The History of Woman Suffrage Volume IV Part 120

In 1887 the "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 12 years; in 1894 from 12 to 14; in 1896 from 14 to 16. The penalty is imprisonment not more than twenty nor less than three years.

SUFFRAGE: The law of 1894 permits women, on the same terms as men, to vote for members of the boards of education (trustees), but not for State Commissioner (superintendent) nor on any question of bonds or appropriations. There are no county commissioners in Ohio.

The history of this law, after it pa.s.sed into the Revised Statutes, is as follows: In December, 1894, Mrs. Ida M. Earnhart of Columbus, whose husband, Senator M. B. Earnhart, had championed the bill, was one of the first women to register for voting at the school election to be held the next April. For the purpose of a test case a written request was made of the board of elections to strike her name from the list; they refused and suit was brought in the name of the State of Ohio against the board and Mrs. Earnhart. The case was argued in the Circuit Court of Franklin County in January, 1895. Mrs. Caroline McCullough Everhard, president of the State W. S. A., attended the hearing. Senators William T. Clark and M. B. Earnhart ably defended the law. On February 1 the decision was rendered by Judge J. G.

Shauck, Judges Charles G. Shearer and Gilbert H. Stewart concurring in the opinion, which declared the law to be const.i.tutional. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the decision of the lower court was sustained. This completed the victory which the State suffrage a.s.sociation had worked so hard to win. More than 30,000 women voted at the first election following. In the spring of 1902, 14,800 women registered in Cleveland and 80 per cent. voted.

Everything was quiet until the winter of 1898, when the activity of the suffragists was again called out by the introduction into the House of a bill by A. J. Hazlett to repeal the School Suffrage law.

The board of elections of Cleveland had asked for this. Forthwith letters were sent to all the suffrage clubs by Mrs. Everhard, and requests were made to many prominent persons to use their influence against it. Protesting pet.i.tions were circulated and, with more than 40,000 names, were sent to the Legislature in a very short time. On Feb. 10, 1898, members of the legislative committee of the State W. S.

A. appeared before the House Committee on Elections and spoke against the bill. Through courtesy to Mr. Hazlett, who was a member of this committee, it was reported back, but without recommendation, and when brought to a vote in the House it was overwhelmingly defeated--76 against repeal, 22 in favor.

OFFICE HOLDING: No woman can be elected or appointed to any office, with the exception of that of school trustee, as the statutes provide that all inc.u.mbents must be electors. The same law applies to the boards of all State inst.i.tutions. It also prevents women from serving as notaries public.

They can act as deputies, since these are considered merely as clerks.

The law specifies that women can be Probate Court deputies because minors are eligible to that office.

Women can not be State School Commissioners, and there is no office of county commissioner. They are serving acceptably on the school boards of various towns and cities, but no official record is anywhere kept of the exact number.[405]

A law of 1892 says: "In all asylums for the insane there shall be employed at least one female physician." There are eight such inst.i.tutions in the State and at present only four have women physicians.

The same year it was made mandatory on every Judge of Common Pleas to appoint in his county a board of visitors consisting of three men and three women, whose duty it is to make periodical visits to the correctional and charitable inst.i.tutions of the county and to act as guardians _ad litem_ to delinquent children.

A law of 1893 requires police matrons in all cities of 10,000 inhabitants and over. They must be more than thirty years old, of good moral character and sound physical health, and must have the indors.e.m.e.nt of at least ten women residents of good standing. Their salary is fixed at not less than two-thirds of the minimum salary paid to patrolmen in the same city, and they may serve for life unless they are discharged.

OCCUPATIONS: No profession or occupation is legally forbidden to women.

EDUCATION: Oberlin was the first co-educational college in the United States (1833). Antioch was the second (1853). The State University and all other State inst.i.tutions of learning always have been open to both s.e.xes alike. Of the thirty-four colleges and universities twenty-seven are co-educational, five are for men and two for women. There are seventy-nine higher educational inst.i.tutions other than colleges, such as academies, normal and business schools, theological seminaries, etc. Of these eight are for men, ten for women, fifty-nine co-educational and two without statistics.

In the public schools there are 10,556 men and 15,156 women teachers.

The average monthly salary of the men is $50; of the women, $40.

Ohio is one of the leading States in the number of women's clubs--289, with a members.h.i.+p of 10,300, being enrolled in the General Federation.

It was princ.i.p.ally through the efforts of this large body of women that a bill was pa.s.sed in 1896 providing for Traveling Free Libraries and 900 are now in circulation, more than in any other State. It also was instrumental in securing a bill for the establishment of State Normal Schools in connection with Ohio and Miami Universities.

The Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, which has more than a national reputation, is the result of the intelligence and well directed efforts of a woman--Mrs. Maria Longworth Nichols (now Mrs. Bellamy Storer). Inspired by the j.a.panese display at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876, she began experimenting with the clays of the Ohio valley and eventually developed the exquisite pottery which is found in every art museum and large private collection in the country, and whose manufacture employs a number of skilled artists.

FOOTNOTES:

[402] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton of Warren, treasurer of the National-American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation since 1892 and president of the State a.s.sociation.

[403] Presidents of the State a.s.sociation: Frances M. Cas.e.m.e.nt, 1885-1888, Martha H. Elwell, 1888-1891, Caroline McCullough Everhard, 1891-1898, Harriet Brown Stanton, 1898-1899, Harriet Taylor Upton, 1899 and now serving.

State Conventions: Painesville, 1885, Toledo, 1886, Cleveland, 1887; Chillicothe, 1888, Akron, 1889, Ma.s.sillon, 1890, Warren, 1891, Salem, 1892, Delaware, 1893, Cincinnati, 1894, Ashtabula, 1895, Alliance, 1897, Cincinnati, 1898, Akron, 1899, Athens, 1900. During the Presidential campaign of 1896, when William McKinley, a resident of Ohio, was a candidate, the excitement was so intense that it was thought wise to abandon the convention, which was to have been held in October at Springfield.

[404] When the State Suffrage a.s.sociation decided to abandon this work, Mrs. Southworth was elected State superintendent of franchise by the W. C. T. U. and the enrollment was continued. At their national convention, in 1901, it showed 50,000 names and aroused great enthusiasm. Of these, 9,650 were collected in the four cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo; during the year 7,500 names had been added to the list. The system has been adopted by the unions in many States.

[405] Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, the author of this chapter, is now serving her second term on the board of education in Warren, O. In the spring of 1898 the local political equality club determined to have some women in this position and selected Mrs. Upton and Mrs. Carrie P.

Harrington. Two vacancies having occurred, the board (which fills such vacancies) was asked to appoint them but refused. Their names therefore were presented to the Republican caucus in the spring of 1898. Instead of two candidates, as usual, there were four, as the two vacancies were to be filled for the remainder of the term. The board and the politicians still refused to recommend the women, so six names went before the caucus. The women were asked whether they wanted to run for the short term to fill the vacancies or for the full term of three years. They refused to say, but simply asked that their names should be considered. They had little hope of anything but to fill the vacancies, as the president and treasurer of the present board were candidates for the long term. The night of the caucus was very stormy, but the women of the city turned out in force and, with the a.s.sistance of the men, the two women were nominated for the long term. A Republican nomination is equivalent to an election in Warren.

The board was magnanimous, both ladies were placed on committees and most courteously treated. The next year Mrs. Upton was made chairman of the most important committee, that on supplies, buildings and grounds, which expends nine tenths of all the money used by the board.

The other woman member was added to this committee when the new grammar school was begun in 1899. It is considered one of the best ventilated and best planned buildings in that part of the State.

In the spring of 1901 both were triumphantly re-elected. Mrs. Upton was continued as chairman of her committee, and Mrs. Harrington was made chairman of the next in importance, that on text books. [Eds.

CHAPTER LIX.

OKLAHOMA.[406]

Oklahoma Territory was opened to settlement April 22, 1889, and its first woman's organization was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in Guthrie, March 10, 1890, by Mrs. Margaret O. Rhodes, under the direction of Miss Frances E. Willard. In the following April a convention was called at Oklahoma City, delegates coming from ten societies, and Mrs. Rhodes was elected president. In October, 1890, the first annual convention was held in Guthrie, the capital, Mrs.

Alice Williams of Missouri being the princ.i.p.al speaker. The first Legislature was in session and she also addressed this body making a strong plea for legislation in favor of temperance and woman suffrage.

In 1895 Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the organization committee of the National Suffrage a.s.sociation, arranged for a lecturer to visit all the princ.i.p.al towns on the Rock Island and Santa Fe Railroads, and Miss Laura A. Gregg of Kansas was selected for this pioneer work. She came into the Territory the first week in October and lectured in twelve places, forming clubs. Her campaign closed at Guthrie where the first suffrage convention was held, November 11, 12, and an a.s.sociation organized. Miss Margaret Rees was elected president,[407] Mrs. J. R. Keaton, secretary, and Mrs. R. W. Southard, delegate to the national convention.

Mrs. Julia B. Nelson of Minnesota was sent into the Territory by the National a.s.sociation for three months in May, 1896. She spoke in twenty-three towns, organizing a number of clubs, and on June 7, 8, closed her work with a ma.s.s meeting in Guthrie.

The third convention was held in Perry, Nov. 13, 14, 1897, Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Kansas being present as the chief speaker. Mrs. Celia Z.

t.i.tus was elected president; Margaret Rees, corresponding secretary; Sarah L. Bosworth, recording secretary; Eva A. Crosby, treasurer.

In September, 1898, Miss Mary G. Hay, organizer for the National Suffrage a.s.sociation, arranged for a campaign, preparatory to asking the Legislature to grant woman suffrage, as in a Territory full suffrage can be given by legislative enactment. In October Mrs.

Chapman Catt came on and meetings were held in the chief towns, where committees were appointed to look after pet.i.tions and other necessary work. This series of meetings closed November 6, 7, with the annual convention in Oklahoma City. Mrs. Rhodes was elected president, Mrs.

Della Jenkins, vice-president, Miss Rees continued as secretary, Mrs.

Minnie D. Storm made treasurer.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION: In the first Legislature, in 1890, specific work was begun for woman suffrage. When the law regarding the franchise was under discussion a pet.i.tion was presented praying that it should read, "Every citizen of the age of 21 shall have a right to vote," instead of "every male citizen." A proposition for this was lost by three votes in the House and was not considered by the Council. School Suffrage was granted to women.

In 1897 a bill asking for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women was prepared by Miss Margaret Rees and introduced in the House, where it was carried by a vote of 13 yeas, 9 nays, but was killed in the Council. Mrs.

Johns, who had been sent by the National a.s.sociation, labored most earnestly for the bill and won hundreds of friends for the cause by her wise council and able management.

After the suffrage convention in 1898, described above, Miss Hay returned to New York and Miss Laura A. Gregg was appointed by the National a.s.sociation to co-operate with the Oklahoma women in securing the franchise from the Legislature of 1899. Their efforts and the results were thus related in the report to the National Suffrage Convention at Grand Rapids, Mich., in April, by Mrs. Chapman Catt, who had remained in Guthrie most of the winter looking after the interests of the bill with the discretion and ability for which she is distinguished:

Last November headquarters were opened in a business block at Guthrie, in charge of Miss Gregg, from which an active correspondence was conducted, resulting in a large pet.i.tion and a constant accession of new recruits. There was a most thorough system of press work, nearly every newspaper in the Territory aiding the movement. The strongest and best men espoused our cause and the outlook seemed propitious. The Legislature convened the first week in January, but an unfortunate quarrel arose between it and the Governor which hindered legislation and compelled our campaign to drag throughout the entire sixty days'

session. Miss Gregg continued her work at headquarters during the winter, and Miss Hay spent a month in Guthrie looking after the interests of our bill. It finally pa.s.sed the house, 14 yeas, 10 nays, the week before the session was to close, and immediately the opposition concentrated its efforts on the Council. However, a majority were pledged to support our measure, and we felt little fear.

As soon as the news spread that the bill was through the House, a telegram was received by each member of the Council from the Albany (N. Y.) women remonstrants. These were not all phrased alike, but each asked the recipient: "What can be done to defeat the woman suffrage bill? Answer at our expense." At nearly the same moment, the chief agent of the Saloonkeepers' League, an a.s.sociation recently organized, as they claimed, "to protect our interests from unjust legislation," appeared upon the scene. Only a week remained of the legislative session. Whether this agent of the Oklahoma saloons came at the invitation of the Albany remonstrants, or the Albany remonstrants sent their telegrams offering a.s.sistance at the instigation of the Saloonkeepers'

League, or whether their simultaneous appearance was by chance, I am unable to say. That they appeared together seems significant.

If they work as distinct forces, a study in the vagaries of the human reason is presented in the motives offered to the public by these two organizations. The Albany remonstrants would protect the sweet womanly dignity of Oklahoma women from the debasing influence of politics. The Saloonkeepers' League would save the debasing influence of politics from the sweet womanly dignity of Oklahoma women. So these Albany women, who never fail to inform the public of their devotion to the church, join hands with the Oklahoma saloonkeepers, who never fail to declare that the church is a fanatical obstacle to personal liberty. A queer union it is, but some day the world will discover the mystery which has consummated it!

It so happened that in this Legislature there was a member who for thirty years, in a neighboring State, had been an avowed friend of suffrage. This was known to all Oklahoma, and even the enemies expected him to lead our forces in the Council. This man not only betrayed us, but headed the opposition in a filibustering effort to keep the bill from coming to a final vote and succeeded. Now, why did he fail us? Did he renounce the faith of a lifetime? No. Did the suffragists offend him? No; but even if they had done so a man of character does not change his views in a moment for a personal whim. Why, then, this change? Any member of the Legislature, for or against suffrage, if he would speak as frankly to others as he did to us, would tell you it was for money. Rumor was plentiful stating the amount and the donor.

The saloons all over Oklahoma, with a remarkable unanimity of knowledge, boasted beforehand that the bill was killed and that this man was the instrument which they had used, and while they were boasting he was conferring with us and promising us his faithful support, hoping to conduct the filibustering so adroitly that we could not detect his hand in it....

To come to the main point, we had won the victory but a crime robbed us of it. Suffragists know how to bear defeats with fort.i.tude, for each one is only a milestone showing the progress made on a journey, but a defeat by the defection of a friend is a new thing in the history of our movement.

Dr. Delos Walker of Oklahoma City was one of those who a.s.sisted in every way possible to give the ballot to the women of the Territory.