There are in the public schools 4,909 men and 5,057 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $44; of the women, $37.
The Woman's Emergency Association of Louisville, organized during the Spanish-American War, called a non-partisan mass meeting February 6, 1900, "for the special purpose of directing the attention of women to the importance and necessity of using their influence on behalf of good citizenship." The mass meeting was addressed by several prominent gentlemen, who deplored the spirit of lawlessness prevailing in the State and declared that the remedy rested with the women, but the suggestion that these should have the franchise was not once made.
The State E. R. A. sent a memorial to the annual meeting of the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs in 1900, soliciting their assistance in securing from the General Assembly the extension of School Suffrage to the women of all towns and cities. It was voted to give the co-operation desired.
FOOTNOTES:
[278] The History is indebted for this chapter to Miss Laura Clay of Lexington, president of the State Equal Rights Association since its organization, and first auditor of the National-American Woman Suffrage Association since 1895.
[279] The State W. C. T. U. at its convention in 1892 adopted a franchise department, and has proved a faithful and valuable ally in educating public sentiment and obtaining desired legislation.
[280] In the congressional contest of the Seventh District, between W. C. P. Breckinridge and W. C. Owens, in 1894, the women took such a share in defeating the former that their action became an instructive part of political history. Mrs. F. K. Hunt, president of their Owens Club, which did such distinguished service for public morality, afterwards became a member of the Equal Rights Association, this campaign having convinced her, as she said, that "there is a place for women in politics."
[281] In the Presidential campaign of 1896, Mrs. Josephine K. Henry and Miss Margaret Ingals spoke for the Silver Democrats, and Mrs. Frances E. Beauchamp for the Prohibitionists, under the auspices of the party committees.
In June, 1898, Mrs. Beauchamp, president of the State W. C. T. U., was elected permanent chairman and presided over the State Prohibition Convention held in Louisville—the first time a woman ever filled such a position in Kentucky. She was also elected a member of the National Central Committee of the Prohibitionists in 1899. This party has retained the woman suffrage plank in its State platform since 1889.