Miss James served as legislative chairman in 1913; Mrs. Ben Hooper in 1915; Mrs. Joseph Jastrow in 1917; Mrs. Hooper again in 1919. She was also for several years congressional chairman. Regular press service was continued during the last decade, a weekly letter being sent to 100 newspapers. Mrs. Youmans had charge of all publicity during her presidency. Mrs. Gudden supplied suffrage letters regularly to several German papers and due to her ability they were always published.
In March, 1916, a Congressional Conference was held in Milwaukee with Mrs. Catt, the national president, as the chief speaker. In June at the time of the Republican National Convention in Chicago the association sent to the great suffrage parade an impressive contingent, accompanied by a G. A. R. drum corps. This year it gave $500 to the Iowa campaign and among its members who assisted there and in campaigns in other States were Mrs. Hooper, Mrs. Haight, Miss Curtis, Mrs. Maud McCreery, Miss Edna Wright and Mrs. Youmans.
On Oct. 14, 1917, a branch of the National Woman's Party was formed in the home of Mrs. Victor Berger and became active. There were two anti-suffrage societies of women, one in Milwaukee and one in Madison, and together they formed a so-called State association, of which Mrs. C. E. Estabrook was president and Mrs. Francis Day an active member. They provided speakers for legislative hearings and signed their names to newspaper articles sent them from the East but were of slight importance. The State petition work was stopped by the epidemic of influenza in the autumn of 1918 and after the first of the next year the apparent favorable attitude of the Legislature made it unnecessary, but already in forty counties the names of 5,800 men and 20,000 women had been obtained. Self-denial Day was originated by Miss Harriet Bain of Wisconsin and adopted by the National Association. The fund in this State was over $400.
The State association was prompt to organize for war work and formed all the committees recommended by the National American Suffrage Association. Many suffrage leaders served as leaders of the war work in their communities. The president was on the Woman's Committee of the State Council of Defense and State chairman for Americanization. The association sent $1,590 for the Oversea Hospitals financed by the National Association.
The relations of the State with the National Association have been very cordial. It has sent a large delegation to each of the national conventions and paid its quota for the support of national work, about $1,500 in 1919.
In February, 1919, the Legislature gave Presidential suffrage to women and the submission of the Federal Amendment was near at hand. The last meeting of the State association, a Good Citizenship convention, was held in Milwaukee Oct. 29-Nov. 1. The program was devoted to the intelligent and patriotic use of the ballot. Mrs. Nancy M. Schoonmaker came from Connecticut to give six lectures on Citizenship for Women. A plan was adopted for publishing a Citizenship Manual and engaging a traveling representative to teach good citizenship to groups of women throughout the State. The convention provided that the association should automatically cease to exist as soon as the Federal Amendment was ratified, in any case not later than March 1, 1920, and should be replaced by a State League of Women Voters. This took place on February 20 and Mrs. Ben Hooper was elected chairman.[211]
Legislative Action. 1901. Provision was made for separate ballot boxes for women, making fully operative the School Suffrage Law of 1885.
1903. A Municipal suffrage bill received a small vote. A full suffrage measure introduced in the Assembly by David Evans was lost by only one and had a large vote in the Senate.
1905. A Municipal suffrage bill was passed by the Assembly; not acted upon by the Senate.
1909. A bill for a referendum to the voters passed in the Senate; defeated in the Assembly by a vote of 53 to 34.