At a club festivity in Boston, Rev. Samuel Smith—“Sammy Smith,” as he was familiarly called, told us of the circumstances under which he wrote “America.” They were not thrilling. He was in his library, looking out upon the hills, if I remember aright. He seemed a kindly old gentleman, still vigorous, despite his silver hair. My mother also described the train of events which led to the writing of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She was often called upon to do this.
I had the pleasure of serving on the nominating committee at several biennial conventions—but none of the later ones resembled the lively session held at Chicago in 1892. Miss Octavia Bates kindly consented to act as our chairman, her good humor and good sense helping to straighten out the knotty problems that came before us. If the discussion became too animated she thumped on the floor with an umbrella!
One of the interesting women at these early conventions was Dr. Jennie de la M. Lozier, a physician herself and the wife of one. At Chicago in a moment of irritation she took the reporters to task, alluding to them as “the ink-slingers of the Press.” Fortunately, Mrs. Sarah Perkins, of Cleveland, Ohio, came to the defense of the newspaper men, telling the convention how much a good cause often owed to them. At its close the reporters presented Mrs. Perkins with a beautiful basket of roses!
We learned some lessons in public speaking from Miss Susan B. Anthony, the noted suffrage leader. In her own vigorous way she told us not to immerse our heads in our papers, but to hold them up, to look at the man in the last row of the parquette and address our remarks to him!
At the second biennial, held in Philadelphia, I had the pleasure of taking part in the program of the evening meeting at the Academy of Music. I had received, shortly before, an absurd publication, treating in solemn vein of the management of husbands. This moved me to write, in serio-comic style, a short paper on “The Duties of Women’s Clubs toward Mankind.”
The club husband furnished food for humor in those early days, although many men attended our evening sessions.
It was interesting to me to see how the audience took the points—sometimes after a moment’s delay—and to note how waves of mirth one after another passed over the great throng.
Kate Upson Clarke, always witty and delightful, spoke of “Democracy in Women’s Clubs.”
In November, 1895, the General Federation Council met at Atlanta, Georgia, where the “Cotton States and International Exposition” was then in session. We did not quite relish being asked whether we were “Daughters of the Confederacy,” although the mistake was a natural one. It was gratifying to see the progress made by the Southern women.
From Atlanta we went on to New Orleans, where a meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Women was scheduled.