raising of this sum, $8,000 were still lacking. Every possible source had been exhausted and in despair the women appealed to Miss Anthony, who already had collected and turned over a considerable amount. She set out with the wonderful determination which always has characterized her, and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon she went before the board of trustees with the full quota in checks and pledges, making herself responsible for the last $2,500.
Union Theological Seminary of New York City (Presbyterian) is one of the very few orthodox institutions of this kind which admit women.
The State is distinguished by having in Vassar the first of the great colleges for women which offer a course of study approximating that of the best universities. It was founded in 1861. Over 700 students are in attendance.
Besides seven large co-educational institutions there are eight or ten smaller ones for boys alone and several for girls alone.
In the public schools there are 5,405 men and 28,587 women teachers; in New York City 1,263 men and 10,949 women. The average annual salary for teachers in the cities outside of New York is $597; in that city, which employs one-third of the whole number, $1,035. The average annual salary in the commissioner districts is $322.49. There are women in Greater New York receiving $2,500; there are hundreds in the State receiving one-tenth of that sum. So far as it has been possible to secure an estimate there is fully as much discrepancy between men's and women's salaries for the same work as in other States.
The women of Greater New York take a prominent part in political campaigns. There are seven or eight Women's Republican Clubs, a Health Protective Association and a Woman's Municipal League which were active in 1897 when Seth Low, president of Columbia College, was candidate for mayor on the Reform ticket.[24] There is also a flourishing Ladies' Democratic Club.
A unique observance is the annual Pilgrim Mothers' Dinner at the renowned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. This was instituted in December, 1892, by the New York City Suffrage League, Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, president, in memory of those noble women, who are apt to be overlooked at the celebrations in honor of the Pilgrim Fathers.
New York divides with Massachusetts the honor of forming the first Woman's Club — Sorosis, in 1868 — and it continues foremost among the States in the size and influence of its organizations of women. Over 200, part of them suffrage societies, belong to the Federation of Clubs, and these represent only a portion of the whole number. There are eighty auxiliaries to the State Suffrage Association.
- ↑ The History is indebted for the material for this chapter to Mrs. Mariana Wright Chapman of Brooklyn, Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf of Rochester, and Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake of New York, the presidents of the State Woman Suffrage Association during the Past twenty years.
- ↑ See History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. I, p. 67.
- ↑ Those making addresses were Miss Anthony, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Chapman Catt, Mrs. Gannett, Mrs. Searing, Rabbi Max Landsberg, the Hon. Charles S. Baker, the Hon. John Van Voorhis, the Rev. H. Clay Peeples, the Rev. Ward Platt, the Rev. H. H. Stebbins, the Rev, J. W. A. Stewart and Prof. S. A. Lattimore, acting president of the Rochester University. Addresses of welcome: Miss Mary S. Anthony for the City Political Equality Club, the Rev. W. C. Gannett for the church that welcomed the first convention, Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf for the State association. The committee of arrangements were Mesdames S. A. West, Amy E. T. Searing, J. G. Maurer, S. C. Blackall, Florence D. Alexander, Mary L. Gannett, D. L. Kittredge, Emma B. Sweet, A. B. Taylor, D. L. Johnson, F. B. Van Hoesen; Misses Jessie Post, Frances Alexander; Messrs. C. G. Alexander and Joseph Bloss.
- ↑ The others who have held office since 1883 are as follows: Mary S. Anthony, Martha R. Almy, Elnora Monroe Babcock, Henrietta M. Banker, Ella Hawley Crossett, Hannah B. Clark, Elizabeth Burrell Curtis, Everline R. Clark, Charlotte F. Daley, Margaret H. Esselstyne, Mrs. Hannah L. Howland, Emily Howland, Isabel Howland, Cornelia K Hood, Maude S. Humphrey, Mary Seymour Howell, Priscilla Dudley Hackstaff, Ada M. Hall, Martha H. Henderson, Helen M. Loder, Anne F. Miller, Jennie McAdams, Harriet May Mills, Clara Neymann, Eliza Wright Osborne, Mary J. Pearson, Helen C. Peckham, Mary Thayer Sanford, Kate Stoneman, Kate S. Thompeon, Emily S. Van Biele, Emilie J. Wakeman.
- ↑ Aside from those elsewhere mentioned, the names which seem to occur most often in looking over the records are those of Dr. Sarah L. Cushing, Dr. Cordelia A. Greene, Zobedia Alleman, Abigail A. Allen, Kornelia T. Andrews, Amanda Alley, Mary E. Bagg, Charlotte A. Cleveland, Ida K. Church, Susan Dixwell, Eliza B. Gifford, Esther Herman, Ella S. Hammond, Mary Bush Hitchcock, Belle S. Holden, Mary H. Hallowell, Emeline Hicks, Mary N. Hubbard, Marie R. Jenney, Rhody J. Kenyon, Lucy S. Pierce, Harriet M. Rathbun, Martha J. H. Stebbins, Julia D. Sheppard, Chloe A. Sisson, Delia C. Taylor.
- ↑ Much of the credit for the excellent organization is due to Miss Harriet May Mills, State organizer, daughter of C. D. B. Mills of anti-slavery record. Miss Mills is a graduate of Cornell University, and is devoting her youth and education entirely to the cause of woman suffrage.
- ↑ The story of this canvass, the largest and most systematic which ever has been made for such a purpose, is given in full in "Record of the New York Campaign of 1894," a pamphlet of 250 pages, issued by the State association in 1895, and placed in many libraries throughout the country. It is given also, with many personal touches, in the Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony, Chap. XLII.
- ↑ From treasurer's report: Emily Howland generously contributed $1,200. That staunch friend, Sarah L. Willis of Rochester gave $720. Abby L. Pettengill of Chautauqua County, $220. Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Greenleaf of Rochester, $200. General C. T. Christiansen of Brooklyn began the contributions of $100, of which there were eight others from our own State — Semantha V. Lapham, Ebenezer Butterick, Mrs. H. S. Holden, Marian Skidmore, Hannah L. Howland, Cornelia H. Cary, Mr. and Mrs. James Sargent; Mrs. Louisa Southworth of Ohio.
- ↑ One who was a witness gives this description: "There were no more dramatic scenes during the convention than those afforded by the presenting of the petitions. The names were enrolled on pages of uniform size and arranged in volumes, each labeled and tied with a wide yellow ribbon and bearing the card of the member who was to present it. At the opening of the sessions, when memorials were called for, he would rise and say: 'Mr. President, I have the honor to present a memorial from Mary Smith and 17,117 others (for example), residents of county, asking that the word 'male' be stricken from the Constitution.' Often one after another would present a bundle of petitions until it would seem as though the entire morning would be thus consumed. They were all taken by pages and heaped up on the secretary's table, where they made an imposing appearance. Later they were stacked on shelves in a large committee room. "Mrs. Burt, the president of the W. C. T. U., brought in the petitions of her society all at once, many great rolls of paper tied with white ribbon. A colored porter took them down the aisle on a wheelbarrow."
- ↑ Mesdames Cornelia K. Hood, Cornelia H. Cary, Mariana W. Chapman, Mary E. Craigie, Cora Sebury, Martha R. Almy, A. E. P. Searing, Elinor Ecob Morse, Marcia C. Powell, Helen G. Ecob, Susie M. Bain, Carrie E. S. Twing, Clara Neymann, Selina S. Merchant, Henrietta M. Banker, Maude S. Humphrey, Mary Lewis Gannett; Dr. Sarah HL. Morris; Misses Arria S. Huntington, Emily Howland, Elizabeth Burrill Curtis.
- ↑ A hearing, on June 14, was given to the "Antis," as the press dubbed the remonstrants. Their petition against being allowed the suffrage was presented by the Hon. Elikn Root, and the speeches were made by Francis M. Scott, the Rev. Clarence A. Walworth, the Hon. Matthew Hale and J. Newton Fiero. Letters were read from the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt and Austin Abbott.
- ↑ Among the earnest advocates of the suffrage article were Judges Titus and Blake of New York, Judge Towns of Brooklyn, Judge Moore of Plattsburg, Messrs. Lincoln, Church and McKinstry of Chautauqua, Maybee of Sullivan, Cornwall of Yates, Powell of Kings, Cassidy of Schuyler, Kerwin of Albany, Phipps of Queens, Fraser of Washington, Arnold of Dutchess, Bigelow and Campbell of New York, Roche of Troy. Speeches in opposition were made by Messrs. McClure, Goeller and Platzek of New York, Fuller of Chenango, Griswold of Greene, Mereness of Lewis, Sullivan of Erie, Lester of Saratoga, Hirshberg of Newburg, Kellogg of Oneonta, Mantanye of Cortland, Cookinham of Utica.
- ↑ Members of committee in favor of woman suffrage clause: Edward Lauterbach, Mirabeau Lamar Towns, Vasco P. Abbott, John Bigelow, Gideon J. Tucker. Opposed: William P. Goodelle, Henry J. Cookinham, John F. Parkhurst, Henry W. Hill, D. Gerry Wellington, John W. O'Brien, Henry W. Wiggins, Thomas G. Alvord, David McClure, De Lancy Nicoll, John A. Deady, William H. Cochran.
- ↑ In the work for other bills Mrs. Howell was assisted by Miss Kate Stoneman, New York's first woman lawyer, Mrs. Sarah A. Le Boeuf, Mrs. Joan Cole and Miss Winnie, all of Albany. George Rogers Howell, assistant and also State librarian, aided his wife in every way. "As a State officer for many years he had strong influence and it always was used for woman's political freedom. During these years Mrs. Howell, as president of the Albany Political Equality Club, conducted many public meetings in the Senate Chamber of the historic old Capitol building until it was torn down. Legislators and State officers came each Tuesday night to hear the suffrage speeches.
- ↑ In 1860, after ten years of persistent effort by Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony and other pioneer workers, who had gathered up thousands of petitions and besieged the Legislature, Session after session, a law was secured giving father and mother joint guardianship. In 1862, so quietly that the women were not aware of it, the Legislature repealed this law and again vested the guardianship solely in the father. Although repeated efforts were afterwards made to have the mother's right restored, this was not done for thirty years.
- ↑ Senator Parker is a brother of Mrs. J. V. L. Pruyn, who organized the first anti-suffrage society in the State, at Albany.
- ↑ In Senator Brown's own city of Watertown, over 50 per cent. of the women had just voted to bond the city for a new High School, the press giving them full credit for it, but he persistently opposed this bill.
- ↑ It was not supposed that this right could be questioned, but in 1901, in New York City, a woman who was supporting her children by washing while her husband was in the hospital, was thrown from a trolley car with her baby in her arms and injured so that she could not work. She brought suit against the Street Railway Company before a municipal court, and was awarded $147.50. The company appealed to the Supreme Court and Justice David Leaventritt reversed the decision, saying in his opinion: "At Common Law the husband was absolutely entitled to the earnings of his wife, and neither the Enabling Act of 1860 nor the broader one of 1864 has affected the right, unless the service and earnings were rendered and received expressly upon her sole and separate account." Afterwards in explanation he said that the woman had not made it clear in her suit that she was working for herself and not performing service for her husband. In 1902 a law was passed securing absolutely to married women their own earnings and the right to sue for damages by loss of wages in case of personal injury.
- ↑ In 1901 an attempt was made to correct this evil, and a ridiculous law was passed and duly signed by Governor Odell providing that a couple may become husband and wife by signing an agreement before witnesses, but in order to make this legal it must be recorded within six months. If at the end of this time it has not been recorded both are free to marry somebody else. If the fourteen-year-old wife should not know of this legal requirement she may find herself abandoned without redress.
- ↑ This decision covers many pages with hair-splitting definitions, tracing the laws governing School Commissioners back to 1843, and summing up with the following unintentional satire: "The Constitution, in Article 2, Section 1, prescribes the qualifications of voters 'for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elected by the people,' and confines the franchise specifically to 'male citizens.' The office of School Commissioner was one thereafter made 'elective by the people,' through the operation of the alternative given by Article 10, Section 2, which provides that 'all officers whose offices may hereafter be created by law shall be elected by the people or appointed as the Legislature may direct.' That is, in such cases, it may choose between election and appointment and in the latter event may dictate the authority and mode of appointment. The Legislature chose that the office should be elective, and, becoming such, it fell within the scope and terms of the constitutional provisions applicable to elections by the people."
- ↑ By the charters of the third class cities of Auburn, Geneva, Hornellsville, Jamestown, Norwich, Union Springs and Watertown women have School Suffrage on the same terms as men. The city of Kingston is divided into several common and union free school districts and women are authorized to vote.
- ↑ For legal opinion see Appendix for New York.
- ↑ In 1902 the hospital at Gowanda, the largest of the kind in the State, placed a woman on its staff as specialist in gynecology.
- ↑ In 1901, when Mr. Low was again a candidate and was elected, these clubs were a prominent factor in the campaign. They arranged meetings, addressed large audiences, raised $30,000 and circulated 1,000,000 pieces of literature. Their work was commended by the press of the whole United States and much credit was given them for the success of the Reform ticket. When the Board of Education of forty-six members was appointed by Mayor Low, various societies petitioned him to give women a representation upon it, but he declined to do so.