History of Woman Suffrage/Volume 6/Chapter 22

 

CHAPTER XXII.

MINNESOTA.^[1]

The great event for the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association in 1901 was the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association May 30-June 5 in Minneapolis. Large audiences night after night filled the First Baptist Church to listen to the eloquent addresses of Miss Susan B. Anthony, honorary president; Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president, and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president of the association; Henry B. Blackwell, editor of the Woman's Journal, Rachel Foster Avery and other speakers of national fame. The officers were entertained at West Hotel and the 200 delegates in the homes of suffragists. Dr. Cora Smith Eaton, who was the chairman of arrangements, was elected second auditor of the National Association.

The State convention of 1901 was held in Mankato in October, with Mrs. Catt as the principal speaker. Mrs. Maud C. Stockwell and Mrs. Jennie Knight Brown were re-elected president and vice-president and Mrs. A. H. Boostrom appointed chairman of press. Through the generosity of Mrs. E. A. Russell of Minneapolis Miss Anna Gjertsen was engaged to organize the Scandinavian women. Among the names enrolled in the suffrage booth at the State Fair were those of Theodore Roosevelt, Vice-President of the United States; Gen. Nelson Miles, Gov. Samuel R, Van Sant and Archbishop Ireland. The annual convention of 1902 was entertained in June by the St. Paul Club, which had been organized a few months before. Mrs. Hannah Egelston was elected vice-president. The press chairman stated that fifteen newspapers were using suffrage articles and the enrollment and the petition work for Presidential suffrage was being fully carried on. The association was incorporated this year.

In September, 1903, the State convention was held in Austin with Dr. Shaw the chief speaker. The former officers were reelected. Reports showed old clubs revived and new ones formed through the efforts of Miss Gail Laughlin, one of the national organizers. Mrs. Eugenia B. Farmer was this year appointed chairman of press and held the office till 1915 when she was made honorary chairman. She did not relinquish the work but continued to assist her successor, Mrs. W. H. Thorp. For eight years Mrs. Farmer kept press headquarters in the Old Capitol, St. Paul. She added new papers to the list which accepted suffrage matter till it had 500, about all of them, and much of the suffrage sentiment in the State can be traced to her years of work. The quarterly bulletin was edited by Mrs. Julia B. Nelson.

In October, 1904, the convention met in Anoka and Dr. Shaw addressed large audiences. Miss Marion Sloan of Rochester was made vice-president. During the year the association offered prizes for the best essay on woman suffrage to the students of the four Normal Schools, many competing. The annual meeting for 1905 was held in Minneapolis in November. In answer to the many calls a Lecture Bureau of twenty well-known speakers directed by Dr. Annah Hurd had been organized; a generous contribution was sent to Oregon for its campaign.

In March, 1906, an impressive memorial service was held in Minneapolis for the beloved leader, Susan B. Anthony. Another was held in Monticello in November during the State convention. It was reported that the Governor had appointed Dr. Margaret Koch, one of the active suffragists, to the State Medical Board; that many organizations had passed resolutions endorsing suffrage and that in June Mrs. Stockwell had presented the greetings of the National Association to the General Federation of Women's Clubs in convention in St. Paul. In October, 1907, the convention met in Austin. During the year a Scandinavian association had been formed by Dr. Ethel E. Hurd, with Mrs. Jenova Martin president, and a College Equal Suffrage League at the State University by Professors Frances Squire Potter and Mary Gray Peck, with Miss Elsa Ueland president. Miss Laura Gregg, sent by the National Association, had organized suffrage committees in twelve towns. It was decided to circularize the teachers of the State.

In November, 1908, the convention was held in Minneapolis with Dr. Shaw and Professor Potter as speakers. Mrs. Martin was elected vice-president. The energy of all suffrage workers had been turned toward the great petition to Congress for the Federal Amendment planned by the National Association and directed in the State by Mrs. I. G. Corser of Minneapolis. Mrs. Maud Wood Park made a tour of the State in March speaking in eight colleges in the interest of the National College Equal Suffrage League. In October, 1909, the State convention went to St. Paul. The Bulletin, official organ of the association and a valuable feature of its work, had had to be abandoned because of lack of funds. It had been edited for ten years by Dr. Ethel E. Hurd, recording secretary, who sometimes mimeographed it herself, sometimes had it typwritten and when possible printed, always herself addressing and mailing copies to the State members. An important event of the year was the unanimous endorsement of woman suffrage by the State Editorial Association, secured by Miss Mary McFadden, a journalist. For the first time a speaker was supplied to the State convention of the Federation of Women's Clubs.

In November, 1910, the State convention was entertained by the Minneapolis Political Equality Club, organized in 1868. Mrs. Stockwell, who had served as president for ten years, asked to be relieved from office and Miss Emily Dobbyn of St. Paul was elected president with Dr. Margaret Koch, who had been treasurer ten years, first vice-president. The petition was reported as finished with 20,300 names. It was sent to Washington and presented to Congress by Senator Moses E. Clapp with an earnest plea for its consideration. In October, 1911, the convention again went to St. Paul and Mrs. A. T. Hall of this city was elected president.

The convention of 1912 was held in Minneapolis in September. Under direction of Mrs. A. H. Bright of this city the first automobile suffrage parade took place, the route extending from the court house where the convention was held to the Fair grounds where addresses were made. Eleven new clubs were reported. The Woman's Welfare League of St. Paul joined the State association and did excellent work for suffrage. Mrs. Hall was re-elected president and removing from the State later Mrs. P. L. De Voist of Duluth was selected to fill out her term.^[2]

In October, 1913, at the annual convention in St. Paul, Mrs. Bright was elected president. The Minneapolis Equal Suffrage Club, which had been organized independently by Mrs. Andreas Ueland, joined the State association and later became the Hennepin County suffrage organization. A Women Workers' Suffrage Club was formed with Mrs. Gertrude Hunter, president.

In November, 1914, at the convention in Minneapolis, Mrs. Ueland was elected president and served for the next five years.^[3] It was reported that the Everywoman Suffrage Club of colored women had been organized in St. Paul with Mrs. W. T. Francis president. The clubs of St. Paul and Minneapolis, at the request of the National Association, had joined in the nation-wide demonstration May 2 with mass meetings in each city, a street meeting and parade in St. Paul at noon and a joint parade in Minneapolis in the afternoon with 2,000 men and women in line.

In October, 1915, the convention took place in St. Paul. Up to this time headquarters had been maintained free of charge in Minneapolis, at first in the office of Drs. Cora Smith Eaton and Margaret Koch and for many years in the office of Drs. Ethel E. and Annah Hurd. This year they were opened in the Essex Building of that city and a paid secretary installed. Organization by districts was arranged for. In conformity with plans sent out from the National Association, quarterly conferences were held in different sections of the State. 'Organization day" on February 15, Miss Anthony's birthday, was celebrated in fifteen legislative districts with meetings and pageants. During the national convention in Washington this year deputations of suffragists from Minnesota called on the State's two Senators and ten Representatives asking them to promote the Federal Suffrage Amendment. To assist the campaign the services of the State organizer, Mrs. Maria McMahon, were given to New York for September and October; Mrs. David F. Simpson and Miss Florence Monahan contributed their services as speakers and $400 were sent to the New Jersey campaign.^[4]

In October, 1916, at the convention in Minneapolis, a delightful feature was a banquet of 500 covers at the Hotel Radisson, where President George E. Vincent of the State University made his maiden speech for woman suffrage. Mrs. Simpson presided. There were favorable reports from officers, committee chairmen and organizers. At the request of the National Association deputations had called upon the State delegates to the national Republican and Democratic conventions urging them to work for suffrage planks in their party platforms. Twenty-five Minnesota women marched in the parade in Chicago at the time of the Republican National Convention and many went to the National Democratic Convention in St. Louis on a "suffrage barge," holding meetings on the boat and at a number of stopping places. In May the Mississippi Valley Suffrage Conference was entertained in Minneapolis and a mass meeting of 2,000 was held. Automobile speaking trips were made. Money, organizers and speakers were contributed to the Iowa campaign.

In December, 1917, the convention again met in Minneapolis with Mrs. Nellie McClung of Edmonton, Alberta, as speaker. Pledges were made of $8,000 for State work and $3,000 to the National Association as the State's apportionment. In order to push Federal Amendment work chairmen were secured for the ten congressional districts. Resolutions for it were passed at many conventions. In May Dr. Effie McCollum Jones of Iowa had made a lecture tour of the State, contributed by the National Association, and addressed 10,000 people. An attractive concrete building had been erected on the State Fair grounds by the Scandinavian Association and presented to the State association.^[5] This was known as the Woman Citizen Building and a tablet was placed in it in memory of Mrs. Julia B. Nelson, one of Minnesota's staunchest pioneer suffragists.

Owing to the influenza epidemic all meetings were forbidden in 1918. 'This year district organization was completed. With three organizers in the field, Mrs. Rene F. Stevens, Mrs. James Forrestal and Mrs. John A. Guise, ratification committees in 480 towns outside of the three large cities had been appointed and 90,000 signatures obtained for the national petition under the leadership of Miss Marguerite M. Wells. In March the following plank had appeared in the platform of the Democratic Statewide Conference held in St. Paul: 'We believe in the principle of State woman suffrage as supported and commended by our leader, Woodrow Wilson." This was the only official Democratic endorsement ever received and there was none from the Republicans.^[6]

A State conference was held at Minneapolis in May, 191), with Mrs. McClung as the principal speaker. On June g in the rotunda of the Capitol at St. Paul an impressive program of addresses and ringing resolutions was given, 3,000 people taking part in this celebration of the submission of the Federal Suffrage Amendment by Congress on the 4th. A. L. Searle marshalled the 250 gaily decorated automobiles carrying the Minneapolis delegates, accompanied by a band.

Ratification. Monday, September 8, was a beautiful and spirited occasion. Automobile parades assembled in the two cities and started for the Capitol with cars gay with sunflowers, golden rod, yellow bunting and the word "suffrage" on the windshields. By 10 o'clock the galleries and the corridors were filled to overflowing with enthusiastic suffragists. Out-of-town women flocked in to join the festivities. The Federal Amendment came up immediately after the organization of both Houses in special session but the lower House won the race for the honor of being first to ratify, for it took up the amendment without even waiting for Governor Burnquist's message, and when it was presented by Representative Theodore Christiansen it was ratified by a vote of 120 to 6. The Senate considered it immediately after hearing the Governor's message. It was presented by Senator Ole Sageng, called the "father of woman suffrage" in Minnesota, and with no debate went through by 60 to 5.

The moment the Senate vote was polled the corridors, floors and galleries of both Houses were in an uproar, hundreds of women cheered and laughed and waved the suffrage colors, while in the rotunda a band swung into the strains of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Then Representatives and Senators became the guests of the State Suffrage Association, whose members having leased the Capitol restaurant for the day cooked and served an appetizing chicken dinner. There was a banquet at the St. Paul Hotel in the evening with 400 guests.

On that memorable day the curtain was rung down on the last act of the many years' long drama participated in by a vast host of consecrated women with inspired faith in the ultimate attainment of justice.

A conference was called for Oct. 28, 29, 1919, in Minneapolis and a State League of Women Voters was formed with Mrs. Ueland as chairman. It was voted to delay the dissolution of the State association until the 36 States had ratified the Federal Amendment and the date was set at the first annual meeting of the League.^[7] Mrs. Ueland soon resigned to take the chairmanship of the Legislative Committee and was succeeded by Miss Wells, the vice-chairman.

Legislative Action. 1903. A Presidential suffrage bill was introduced in the House and energetically pushed but was not reported by the Judiciary Committee.

1905. A large delegation headed by Mrs. Stockwell, State president, called on Governor John A. Johnson and urged him to recommend woman suffrage in his message to the Legislature but he failed to do so. The resolution to submit a constitutional amendment was introduced in the House but not reported by the Judiciary Committee.

1907. After the resolution for a suffrage amendment was presented a hearing was granted by the Senate Elections Committee and the Senate Chamber secured for it through Senator Virgil B. Seward, who had charge of it. The college women were represented by Professor Frances Squire Potter of the University of Minnesota and the committee reported favorably. It was defeated in the Senate and not brought up in the House.

1909. At the hearing before the Joint Committee on Elections on the resolution for a State amendment, which was the largest ever held by the association, convincing addresses were made by eminent lawyers, educators and other public men. It was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 30 to 26; in the House by 50 to 46.

1911. The chairman of the Legislative Committee was Miss Mary McFadden, who carried out a demonstration on Susan B. Anthony's birthday—February 15—the presenting by large delegations from the Twin Cities of a Memorial to a joint gathering of the two Houses with pleas for a State amendment. The resolution for it, sponsored by Ole Sageng, passed the House a few days later by a majority of 81 but the liquor interests and public service corporations defeated it in the Senate by two votes.

1913. Senator Sageng again had charge of the suffrage resolution, which passed the House by a majority of 43 votes but failed in the Senate by three.

1915. Mrs. Andreas Ueland was chairman of the Legislative Committee from 1915 to 1919 inclusive. Senator Sageng presented the amendment resolution in the Senate and Representative Larson in the House. An impressive hearing was held in a crowded Senate chamber, with Senators J. W. Andrews, Richard Jones, Frank E. Putnam, F. H. Peterson and Ole Sageng making speeches in favor. Those who spoke against it were Senators George H. Sullivan, F. A. Duxbury and F. H. Pauly.^[8] It failed by one vote and was not brought up in the House. A Presidential suffrage bill was also introduced but did not come to a vote.

1917. The suffrage work was confined to the Presidential suffrage bill which was defeated in the Senate by two votes.

1919. This Legislature adopted a resolution calling upon Congress to submit the Federal Suffrage Amendment; House 100 to 28 in favor, Senate 49 to 7. It was decided not to introduce an amendment resolution but to work for Presidential suffrage. The resolution was introduced, however, by a small group of women outside the association. It passed the House by 96 ayes, 26 noes, but was indefinitely postponed in the Senate. The bill giving women the right to vote for Presidential electors passed the House March 5 by 103 ayes, 24 noes; and the Senate March 21 by 49 ayes, n noes. It was signed by Governor J. A. A. Burnquist two days later in the presence of a group of suffragists.^[9]

 

1. The History is indebted for this chapter to Maud C. (Mrs. S. A.) Stockwell, for ten years president of the State Suffrage Association and for over twenty years a member of its executive board. Mrs. Stockwell wishes to acknowledge assistance from Mrs. David F. Simpson and Mrs. John A. Guise.
2. A State Anti-Suffrage Association was organized in Minneapolis in 1912 and later branches were formed in other cities. The president was Mrs. J. B. Gilfillan of Minneapolis and other active workers were Mrs. E. L. Carpenter, Mrs. Edmund Pennington and Mrs, Frank Reed of Minneapolis, Mrs. J. W. Straight of St. Paul and Mrs. J. L. Washburn of Duluth. Time was given to their speakers at the last three hearings granted the State Suffrage Association by the Legislature. Miss Minnie Bronson, secretary of the National Anti-Suffrage Association, came from New York for one.
3. Too much credit for the final success of woman suffrage in Minnesota can not be given to Mrs. Ueland, president of the association for the last five years of its existence. She organized the entire State, raised large sums of money each year, induced many prominent women to join in the work, carried out the instructions of the National Association to the letter, secured legislation, and not only took advantage of every opportunity for propaganda but created opportunities.
4. In 1915 the Congressional Union, afterward the National Woman's Party, formed an Organization in St. Paul with Mrs. Alexander Colvin chairman. The members were recruited from the State association and for a few years were active in both organizations.
5. During the twenty years covered by this chapter the Twin City suffragists never failed to keep open house during the State Fair, where speakers were heard and literature was distributed.
6. Following are the names of State officers besides the presidents who served over three years: Vice-presidents, Mrs. Jenova Martin, four years; Mrs. David F. Simpson, three years; Mrs. H. G. Harrison, five years; Mrs. E. A. Brown, four years; Mrs. C. L. Atwood, six years; Dr. Margaret Koch, vice-president, three years and treasurer, ten years; Dr. Ethel E. Hurd of Minneapolis served on the board in different capacities for twenty-two years, as corresponding secretary for four years and recording secretary four; Mrs. Eva W. Morse, recording secretary five years; Mrs. Victor H. Troendle, treasurer five years. Those who served from four to ten years as directors on the State board were: Mesdames A. T. Anderson, Julia B. Nelson, Margaret K. Rogers, E. A. Russell, C. F. Lutz, Elizabeth McClary, A. H. Bright and A. B. Jackson.
7. Following are a few names not mentioned elsewhere in the chapter of the many devoted friends and workers during the score of years: Dr, Cyrus Northrup, Professor Maria Sanford, Judge A. C. Hickman, Professor A. W. Rankin, Dr. Elizabeth Woodworth, Mesdames Margaret K. Rogers, Martha A. Dorsett, May Dudley Greeley, M. A. Luley, Eva S. Jerome, Alice Taylor, Lilla P. Clark, Milton E, Purdy, C. P. Noyes, Adelaide Lawrence, O. J. Evans, George M. Partridge, J. W. Andrews, C. M. Stockton, Stiles Burr, J. M. Guise, J. W. Straight; Misses Ella Whitney, A. A. Connor, Nellie Merrill, Hope McDonald, Josephine Schain, Blanche Segar, Cornelia Lusk, Martha Anderson (Wyman); Messrs. C. W. Dorsett, S. R. Child, A. H. Bright.
8. For ten years Senator Sullivan of Stillwater, and for twenty-two years Senator W. W. Dunn, attorney for the Hamm Brewing Company of St. Paul, worked actively against all suffrage legislation, in late years being able to defeat bills by only two or three votes.
9. Among legislators not mentioned who were helpful during these years were Senator Stockwell and Representatives W. I. Norton, H. H. Harrison, W. I. Nolan, Sherman Child, John Sanborn and Claude Southwick.