The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony Volume II Part 38

I pray that all strength and blessing of every kind may crown this coming year of your life; and O, how earnestly I hope that in it you may see the fruition of some of the work that you have been struggling with these many, many years. When I run over in my mind the present situation of the cause you represent--which seems to me more and more the one cause which must succeed if we are going to have genuine success anywhere else--I see what ground you have for encouragement and what a vast advance has been made; but I see, too, how slow it must seem to you, and how weary of waiting you must become. I know no courage like yours, and I do that courage full honor.

She had received a telegram of greeting from Frances E. Willard as soon as she arrived home from California, and January 5 accepted her urgent invitation for a little visit with her at the sanitarium of Dr. Cordelia Green, Castile; and while there addressed a parlor gathering of the patients. On January 15 she was guest of honor at a luncheon given by the Educational and Industrial Union of Rochester, at the Genesee clubhouse, to the State executive committee of the Federation of Clubs.

Mrs. Charlotte Perkins Stetson spent a few days with her, and she arranged for her to hold Sunday evening services in the Unitarian church. On January 20 the two ladies, with Miss Mary, started for the twenty-ninth annual convention of the national a.s.sociation, which was to be held this year at Des Moines, Ia. The thermometer was 15 below zero, the snow very deep, and Miss Anthony's friends saw her set forth on the journey to this cold western city with much anxiety. All their protests, however, were not sufficient to keep her at home; but she thought with much longing of the clean, beautiful streets of Washington, the mild climate, the Congressional committees, the crowds of visitors there from various parts of the country who always came to the convention, and she felt more strongly than ever that it was a serious mistake to take it away from the national capital.

She stopped at Chicago for a few days, and a characteristic little entry in her diary says: "I slept on a $6,000 bed last night; my! how much good suffrage work could have been done with that money." On the afternoon of January 23, Miss Anthony addressed a large meeting of the Woman's Club and in the course of her remarks paid a tribute to that organization, in which she said: "This is the banner club of the United States, not because it has such nice women for members, and not even because it is located in Chicago, but because it is a club which does a large amount of practical work."

Mrs. Foster Avery joined the party at Chicago and they reached Des Moines January 24, where they found the rest of the executive board, and all were entertained in the suburban mansion of James and Martha C.

Callanan. The meetings were held in the Central Christian church, whose pastor, Rev. H. O. Breeden, extended a cordial greeting. Notwithstanding the extreme severity of the weather, 24 below zero, the audience-room was crowded to its capacity at every public session, and overflow meetings were held. The convention was officially welcomed by Governor Francis M. Drake and Mayor John McVicar; Mrs. Adelaide Ballard, State president, made the opening address, and Mrs. Macomber spoke in behalf of the women's clubs of the city. State Senator Rowan was one of the speakers. Among the letters of greeting was one from Miss Kitty Reed, daughter of Speaker Thomas B. Reed. The memorial services showed that never in any previous year had so long a list of friends to the cause pa.s.sed away as in 1896. There were thirty-seven names mentioned in the resolutions.[126]

In Miss Anthony's address she spoke of the great victories in 1896, as shown by the full enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the women of Utah and Idaho. Mrs.

M. C. Woods, from the latter State, presented an interesting account of the late campaign and an outline of their work for the future. Her mother, Emmeline B. Wells, made the report for Utah. Delegates were present from twenty States, and most of them were entertained in the hospitable homes of the city. A reception, attended by 500 guests, was tendered by Mr. and Mrs. Hubbell, at their elegant residence on Terrace Hill. An imaginative reporter on this occasion transformed Miss Anthony's historic garnet velvet gown, worn for the past fourteen years, into a "magnificent royal purple," and her one simple little pin into "handsome diamonds." A pleasant reception also was given by the Woman's Club in their commodious parlors. The daily newspapers contained excellent reports of the convention, but not one gave editorial endors.e.m.e.nt of the cause it represented.

Those who believed in holding the alternate national conventions away from Washington were satisfied with the result; those who thought differently continued to hold the same opinion, and among the latter was Miss Anthony, who soon afterwards wrote to one of the business committee:

The conventions at Atlanta and Des Moines have but confirmed me in my judgment that our delegated body always should meet in Washington. For local propaganda both were undoubtedly good, but for effect in securing Congressional action, absolutely nil. I believe in resuming our old plan of holding at least two conventions every year, one for the election of officers and for its influence upon Congress in Washington every winter; the other in whatsoever State we have const.i.tutional amendments pending, where we need to do our greatest amount of work in that direction.

The best way for the national a.s.sociation to help create local sentiment is to build up and make a success of the different State annual meetings, and to have at least two of its ablest and most popular speakers attend as many of them as possible every year; and I think by this means we can do a great deal more to make the States feel that the national is mother to them, than by once in a lifetime holding a delegate convention within their borders. I am more and more convinced that some of the national officers must be present at every State annual meeting, and if well advertised there would be as many representatives of the local clubs present as go to our national convention.

On the way home from Des Moines Miss Anthony spent a few days at Indianapolis. The evening of February 3, Mrs. Sewall gave a reception in her honor, to which were invited the governor, members of the legislature, State officials and their wives, members of the Woman's Council and their husbands. At one end of the large drawing-room, on a slightly raised platform covered with rugs, sat Miss Anthony and Indiana's most revered woman, Zerelda G. Wallace, to whom Mrs. Sewall presented the guests. Later in the evening both of these ladies, from their "throne," as it was laughingly called, gave pleasant informal addresses, to which Senator Roots responded on behalf of the legislature. The next day Mrs. Wallace and Miss Anthony's old friend, Hon. George W. Julian, were entertained at luncheon and had a long afternoon chat. In the evening a reception was given for her by Mr. John C. and Mrs. Lillian Wright Dean at their pleasant home "The Pines."

The morning of February 5 Miss Anthony was invited to address a joint session of the Indiana legislature in the a.s.sembly chamber. The judges of the supreme and appellate courts and most of the State officials were present, and all the visitors' seats on the floor and in the galleries were filled with Indianapolis ladies. Miss Anthony was introduced with words of praise by Representative Packard, and spoke for an hour, making her usual strong plea for a Sixteenth Amendment enfranchising women.

On February 6, at 9 A. M., in the midst of rain and sleet, she arrived in Rochester and, in less than an hour, reporters from every newspaper in the city were on hand for an interview. They had learned long since that they always were sure of a cordial reception at her cozy home, and that the returned traveller would not fail to tell them something which would make interesting reading. Miss Anthony was actuated by two motives in this: One was her desire to get as much suffrage news as possible into the papers, for no one could have a higher appreciation of the value of the press; the other was a strong sentiment of admiration and friendship for the faithful and industrious men and women who earn a living at newspaper work.

Sunday night, February 14, the birthday of Frederick Dougla.s.s was observed in the Plymouth Congregational Church. Miss Anthony presided over the large meeting and introduced the speakers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ANTHONY RESIDENCE.

SINCE 1865, ROCHESTER, N. Y.]

There had been something in the air of Rochester for several weeks, something of a social nature in which most of the people in the city seemed interested, and it promised to culminate on the approaching 15th of February, when Miss Anthony should be eleven times seven years old.

This famous birthday, which had been beautifully celebrated in New York, Washington and numbers of other cities and towns throughout the country, also had been often pleasantly observed in Rochester; but it was thought by many people here that it was time Miss Anthony's own city should hold a celebration which should eclipse all on record. The first intimation she had was the receipt of this invitation:

The woman's clubs of this city are planning to give a reception in your honor at Powers Hall on the evening of your seventy-seventh birthday, February 15, 1897. They have chosen this means of publicly expressing the great esteem in which they hold you, and the pride they feel in reckoning among their number a woman of national reputation. They trust that this date will be satisfactory, and this manner of showing their respect not distasteful to you. Very sincerely,

OLIVE DAVIS, _Corresponding Secretary of the Committee on Arrangements_.

The committee was composed of one member of each of the sixteen woman's clubs, and the admirable manner in which the affair was conducted certainly indicated that it was in the hands of representative women.[127] Most of the Rochester papers contained editorials of congratulation. Among others the Post-Express said of the celebration:

Its purpose is to indicate the esteem in which she is held by the people of the city of which she has, for many years, been a resident. It is not intended as a demonstration in behalf of the cause with which she has been especially identified. Its meaning is deeper and its scope is broader than this. It is the woman, rather than the advocate, who is to be honored....

Rochester is proud of Susan B. Anthony--proud that it can call her its citizen. It has come to appreciate her quality. It understands, not alone that she has stood in the front ranks of those who have done battle for the equality of woman with man at the ballot-box, but that she has also done much for the emanc.i.p.ation of woman from civil thralldom and social inferiority, and that in all good causes she has been distinguished--in philanthropies as in politics, in the reformation of moral abuses as in the righting of what seemed to her civic wrongs. As her work has proceeded, she has conquered prejudice and persuaded respect--respect for herself independent of and even superior to that for the causes in which she has enlisted.

And so it occurs that the citizens of Rochester, without regard to the opinions they entertain upon woman suffrage and cognate movements, but wholly in admiration and affection for a n.o.ble woman, unite in the reception which awaits her, cordial and full of meaning. It will be a notable occasion, and one long to be remembered.

The daily papers gave long and elaborate reports of this great reception, headed, "Our beloved Susan; Two thousand hands grasped by the Grand Old Woman;" "Rochester Shows its Love for Her," etc., etc. A portion of the Herald account may be quoted as indicating the tone of all:

The reception accorded to Susan B. Anthony at Powers Hall by the woman's clubs of Rochester was one of the most brilliant events of the kind ever held in this city. All the prominent people of both s.e.xes were there, and each vied with the others in doing honor to the woman whose splendid attributes of mind and heart have reflected so much credit on the city. But little preliminary work was needed, as it partook largely of the nature of a spontaneous tribute. Fully 2,000 people, representing the beauty, wealth and intelligence of the city, pa.s.sed before this unostentatious, kindly woman during the evening and esteemed it an honor to press her hand.

The guests began to arrive at 8:30 o'clock and continued to come in a steady stream for two hours thereafter. Miss Anthony stood at the western end of the large room and around her were gathered the reception committee, composed of representatives from each of the woman's clubs in the city. The guests formed in line as they entered and each in succession took the hand of Miss Anthony. She greeted every one cordially and had a pleasant word for each. In one hand she held a beautiful bouquet of white and yellow roses sent by Miss Frances E. Willard.

There were more than Rochester's most distinguished citizens; hundreds of the poor and the humble, a number of colored people, men and women in all the walks of life, thronged the great hall surrounded with famous paintings and radiant with electric lights, flowers and beautiful costumes. They came to grasp the hand of one who had made no distinction of race or rank or belief in her fifty years' work of uplifting all humanity. If these had not been present, Miss Anthony would have felt that her own city had not offered its full tribute of recognition.

At the Anthony home the day was a happy one. Rev. Anna Shaw came to help celebrate. The house was filled with guests from out of town and many callers, and the bell was ringing all day for telegrams, letters and packages. There were potted plants and cut flowers, baskets of violets and hyacinths, and great bunches of roses and carnations. Letters and telegrams came from California and Ma.s.sachusetts, and a number of States between. Clubs of many descriptions sent messages, and even Sunday-schools offered greetings. Mariana W. Chapman, president New York State Suffrage a.s.sociation, expressed the congratulations of that body, and from all the National-American officers came words of appreciation.

Among these were the following from the national organizer, Carrie Chapman Catt:

When a woman lives to be seventy-seven years old, having given a whole half-century and more to the cause of human liberty, her age becomes a crown of glory, before which every lover of progress bows in acknowledgment. Such a woman is she whom we know as "Saint Susan." Upon her birthday I have but one wish, and in this millions of grateful American women join with me; may she live in health and strength undiminished, until she witnesses the last woman in the United States blessed with all the political privileges of citizenship. If this wish might be fulfilled, I know it would bring the highest joy ever permitted a human being; therefore because I love her tenderly I make it, with grat.i.tude for her years of service and with a reverence unspeakable for the woman whose courage, determination and adherence to principle made the service possible.

A few evenings later Miss Anthony attended a meeting held in Rochester by the Cuban League. As soon as she entered she was invited to a seat on the stage and then the audience insisted on a speech. Finally she came forward and said:

From the report of the first outrage in Cuba down to the present time, there has not been a moment but that its people have had my sympathy. Never since I began to know the meaning of the word "freedom" has anything taken a stronger hold on me than this struggle in Cuba. Even where all men are free, women are not, and I trust that when Cuban men achieve their independence and frame their const.i.tution, they will not forget the women who have borne the struggle with them, as our Revolutionary fathers forgot the women who toiled by their side. The men of only four out of forty-five States of our republic have yet granted liberty to the women. I never can speak in a meeting like this without bearing testimony to the cowardice of the men of this nation in refusing to make the women free. I believe in liberty and equality for every human being under every flag, not for men alone but for women also.

The last of February a telegram announced the death of Maude, wife of Senator L. H. Humphrey, who but a few weeks before had visited the Anthony home, and stated that the husband desired Miss Anthony to speak at the funeral. She was a young and lovely wife and mother, treasurer of the State Federation of Clubs and an officer of the State and county suffrage a.s.sociations. It was said that Miss Anthony spoke as one inspired of the woman in whose death everything good had lost a helpful hand, who had gone out of life with no fear for herself but only loving thoughtfulness for others. She told of her courage in following the truth wherever it might lead, of the freedom into which she had grown, and the beautiful faith and trust in which she had lived; she said that it was such who walked with G.o.d, and that her spiritual life could be comprehended only by those who lived on the same high plane. It was a deep regret to all who heard this exquisite eulogy that it was not preserved word for word.

Reference has been made in a preceding chapter to Miss Anthony's preparations for the writing of her biography, which were interrupted by the urgent call from California. All her letters from friends and many from strangers, for several years, had urged that it should not longer be deferred. But who should do it? That was the important question.

There were a number of women who possessed the ability and the desire, but some were absorbed in family cares and others in breadwinning occupations; where was the one who could and would give a year or more of her life to this vast undertaking? The question was still unanswered when Miss Anthony laid everything else aside and plunged into the California campaign. Long before this had ended, she had exacted a promise from Mrs. Harper, who had charge of the State press during that long and trying period, to come to Rochester and write the biography.

She herself agreed to remain at home till the work should be finished, and give every possible a.s.sistance from the storehouse of reminiscence and the wealth of material which had been so carefully garnered during all the years.

So the first of March, 1897, the work began. A little while before, Miss Anthony had written to a friend: "Some one soon will write the story of my life and will want everything she can get about me, but she will find there is precious little when she sits down to the task." What the biographer did find was two large rooms filled, from floor to ceiling, with material of a personal and historical nature. It seemed at first as if nothing less than a cyclopedia could contain what would have to be used. Ranged around the walls were trunks, boxes and bags of letters and other doc.u.ments, dating back for a century and tied in bundles just as they had been put away from year to year. There were piles of legal papers, accounts, receipts and memoranda of every description, and the diaries and note-books of sixty years. The shelves were filled with congressional, convention and other reports; there were stacks of magazines and newspapers, large numbers of sc.r.a.p-books and bushels of sc.r.a.ps waiting to be pasted. There was, in fact, everything of this nature which can be imagined, all carefully saved and put away, waiting for the leisure when they could be sorted and cla.s.sified.

It was fortunate indeed that the two women, who went to work so cheerfully on that March morning, did not realize the task which was before them, or their courage might have wavered. With the a.s.sistance of their efficient secretary, Miss Genevieve Lel Hawley, the work went steadily on from daylight till dark for many days, until at length the sheep all were separated from the goats; the matter likely to be used placed in one room, and the remainder arranged conveniently for reference in the other. Every sc.r.a.p of writing was pressed out and each year's quota not only placed in a separate box, but arranged according to months and days. The printed matter was carefully cla.s.sified and the sc.r.a.p-books all finished, a complete set of nearly fifty years.

Then commenced the far more difficult labor of culling the most important and interesting points from this great ma.s.s of material, and condensing them into such s.p.a.ce as would permit the reading of the biography during at least an average lifetime. And thus was the task continued, day after day, and far into the night, for much more than a year. The snows of winter melted away; the bare branches of the tall chestnut trees which towered above the windows put forth their buds and burst into a wilderness of snowy blossoms; the birds built their nests among the green leaves, reared their young and flew away with them to warmer climes before the chill winds of approaching autumn; the luxuriant foliage faded and dropped to the earth; again the naked branches stretched out to a stormy sky, and the snow lay deep on the frozen ground; while the story followed the life and work of this great historic character through the slow unfolding out of the depths of the past; the development from the springtime of youth into the fruitful summer of maturity; the mellowing into the richness and beauty of autumn; the coming at last into the snowy spotlessness of serene and beautiful old age.

The attic workrooms were an ideal place for this long and exacting task, secluded from all interruption and dedicated so entirely to the work that not a book or paper ever was disturbed. A pretty description written by Mrs. Minette Cheshire Hair, of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle staff, and published in a number of papers, thus began:

[Ill.u.s.tration: ATTIC WORK-ROOMS WHERE THE BIOGRAPHY WAS WRITTEN.]

Way up on the third floor of the cozy home at 17 Madison street, away from the dust and noise of the pavement, in a charming den admirably arranged for the purpose, two women have for months been busily engaged getting together material and putting it in shape for the publishers, which will give to the world a story--the story of a career as remarkable as any ever written. Pausing on the threshold, a description of the sanctum is not out of place, for the pleasant atmosphere and surroundings at once impress the visitor, so unconsciously have the occupants stamped it with their own strong individuality. It consists of two large and airy rooms which appear to be literally perched in the tree-tops, so close are the swaying branches, which seem to nod approval and encouragement to the two busy workers seated before a large bow window. Patches of the blue sky glimmer above and through them, and the scene without is restful and inspiring. Within is a large, low table where the writing is done, and an easy couch piled with pillows invites repose when the brain grows too weary.

The rooms are plain and ceiled above in natural wood, and on shelves arranged along the sides are boxes containing years of correspondence and doc.u.ments, dating back to 1797--just one century. In the room beyond, three stenographers do their part of the work, and here also are large chests filled with the acc.u.mulations of years of public life. It would seem as if the task before these two dauntless women were almost endless, for every letter must be read and carefully noted, every newspaper clipping gleaned--and these alone would make volumes--old diaries perused, and the whole digested and woven into the fabric of facts which not only go to make the story of one woman, but the history of the great progressive movement of women during the past fifty years.

FOOTNOTES:

[126] Among them were Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sarah B. Cooper, Drs. Hiram Corson and Caroline B. Winslow, Judges E. G. Merrick and O. P. Stearns, Mary Grew, J. Elizabeth Jones, Hannah Tracy Cutler, Sarah Southwick.

[127] The idea of giving the reception originated among the members of the Wednesday Club, some of whom conceived the thought that it was time for the women of Rochester in some way to recognize Miss Anthony's ability, energy and labors in behalf of her s.e.x.... Reformers, as a rule, are not popular in their day, and Miss Anthony ran the gauntlet of derision and abuse years ago, but today the magnificent services she has rendered for woman are everywhere recognized.

The plans have been perfected upon a very elaborate scale. The following are represented in the movement: the Wednesday Club, the Ethical Society, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the Wellesley a.s.sociation, the Cornell a.s.sociation, the Coterie, the Woman's Sat.u.r.day Club, the Holyoke a.s.sociation, the Jewish Council, the Sisterhood of Berith Kodesh, the Ignorance Club, the Tuesday Reading Club, the Livingston Park Seminary Alumnae, the Rochester Female Academy Alumnae, the Ladies' Travellers' Club, and Mrs. Hall's Art Cla.s.s.

The reception is not to women only, but it is expected that a large number of men will be present. [Then follows a list of names of many of the prominent ladies of Rochester, who acted as a reception committee, and of equally well-known young men, who served as ushers.]--Democrat and Chronicle.

CHAPTER XLIX.

CHARACTERISTIC VIEWS ON MANY QUESTIONS.

1897.