[235] See [Appendix—Testimony from Woman Suffrage States].
[236] Prof. L. F. Henderson of the State University says that equal suffrage, even in the few years it has been in operation in Idaho, has proved itself a thing so simple, so natural, so entirely free from any objectionable features, that it is now generally accepted and looked upon as a matter of course. It has already converted the majority of the men who were opposed and, which is still more remarkable, has converted also the majority of the women.
Mrs. Henderson says the intelligent women take more interest in suffrage than the ignorant ones; that women have suffered no loss of consideration or social influence, but are treated, if anything, with more respect. The possession of the ballot has made them much more intelligent about public questions, as it has stimulated the study of these.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ILLINOIS.[237]
The Illinois Equal Suffrage Association has had only four presidents in the past sixteen years. Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert retired from this office at the annual meeting of Sept. 25, 1884, and was succeeded by Mrs. Mary E. Holmes, who served until the autumn of 1889, when Mrs. Harbert again filled the presidency for one year. At the convention of 1890 Mrs. Holmes was re-elected, and held office until her resignation in 1897. In May of this year, Mrs. Julia Mills Dunn was elected. In 1899 Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch was made president, and in 1900 Mrs. Harbert resumed the position for one year. The other officers elected were: Vice-president, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Mary Munn; recording secretary, Miss S. Grace Nicholas; treasurer, the Rev. Kate Hughes; chairman executive committee, Mrs. Elmina E. Springer.
As the work is divided into districts and counties, and as there are twenty-two districts and 102 counties partially organized, it will not be possible to name in this chapter the hundreds of quiet but very efficient workers, men and women, or to tell of their unselfish devotion, shown often in the face of fierce opposition.
The association has held a State convention each year, except 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, when it was decided instead to attend the World's Congress of Representative Women, which met in May.[238] At many of these meetings national officers were present, among them Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, and the halls were seldom large enough to accommodate the crowds in attendance. There have been also district and county conventions every year, while Fourth of July celebrations, county fairs and Chautauqua assemblies have been utilized to disseminate suffrage sentiment.