On the following day, March 12, I received from Mr. Stevens the following letter, accompanied by a record of 1903 conventions of organizations composed of women:
ST. Louis, U.S.A., March, 13, 1903.
MADAM: In pursuance of the conference held by your committee with the executive committee of the exposition the 11th instant, the acting president, Mr. Spencer, directs me to send to you the accompanying list of conventions and delegate meetings of women to be held in the near future. It is desired to obtain action by these bodies the coming year to meet in St. Louis during 1904. The acting president instructs me to say that if your committee or the board of lady managers will assist in obtaining such action it will be highly appreciated.
The exposition management, with a view to encourage the holding of conventions and congresses, has arranged to have several halls, the use of which can be given to conventions without cost to them. Two or three convention halls will be so located with approaches as to enable delegates to the conventions to reach them without passing through the gates of the exposition. It is also the purpose to afford hall room free to such bodies as may desire to hold meetings downtown.
The acting president directs me to say, further, that from a very thorough canvass made of the city, and from information in the possession of the exposition management, it is believed that good accommodations can be assured at reasonable rates during the exposition. It is the purpose of the exposition to maintain an information service, which will enable delegates to secure accommodations by mail previous to their arrival here.
In other ways the exposition management will endeavor to make the holding of conventions a prominent and satisfactory feature of the World's Fair. If the board of lady managers will join in the invitation to these bodies of women to hold their 1904 conventions at St. Louis the board can help very materially. If the members of the board of lady managers can attend some of these gatherings of 1903, and by personal effort and representation assist in bringing the conventions here the following year, the management will be pleased to have them do so.
Very respectfully, W.B. STEVENS, Secretary.
Mrs. MARY PHELPS MONTGOMERY.
Record of 1903 Conventions of Organizations Composed of Women.
International Congress of Nurses, New York City; International
Board of Women and Y.M.C.A. Conference, Cleveland, Ohio;
Daughters of Liberty, National Council, Philadelphia, Pa.;
Daughters of St. George, Columbus, Ohio; Daughters of Veterans'
National Convention, Cleveland, Ohio; Ladies' Aid Society of the
United States, Providence, R.I.; P.R.O. Sisterhood Supreme, St.
Louis, Mo.; Ladies' United Veteran Legion National Convention,
Brooklyn, N.Y.; National Council of Women, New York City;
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, Chicago, Ill.; National
League of Women Workers, Syracuse, N.Y.; Women's and Young
Women's Christian Association, St. Louis, Mo.; National Congress
of Mothers, Detroit, Mich., May 5-8; Daughters of the
Revolution, General Society, New York City, May 10; King's
Daughters and Sons, St. Louis, Mo.; Knights and Ladies of Honor,
St. Louis, Mo.; Knights and Ladies of Security, St. Louis, Mo.;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, St. Louis, Mo.;
P.E.C. Sisterhood, St. Louis, Mo.; Spanish-American War Nurses,
St. Louis, Mo.; United Daughters of the Confederacy, St. Louis,
Mo.; Woman's Christian Temperance Union, St. Louis, Mo.; Woman's
Relief Corps, St. Louis, Mo.; Council of Jewish Women, St.
Louis, Mo.; National American Woman Suffrage Association, New
Orleans, La.; Ancient Sons and Daughters of Jerusalem, Kansas
City, Mo.; Ladies of the Maccabees, Port Huron, Mich.