GEORGIA.[220]
The first woman suffrage association of Georgia was organized in July, 1890, by Miss H. Augusta Howard and her sister, Miss Claudia Hope Howard (Maxwell). For some time the membership was composed only of these two, their mother, Mrs. Anne Jane Lindsay Howard, and other relatives, all residents of Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Allen of Douglasville were the first outside the Howard family to encourage and support the infant organization. In 1892 Mrs. Kate Mallette Hardwick and Mrs. Mary L. McLendon became members, and served for several years as auditor and vice-president.
The Atlanta association was organized in the Marietta Street M. E. Church, March 21, 1894, by Mrs. McLendon and Mrs. Margaret Chandler; perfected in the Unitarian Church on March 28, and begun with a membership of forty men and women.
In the latter part of 1895, Miss Howard and Mrs. Maxwell, who had served continuously as president, secretary and treasurer of the State association, resigned their offices; and Mrs. Frances Cater Swift was elected president; Mrs. U. O. Robertson, secretary; Miss Adelaide Wilson, treasurer.
In 1896 Mrs. McLendon was made president; Mrs. S. L. Ober Allen and Mrs. Ala Holmes Cheney, vice-presidents; Dr. L. D. Morse, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Gertrude C. Thomas, recording secretary; Miss Sarah A. Gresham, treasurer.
The annual convention of the National Association, which was held in the opera house in Atlanta the first week of February, 1895, gave a new impetus to the movement in Georgia.[221] Men and women throughout the State felt its widespreading influence. Many ancient Southern prejudices received a death-blow when those who harbored them saw what manner of women had espoused this hitherto unpopular cause.[222]
All the Atlanta papers extended a cordial greeting to the convention and devoted columns of space to biographical sketches, reports of meetings, etc., but the Sunny South, edited by Col. Henry Clay Fairman, was the only one which editorially indorsed the suffrage movement. The business manager of the Atlanta Constitution, William A. Hemphill, and his wife, tendered a large reception to the members of the convention.
F. H. Richardson, editor of the Atlanta Journal, the largest evening paper in the State, was converted to a belief in woman suffrage at this time, and is now an honorary member of the organization. As a part of his work, he has made an earnest and long-continued effort to have women placed on the school board.[223]
The Woman's Board of the Cotton States and International Exposition, soon to be held in Atlanta, were so impressed by the personnel of this convention that an official invitation was extended for them to hold a Suffrage Day on Oct. 17, 1895, in the Woman's Congress Assembly Hall. This was accepted by Miss Anthony on behalf of the National Association, and under the guiding hand of Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery, its corresponding secretary, Suffrage Day was one of the very best of the many days celebrated during the Woman's Congress. The State association also fitted up a booth in the Liberal Arts Building and large quantities of literature were distributed by Mrs. H. M. Tripp, who kindly took charge.
The first State convention was held in Atlanta, Nov. 28, 29, 1899. The following resolution, offered in the Legislature by Representative Martin V. Calvin, was adopted: "The use of the Hall of the House of Representatives is hereby granted to Mrs. Virginia D. Young of South Carolina, Miss Frances A. Griffin of Alabama, and Mrs. Isabella Webb Parks of Georgia, on the 28th inst., for the purpose of delivering lectures on the scope of the elective franchise."[224]