An International Council also was organized in 1888 to be composed of similar National Councils in various countries and to meet in a Congress every five years. At the close of the century fourteen National Councils had affiliated with the International, representing a membership of 6,000,000. This is not only immeasurably larger than any other association of women but is exceeded in size by very few organizations of men, and its two great Congresses—during the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and at London in 1899—were occasions of world-wide interest and value.
Each of the more than one hundred national associations of women in the United States holds its annual, biennial or triennial convention in some one of the large cities, which is attended by delegates from all parts of the country. The sessions are presided over by a woman, discussions are carried on with due attention to parliamentary usage, a large amount of business is transacted with system and accuracy, and in every respect these meetings compare favorably with those conducted by men after centuries of experience. They are treated with the greatest respect by the newspapers which vie with each other in publishing pictures of the delegates, their addresses and extended and complimentary reports of the proceedings. The character of these national organizations, the scope of their objects and the extent of their achievements can in no way be so strikingly illustrated as by giving a list of the most important.[498]
The International Council of Women was organized March 31, 1888, in Washington, D. C., "to unite the women of all the countries in the world for the promotion of co-operative internationalism through the abatement of that prejudice which springs from ignorance and which can be corrected only by that knowledge which results from personal acquaintance.
"In the first place its influence has united different organizations of the same country hitherto indifferent or inimical to each other; and in the second it has commenced the work of uniting the women of different nations and abating race prejudice. It has promoted the movement of peace and arbitration, and through its international committees it is forming a central bureau of information in regard to women's contribution to the work of the world."
It is composed at present of fourteen National Councils of as many different countries representing an individual membership of about 6,000,000 women. Its president is Mrs. May Wright Sewall, who was one of its founders.
The National Council of Women was organized in Washington, D. C., March 31, 1888. Its constitution is introduced by the following preamble:
"We, women of the United States, sincerely believing that the best good of our homes and nation will be advanced by our own greater unity of thought, sympathy and purpose, and that an organized movement of women will best conserve the highest good of the family and the State, do hereby band ourselves together in a confederation of workers committed to the overthrow of all forms of ignorance and injustice, and to the application of the Golden Rule to society, custom and law. This Council is organized in the interest of no one propaganda, and has no power over its auxiliaries beyond that of suggestion and sympathy; therefore, no society voting to become auxiliary shall thereby render itself liable to be interfered with in respect to its complete organic unity, independence or methods of work, or be committed to any principle or method of any other society or to any utterance or act of the Council itself, beyond compliance with the terms of this constitution."
The scope of the Council's work is indicated by the heads of its departments: Home Life, Educational Interests, Church and Missionary Work, Temperance, Art, Moral Reform, Political Conditions, Philanthropy, Social Economics, Foreign Relations, Press, Organization; and by its standing committees: Citizenship, Domestic Science, Equal Pay for Equal Work, Dress Reform, Social Purity, Domestic Relations under the Law, Press, Care of Dependent and Delinquent Children, Peace and Universal Arbitration.
Each of these departments and committees works along its special lines and at the annual executive meetings and the triennial Councils the reports of their work are discussed, their recommendations considered and every possible assistance rendered. The general public is invited to the evening sessions and valuable addresses are made by specialists on the above and other important subjects.
The Council is composed of sixteen national organizations, one State Council, six local councils—representing a membership of about 1,125,000 women.