[156] Several of the presidents of the association were at first vice-presidents; others were Mrs. Mary B. Luckie, Mrs. Anna M. Orme, Mrs. William I. Hull, Dr. Ruth A. Deeter, Miss Lida Stokes Adams, Miss Mary E. Bakewell, Mrs. Maxwell K. Chapman, Mrs. Robert Mills Beach, Mrs. H. Neely Fleming, Miss Maud Bassett Gotham, Dr. M. Carey Thomas, Mrs. Lewis L. Smith, Mrs. Edward E. Kiernan, Mrs. James P. Rogers, Mrs. Edwin Linton; secretaries: Mrs. Helen M. James, Miss Lybretta Rice, Miss Jane Campbell, Mrs. Mary R. Newell, Mrs. Mary C. Morgan, Miss Katharine Collison, Miss Caroline Katzenstein, Miss Mary Norcross, Miss Helen L. McFarland, Miss Helen C. Clark, Mrs. Gifford Pinchot; treasurers: Mrs. Margaret B. Stone, Mrs. Luckie, Miss Matilda Orr Hays, Mrs. Robert K. Young, Mrs. Robert Mills Beach, Miss Martha G. Thomas; auditors: Mrs. Ellen H. Thomas, Mrs. Mary F. Kenderdine, Mrs. Minora F. Phillis, Miss N. M. Crumpton, Mrs. Reba Artsdalen, Mrs. Robert Coard, Miss Ellen L. Thomas, Mrs. H. Wilfred DuPuy; directors: Mrs. Edward E. Kiernan, Miss Henrietta Baldy Lyon, Mrs. Emma H. McCandless, Mrs. E. S. H. McCauley, Mrs. Richard S. Quigley, Mrs. George A. Piersol, Mrs. Clifton A. Verner, Mrs. Daniel F. Ancona.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
RHODE ISLAND.[157]
The opening of the 20th Century found the Old Guard of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association still in the van. Some of those who were charter members when the organization was formed in 1868 were in active service, enriching the work by their wide experience in the past and clear vision for the future. Mrs. Ardelia Cooke Dewing, a woman of unusual ability, had taken the presidency at the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Buffum Chace in 1899 and continued in the office until 1905. The association never failed to hold an annual convention in the autumn in Providence, where reside about half the population of the State. In 1901, the usual propaganda was conducted by public and parlor meetings, the circulation of literature and the May banquet, for years a regular social function. A special impetus was given this year by the presence of Miss Susan B. Anthony at the convention. The following morning she addressed the students of the Woman's College of Brown University.
On June 2, 1902, the endorsement of the State Central Trades and Labor Unions was secured. Harry Parsons Cross, a leading lawyer, gave two courses of lectures on the Legal Status of Women and Parent and Child in Common Law. This year the organization met with a great loss in the removal from Rhode Island of the Rev. Anna Garlin Spencer, who had served the society from its inception, officially and unofficially, with signal devotion. Henry B. Blackwell gave a notable address at the annual meeting. To him, Lucy Stone and Alice Stone Blackwell the State association was indebted for invaluable services on many important occasions.
In 1903, at the annual meeting a letter was read from Mayor D. L. D. Granger of Providence, heartily endorsing woman suffrage. Mrs. Charlotte B. Wilbour and the Rev. Mrs. Spencer were made honorary presidents of the association. In 1904 and thereafter a prize of $25 from the Elizabeth Buffum Chace legacy was given for the best essay on woman suffrage written by a student of the Woman's College. Mrs. Dewing declined re-election in 1905 and Mrs. Jeannette S. French was chosen president, serving two years. Events of the year were two lectures by Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National American Suffrage Association. In 1906 Mrs. Mary F. W. Homer was elected corresponding secretary and her wide experience in suffrage work in Massachusetts was a valued contribution at a time when re-enforcements were greatly needed.
In 1907 Mrs. Rowena P. B. Tingley was elected president. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, in her 88th year, gave a remarkable address in April. The association secured an endorsement of woman suffrage and equal pay for equal work by the United Textile Workers of America, who met in Providence. Mrs. George D. Gladding, daughter of Mrs. Dewing, was appointed chairman of the Committee on College Work and initiated the movement for the College Equal Suffrage League by securing Mrs. Maud Wood Park to address a meeting of college women at the home of Mrs. Dewing and also to speak at the Woman's College. The league was organized December 11.
In 1908 Mrs. Tingley was re-elected president but because of ill health the duties of the office devolved largely upon Mrs. Gladding, first vice-president. The 40th anniversary of the association was celebrated December 11 in Churchill House, the women's club house, named for one of the distinguished suffrage pioneers, Mrs. Elizabeth Kittridge Churchill. Mrs. Tingley, Arnold B. Chace, Mr. Blackwell and the Rev. Mrs. Spencer, the speakers on this occasion, had been present when the association was formed and they added to the pleasure of the meeting with personal reminiscences. Miss Florence Garvin, president of the College Equal Suffrage League, spoke of the debt of the young women to the pioneer suffragists. The State association enrolled thousands of names for the National Association's petition to Congress in behalf of the Federal Amendment and used its influence to obtain for it the support of the Rhode Island members of Congress.