The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony Volume II Part 31

[109] A plan for a great Liberal Religious Congress, the outgrowth of the Parliament of Religions in 1893.

[110] After 1892 Miss Anthony had to read most of Mrs. Stanton's addresses, and the latter wrote her: "If you p.r.o.nounce what I write 'good,' I know it is up to the mark. Many thanks for reading all my papers so well as everybody says you do. I am sure of your rich voice and deep sympathy with the subject, and I much prefer to have you read my speeches rather than any other person, as I am always told that your reading makes a deep impression. Our thoughts have the same trend on the woman suffrage question, and we have written and talked over every phase of the subject so much together that what I write is essentially yours as well as mine."

[111] The Rochester dailies came out next morning with full reports of this episode and editorial remarks; citizens of both s.e.xes wrote to the papers, pro and con; other newspapers took up the question, and a wave of comment swept over the country.

CHAPTER XLV.

THE SECOND VISIT TO CALIFORNIA.

1895.

It has been said in another chapter that Miss Anthony established herself firmly and forever in the hearts of the people at the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Men and women were there from every State in the Union, many of whom never had seen or heard her and had been deeply prejudiced against her, but she conquered all and they returned home henceforth to sing her praises. Naturally they wanted their friends and neighbors to be converted like themselves, and invitations to lecture came from all quarters. One of the most urgent was from the Woman's Congress Auxiliary of the great California Midwinter Exposition, which followed the World's Fair, but as she had two campaigns on hand in 1894 she could not accept it. Out of this auxiliary had grown a permanent Woman's Congress a.s.sociation, with Sarah B. Cooper at its head. When a pressing request came to attend their first anniversary in San Francisco, in 1895, she accepted with pleasure. The corresponding secretary, Mrs. Minna V. Gaden, wrote in reply:

I can not attempt to express to you the joy and gratification of the executive board over your consent to be with us and take part in the congress in May. I wish I could have phonographed the exclamations of delight and photographed the beaming countenances of the members when I read them your letter. In answer to your question as to whether we desired to have you speak upon some special point of the subject for which you stand, I would say we want Susan B. Anthony and all that she is; and we are sure that the right word will be said, the great facts made plain and the true inspiration given. We want _you_ and all that your presence means and all that your life's work has brought.

Miss Anthony had another reason for wis.h.i.+ng to go to California in addition to the desire of meeting and helping the women of that beautiful State in their congress. Its legislature, the previous winter, had submitted a woman suffrage amendment which was to be voted on in 1896. This visit would enable her to look over the field, talk with the men and women, and render any a.s.sistance they might desire towards planning their campaign. She wrote Mrs. Cooper stating that she did not wish to make the journey alone, that she liked to have one of her "lieutenants" to relieve her of the burden of much speaking, and would be glad of the privilege of bringing with her Rev. Anna Shaw. Mrs.

Cooper responded with a check of $450, for travelling expenses, saying: "We rejoice to know that Miss Shaw will come with you, as another grand helper for us. I send you the money and want you to have every possible comfort on the journey."

From that time until Miss Anthony reached California not over three days ever pa.s.sed without a letter from Mrs. Cooper, rejoicing over the promised visit. "Everybody is full of expectancy looking for your advent. I have engaged the First Congregational church of San Francisco for Miss Shaw's sermon. Hattie and I send you a heart full of love. May G.o.d hold you safe in His keeping." "San Francisco and the whole Pacific coast have a warm welcome for you both; every one is looking forward to meeting you, great and n.o.ble champion of all that is good." So the letters ran, and they were supplemented by long and loving ones from the daughter Harriet, who lived but to second her mother's work and wishes.

When the papers heralded abroad the news that Miss Anthony was going to California, the large western towns along the route sent earnest requests for lectures and visits, and the journey a.s.sumed the aspect of a triumphal tour. She started April 27, full of health and spirit and with happy antic.i.p.ations; spent one day with Mrs. Upton, at Warren, O., one with Mrs. Sewall, at Indianapolis, going thence to Chicago, where she was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Gross. Here she found Harriet Hosmer, who had been with them seven months, while she worked on her statue of Lincoln. In the evening half a dozen reporters called and the papers bristled with interviews. The next day she went with her hostess to the famous Woman's Club. Miss Shaw joined Miss Anthony in Chicago, and May 1 they left for St. Louis, where they remained four days at the New Planters' Hotel, the guests of Mrs. Gross, who had accompanied them.

Their mission at St. Louis was to address the Mississippi Valley Woman's Congress, under the auspices of the W. C. T. U., Mrs. E. B. Ingalls, presiding. Miss Anthony spoke on "The Present Outlook," and the papers described enthusiastically "the splendid ovation" she received, the many floral offerings, and the hundreds of personal greetings at the close of the evening. Just before her address, seventy-five little boys and girls, several colored ones among them, marched past her on the platform, each laying a rose in her lap. The day after the congress the State Suffrage a.s.sociation held its convention, and on the evening of May 4 a handsome banquet, with covers laid for 200, was given for her at the Mercantile Club rooms.

She reached Denver May 8, at 4 A. M., remained in the sleeper till six and then could stand it no longer but took a carriage and sallied forth.

When the reception committee came to the station at seven to escort her to the elaborate breakfast which had been prepared at the Brown Palace Hotel, where a large number of friends were waiting, the guest had flown and could not be found. While in the city she was entertained at the home of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, of the Rocky Mountain News, whose progressive and cultured wife was her warm personal friend and had been an advocate of suffrage long before it was granted to the women of Colorado. Reverend Anna was the guest of ex-Governor and Mrs. Routt.

That afternoon Miss Anthony went to Boulder, where she was engaged to lecture.

The next day the Woman's Club gave a large reception in their honor at the Brown Palace Hotel, attended by over 1,200 women. The News, in its account, said: "The scene marked, to the retrospective mind, the enormous change that has taken place in the status of the s.e.x within the lifetime of one woman. It hardly seemed possible, as the spectator beheld Miss Anthony surrounded by the richest and most conservative women of Denver, to believe that in her youth the great lecturer was hissed from the stage in the most cultured and liberal cities of the United States, and cast out from polite society like a pariah. It is not often either that one who has been a pioneer in an unpopular cause lives to see it become fas.h.i.+onable and herself the center of attention from a younger generation which has profited by her labors of earlier years."

The same paper commented editorially: "To accomplish the political enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of her s.e.x and open a broader field of work and influence for women everywhere, Miss Anthony has devoted her life....

Among all the n.o.ble women who have stood boldly to champion the cause of their sisters, she is easily chief, and is worthy of all the honors that have been bestowed upon her. It must have been a proud satisfaction for her yesterday to meet the women of Colorado, who are now endowed with equal political rights because of the crusade she has been instrumental in starting and maintaining. Well may these newly enfranchised women do her reverence. Not more loyal should the silver men of Colorado be to d.i.c.k Bland, than the women of Colorado to the apostle of equal suffrage--Susan B. Anthony."

The Denver Times said in a leading editorial: "To Miss Anthony the women of today owe a great debt, for through her life's work they enjoy a hundred privileges denied them fifty years ago. From her devotion to a cause which for decades made her a martyr to the derision of an unsympathetic public, has grown a new order of things. Her hand has most helped to open every profession and every line of business to women.

While all the women of the United States are under many obligations to her, those of Colorado, who are now equal citizens, owe her the greatest allegiance." The Times also quotes in an interview with Miss Anthony: "When asked what subject she would take for her speeches to the people of Colorado, she shook her head with a kindly smile and said: 'My usual lectures will not do. What can I say to the women who have the franchise? I can only encourage them to use their new power wisely, to stand bravely for the right, and to help the equal suffrage cause in other States.'"

The ladies lectured that evening to an immense audience in the Broadway Theater. The papers reported with great headlines: "Enthusiastic Greeting by Colorado's Enfranchised Citizens. Miss Anthony Overcome with Hearty Congratulations. America's Joan of Arc Shakes Hands with an Army of Women Voters." One searches in vain in these newspapers for evidences of the terrible loss of respect which women were to experience when they were endowed with the ballot. The News, in over a column report, said:

Miss Anthony's voice was clear and powerful, filling the big theater without any apparent effort. She began by saying that she believed the thing she had always claimed had come true; that the women had learned a new and higher self-respect with their added rights and responsibilities.... She paid the men of Colorado the compliment of declaring them the best in the world. The men of Wyoming had occupied this proud position up to 1893, but those of Colorado had granted the ballot to a disfranchised cla.s.s not through the legislature, but by a popular vote. This act stands alone in the history of the world; no cla.s.s of men has ever done as much for even another cla.s.s of men....

She said she had heard that some of the women had voted with sagacity and some had not. This was not strange, since men continued to do this after more than one hundred years of voting.

If women made mistakes this year, they would remedy them next year, and in time she believed they would become the balance of power between the two parties in all social, moral and educational questions.

At Cheyenne Senator and Mrs. Carey gave an elegant dinner party in their honor, attended by Governor and Mrs. Rich, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Mrs.

Esther Morris, the first woman judge, Mrs. Therese Jenkins, State president, Mrs. Amalia Post, a suffrage pioneer, and other distinguished guests. They went immediately from dinner to the new Baptist church, which was filled to overflowing, and were introduced by the governor. At the close of the lectures, Mrs. Jenkins said, "Now I desire to introduce the audience to the speakers." She then called the names of the governor and all his staff, the attorney-general, the United States judges, the senators and congressmen, the mayor and members of the city council.

Each rose as his name was mentioned, and before she was through, it seemed as if half the audience were on their feet, and the applause was most enthusiastic. Here again one could not discern an indication of the dreadful loss of respect which was to be the portion of enfranchised women.

It was long after midnight before the travellers were quietly in bed in the delightful home of the Careys, but at half-past seven they had finished breakfast and were on board train en route for Salt Lake City.

Learning from the conductor that Mrs. Leland Stanford's private car was attached, Miss Anthony sent her card and soon was invited to a seat in that luxurious conveyance, where she enjoyed a visit of several hours.

Mrs. Stanford told her of the government suit against the estate, and Miss Anthony's parting words were a warning not to leave her lawyers to go before the Supreme Court alone, but to be present herself in Was.h.i.+ngton to protect her own interests and those of the great university.

At Salt Lake, on Sunday morning, a large delegation of women, representing the different religious sects and political organizations, met the travellers and drove to the Templeton, where seventy-five sat down to breakfast, and they were then taken for a drive over the city.

Miss Anthony was the guest of Mrs. Beatie, daughter of Brigham and Zina D. H. Young, and Miss Shaw of Mrs. McVicker. At 3 P. M., the Reverend Anna preached in the great Tabernacle, Bishops Whitney and Richards a.s.sisting. At the close they congratulated her on having preached a Mormon sermon; afterwards a Methodist minister who was in the audience thanked her for her good Methodist sermon; and a little later a Presbyterian minister shook her hand heartily and expressed his pleasure at hearing her Presbyterian doctrine; so she concluded she had made a politic address. Sunday evening she preached in the theater at what was intended to be a union service. All of the Gentile ministers had been invited to take part and all declined but the pastor of the Unitarian church. He and the princ.i.p.al of the public schools, formerly a Unitarian minister, were the only men on the stage.

The Inter-Mountain Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation of Utah, Montana and Idaho opened the next morning, May 13. The first day's sessions were held in the new city building, but it was so crowded that an overflow meeting was necessary and the next day the convention was transferred to the big a.s.sembly hall. The seat of honor was given to Miss Anthony; on her right Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells, president of the Utah a.s.sociation, on her left, Rev. Anna Shaw. They were surrounded by a semicircle of the ill.u.s.trious women of the Territory who, for many years, had been active in the work for suffrage. The hall was draped with the national colors and above the stage were portraits of Lincoln, Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton. The introductory address was made by Governor West, who, after paying an earnest tribute to Miss Anthony, predicted that the new State const.i.tution, which was to go to the voters containing a woman suffrage clause, would be overwhelmingly ratified.

During their stay in Salt Lake Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw received the highest consideration. Monday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Richards gave a reception in their honor, and were a.s.sisted in receiving by Governor West, President Woodruff, Hon. George Q. Cannon, and many ladies. The next afternoon a reception was tendered by the W. C. T. U. In the evening, a large party went to Ogden, where a banquet was given, a great meeting held in the city hall, and an overflow meeting in one of the churches.

The 16th of May found the travellers at Reno, Nev., where they were the guests of Mrs. Elda A. Orr, president of the State a.s.sociation. In the morning Miss Anthony talked to the 800 men and women students of the State University. In the evening they spoke in the opera house, which was crowded to its limits, while on the stage were the representative men and women of the city and neighboring towns. The house was beautifully decorated with flowers and banners, a bra.s.s band played on the balcony and an orchestra within. They were introduced by Miss Hannah H. Clapp, who had presented Miss Anthony to a Nevada audience at Carson, in 1871. Sat.u.r.day afternoon they enjoyed a charming reception in the parlors of the women's clubhouse.

Late that day they resumed their journey, took supper at Truckee on the summit of the Sierras, and had a delicious glimpse of Lake Donner just as they plunged into the forty miles of snow-sheds. They were glad of a long night's rest after the strain of the last three weeks and, when they awoke the next morning, were rolling through the fertile Sacramento valley. California in May! Never was there a pen inspired with the power to describe its beauties. Not the brush of the most gifted artist could picture the mountains with their green foot-hills and snow-capped summits; the valleys, nature's own lovely and fragrant conservatories of brilliant blossoms and luxuriant, riotous vines, and the great oaks with their glossy foliage, all enveloped in a warm and s.h.i.+mmering atmosphere and, bending above, the soft blue sky scarcely dimmed by a fleeting cloud. They can not be put into words, they must be lived.

The travellers had been up and dressed and enjoying the sweet air and lovely landscape for a long time when the train stopped at the Oakland station at half-past seven Sunday morning, May 19. Early as was the hour, with the mists still hovering over the bay, they found awaiting them, laden with flowers, Mrs. Cooper and her daughter Harriet, from San Francisco, Mrs. Isabel A. Baldwin, Mrs. Ada Van Pelt and several other Oakland ladies, and Rev. John K. McLean, the Congregational minister, whose eldest brother was the husband of Miss Anthony's sister. He conveyed her at once to his own home, while the others took charge of Miss Shaw. At 11 o'clock the reverend lady was in Dr. McLean's pulpit, fresh and smiling, in her soft, black ministerial robes, with dainty white lawn at neck and wrists. Every seat was filled, chairs were placed in the aisles, people sitting on the steps, and the happiest woman in all the throng was Susan B. Anthony as she sat beside her friend. That evening the scene was repeated in the Congregational church of San Francisco, where the chancel was adorned with lilies and the revered Sarah B. Cooper made the opening prayer.

The Woman's Congress opened at Golden Gate Hall, on the morning of May 20. The newspapers of San Francisco had decreed that this congress should be a success, and to this end they had been as generous with s.p.a.ce and as complimentary in tone as the most exacting could have desired. The result was that at not a session during the week was the great hall large enough to hold the audience which sought admission. It presented a beautiful sight on the opening morning, festooned from end to end with banners; the stage a veritable conservatory, with a background of palms, bamboo and other tropical plants, and in front a bewildering array of lilies, roses, carnations, sweet peas and other fragrant blossoms. Grouped upon the platform, on chairs and divans, under tall, shaded lamps, were the speakers and guests. At the right of the president's desk was a large arm-chair artistically draped with flowers beneath a canopy of La France roses. At half-past ten Mrs.

Cooper stepped out from the wings escorting Miss Anthony, followed by Mayor Adolph Sutro and Rev. Anna Shaw. The audience burst into a storm of applause and, amid cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs, Miss Anthony was conducted to her floral throne. As soon as she was seated, one woman after another came up with arms full of flowers until she was literally buried under an avalanche of the choicest blossoms. No one who was present ever will forget the lovely scene.

Mayor Sutro made the address of welcome, in which he emphasized his belief that "the ballot should be placed in the hands of woman as the most powerful agent for the uplifting of humanity." At the preceding congress the general topic had been, "The Relation of Women to the Affairs of the World," and the criticism had been made that it was too much of a woman suffrage meeting. For this one the subject selected was "The Home," but the results were the same. Whatever the paper--"Hereditary Influence," "The Parents' Power," "The Family and the State"--all led to suffrage; and the more suffrage, the greater the applause from the audience. Mrs. Cooper had written Miss Anthony, "I told the committee to put you and Miss Shaw anywhere on the program, that you could speak on one subject as well as another;" so they found themselves down for "Educational Influences of Home Life;" "Which Counts More, Father's or Mother's Influence?" "Does Wifehood Preclude Citizens.h.i.+p?" "The Evolution of the Home;" "The Family and the State;"

"Shall We Co-operate?" "The Rights of Motherhood;" and numerous other topics. Both spoke every day during the Congress and the people seemed never to tire of hearing them.

Mrs. Cooper presided in her dignified and beautiful manner, and in her presentation said: "I have the very great honor and pleasure of introducing to this a.s.sembly one who has done more towards lifting up women than any other one person--Miss Susan B. Anthony." The Chronicle reported: "Then the audience made still further demonstrations. They clapped and cheered and waved, and some of the gray-haired women wiped their eyes because it is so seldom that people live to be appreciated.

But Susan B. stood like a princess of the blood royal. Very erect of head and clear of voice she began her little speech. It was full of reminiscences, but some few people have the privilege of telling recollections without the fear of ever boring any one. Miss Anthony is one of these...."

Miss Shaw also received a hearty welcome; and all through that wonderful week the bright, appreciative, warm-hearted California audiences crowded the hall and listened and applauded and brought their offerings of flowers and fruit to lay at the feet of these two women, who had come from the far East to clasp their hands and unite with them in one great cause--the uplifting of womanhood. The Chronicle said:

Twelve hundred women went to Golden Gate Hall on Monday; fourteen hundred went Tuesday; two thousand Wednesday; twenty-five hundred Thursday. Golden Gate Hall could not hold one-fourth of the crowds, so all three of yesterday's sessions were held at the First Congregational church. Even there a stream of humanity blocked every aisle clear to the platform. n.o.body ever supposed that the women of San Francisco cared for aught except their gowns, their teas and their babies. But they do. They like brains, even in their own s.e.x. And they can applaud good speeches even if made by women, and they have all fallen madly, desperately in love with a very short, very plump little woman whose name is Anna Shaw. A year ago there were not more than a hundred women in San Francisco who could have been dragged to a suffrage meeting, but yesterday twenty-five times that number struggled and tore their clothing in their determination to hear Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sarah B. Cooper (Signed: "Always Affectionately Yours, Sarah B Cooper")]

Again it commented: "There has been some talk that the Woman's Congress which expired last night attracted its crowds under false pretenses--that it promised to talk about the home and then preached suffrage. That is usually the case when Miss Anthony is about, but it was always suffrage in its relation to the home. Who, knowing Miss Anthony's reputation, could suppose that she would cross the continent in the evening of her life to discuss the draping of a lace curtain or the best colors for a parlor carpet?... Five thousand people waiting on the steps of the Temple Emanu-El for the purpose of hearing the woman preacher's last address does not look as if her position were uncertain.

Mere curiosity does not take the same people to nineteen consecutive sessions."

"Apotheosis of Woman," the Examiner headed its fine reports; and the Call, the Bulletin, the Post, the Report, and the newspapers around the bay all gave columns of s.p.a.ce to this great meeting which had discovered to the State of California its own remarkable women.

Miss Anthony had been the guest of her old friend, Mrs. A. A. Sargent, whose hospitality she had enjoyed so many years in Was.h.i.+ngton City. As the suffrage amendment was to come up the next year, Miss Anthony and Miss Shaw met with a large number of ladies at the Congregational church and helped them organize a campaign committee, with Mrs. Cooper as its chairman. In accepting the office she said: "I intend to put all there is of me into current coin and use it to forward this Heaven-ordained work. If ever a woman was thoroughly converted to this idea I have been, and in this spirit I accept the charge."

In the afternoon of this same day Mrs. Cooper escorted them to the Y. M.

C. A. Hall to address the Congregational ministers at their regular Monday meeting, to which they had been officially invited. That evening they were the guests of honor at the Unitarian Club dinner at the Palace Hotel, Miss Anthony responding to the toast, "The Rights and Privileges of Man;" Miss Shaw to "The Manly Man;" Rev. A. C. Hirst and Dr. Horatio Stebbins to "The Rights and Privileges of Woman" and "The Womanly Woman;" and the evening was a lively one. They addressed the girls' high school, and accepted also an invitation to speak to the 900 teachers at the inst.i.tute in session at Golden Gate Hall. They were the guests of the Century Club, Sorosis and other San Francisco societies of women.

A friend, Mrs. Mary Grafton Campbell, wrote from Palo Alto that she heard President Jordan say every remaining day and evening of the semester were filled, and when she exclaimed, "But Miss Anthony is coming; what about her?" he replied, "There will be room for Miss Anthony if we have to give up cla.s.ses." Immediately he wrote her a cordial invitation to visit the university, offering to pay her travelling expenses and expressing a wish to entertain her in his home.

She accepted for herself and Miss Shaw, and they spoke to as many students as could crowd into the chapel. Mrs. Stanford sent a personal invitation for them to attend the reception which she was to give the first graduating cla.s.s in her San Francisco residence.[112] They were invited to the beautiful Water Carnival at Santa Cruz, and to the Flower Festival at Santa Barbara. It would be impossible, indeed, to mention all the delightful invitations of both a public and private nature, and there was not a day that did not bring a remembrance in the shape of flowers and the delicious fruit in which Miss Anthony revelled.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Autograph: "Yours with friendly greetings, Jane L.

Stanford"]

On May 29 the Ebell Club of Oakland gave them a breakfast at 11:30; at 2 P. M. they addressed the Alameda County Auxiliary of the Woman's Congress, Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes, president. The audience filled every inch of s.p.a.ce in the Unitarian church, the most prominent ladies of Oakland occupied seats on the platform, and a large reception in the parlors followed the speaking. The evening session was held in the Congregational church, an enthusiastic crowd in attendance. The next afternoon they started for the Yosemite Valley, having for companions Dr. Elizabeth Sargent and Dr. Henry A. Baker, Miss Anthony's grand-nephew. There Miss Anthony, at the age of seventy-five, made the usual trips on the back of a mule. She relates that the name of her steed was Moses and Anna Shaw's Ephraim, and they had great sport over them. They enjoyed to the full all the beauties of that wonderful region, which never pall, no matter how often one visits them or how long one remains among them. During this trip Miss Shaw went with one of the Yosemite commissioners, George B. Sperry, to the Mariposa Big Trees.