CHAPTER XLVIII.
WISCONSIN.[1]
Woman suffrage history in Wisconsin from 1900 to 1920 naturally divides itself into three sections, the first including the ten years preceding the submission of the referendum measure by the Legislature in 1911; the second the two years of the referendum campaign and the third the succeeding seven years to 1920.
The work of the State Woman Suffrage Association, which was organized in 1869, continued in the 20th century, as in the 19th, through organization, public meetings, annual conventions, the publication of the Wisconsin Citizen. The conventions of the first decade, which always took place in the autumn, were held as follows: 1901, Brodhead; 1902, Madison; 1903, Platteville; 1904, Janesville; 1905, Milwaukee; 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, Madison; 1911, Racine. The Rev. Olympia Brown, who had been elected president in 1883, continued to serve in that capacity with undiminished vigor and ability, having been elected every year, until the end of 1912. Besides her other services she gave hundreds of addresses on woman suffrage, speaking in nearly every city in the State.[2]
The publication of the Wisconsin Citizen, established in 1887, was continued in spite of limited finances. Its first editor was Martha Parker Dingee from Boston, a niece of Theodore Parker, who gave her services for seven years. After that the editors were Mrs. Helen H. Charlton, Miss Lena V. Newman and Mrs.
- ↑ The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Theodora W. Youmans, president of the State Woman Suffrage Association from 1913 until its work was finished in 1920.
- ↑ The following were the officers for the first twelve years: Vice-presidents: Mr. Jessie M. Luther, Mrs. Madge Waters, Mrs. Laura James, Vida James, Mrs. E. C. Priddle, Miss Linda Rhodes; corresponding secretaries: Miss Lucinda Lake, Mrs. Margaret Geddes, Mrs. Emma Geddes, Miss Lena Newman, Mrs. B. Ostrander, Mrs. Nellie K. Donaldson; recording secretaries: Miss Marion W. Hamilton, Miss Emma Graham, Mrs. Ethe Irish, Miss W. von Bruenchenhein; treasurer: Mrs. Dora Putnam, Mrs. Lydia Woodward, Mrs. F. H. Derrick, Mrs. A. B. Sprague, Mrs. B. Ostrander, Gwendolen Brown Willis; chairmen Executive Committee: Ellen A. Rome, Mrs. Etta Gardner, Mr. Kate Rindlaub.
699
