Part 32

For the last time, she spoke to a Senate committee on the woman suffrage amendment. Standing before these indifferent men, a tired warrior at the end of a long hard campaign, she reminded them that she alone remained of those who thirty-five years before, in 1869, had appealed to Congress for justice. "And I," she added, "shall not be able to come much longer.

"We have waited," she told them. "We stood aside for the Negro; we waited for the millions of immigrants; now we must wait till the Hawaiians, the Filipinos, and the Puerto Ricans are enfranchised; then no doubt the Cubans will have their turn. For all these ignorant, alien peoples, educated women have been compelled to stand aside and wait!" Then with mounting impatience, she asked them, "How long will this injustice, this outrage continue?"

Their answer to her was silence. They sent no report to the Senate on the woman suffrage amendment. Yet she was able to say to a reporter of the New York Sun, "I have never lost my faith, not for a moment in fifty years."

FOOTNOTES:

Rachel Foster Avery, Ed., National Council of Women, 1891 (Philadelphia, 1891), p. 229.

Dec. 1, 1898, Anthony Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library. Mrs. Elnora Babcock of New York was in charge of the press bureau.

Miss Anthony was enrolled as a member of the Knights of Labor and invited this organization to send delegates to the International Council of Women in 1888.

To Ellen Wright Garrison, 1900, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College.

Harper, Anthony, III, p. 1137. A few years later, militant suffragists, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, were active in London. Mrs. Pankhurst heard Miss Anthony speak in Manchester in 1904.

Ida Husted Harper Ms., Catharine Waugh McCulloch Papers, Radcliffe Women's Archives.

Nov. 20, 1899, Anthony Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library.

History of Woman Suffrage, IV, p. 385. Miss Anthony was "moved up," as she expressed it, to Honorary President.

Peck, Catt, p. 107, Washington Post quotation.

To Laura Clay, April 15, 1900, University of Kentucky Library, Lexington, Kentucky.

Ibid., March 15, 1900.

Ibid.

Ibid., Sept. 7, 1900.

Ms., Diary, Nov. 10, 1900.

Ibid., Sept. 26, 1900. A separate woman's college was established at the University of Rochester and not until 1952 were the men's and women's colleges merged.

May 20, 1901, Note, Susan B. Anthony Memorial Collection, Rochester, New York.

History of Woman Suffrage, V, pp. 741-742.

Harper, Anthony, III, p. 1263.

Oct. 28, 1902, Anthony Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library.

Oct. 27, 1904, Elizabeth Smith Miller Collection, New York Public Library. A few years later, Mrs. Blatch made a vital contribution to the cause through the Women's Political Union which she organized and which brought more militant methods and new life into the woman suffrage campaign in New York State.

Jan. 27, 1904, Lucy E. Anthony Collection. Mrs. Blake who had been a candidate in 1900 had by this time formed her own organization, the National Legislative League.

History of Woman Suffrage, V, p. 99.

Harper, Anthony, III, p. 1308.

Ibid.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY OF THE WORLD

Susan was on the ocean in May 1904 with her sister Mary and a group of good friends, headed for a meeting of the International Council of Women in Berlin. What drew her to Berlin was the plan initiated by Carrie Chapman Catt to form an International Woman Suffrage Alliance prior to the meetings of the International Council. This had been Susan's dream and Mrs. Stanton's in 1883, when they first conferred with women of other countries regarding an international woman suffrage organization and found only the women of England ready to unite on such a radical program. Now that women had worked together successfully in the International Council for sixteen years on other less controversial matters relating to women, she and Mrs. Catt were confident that a few of them at least were willing to unite to demand the vote.

Chosen as a matter of course to preside over this gathering of suffragists in Berlin, Susan received an enthusiastic welcome. For her it was a momentous occasion, and eager to spread news of the meeting far and wide, she could not understand the objections of many of the delegates to the presence of reporters who they feared might send out sensational copy.

"My friends, what are we here for?" she asked her more timid colleagues. "We have come from many countries, travelled thousands of miles to form an organization for a great international work, and do we want to keep it a secret from the public? No; welcome all reporters who want to come, the more, the better. Let all we say and do here be told far and wide. Let the people everywhere know that in Berlin women from all parts of the world have banded themselves together to demand political freedom. I rejoice in the presence of these reporters, and instead of excluding them from our meetings let us help them to all the information we can and ask them to give it the widest publicity."

This won the battle for the reporters, who gave her rousing applause, and the news flashed over the wires was sympathetic, dignified, and abundant. It told the world of the formation of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance by women from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Norway, and Denmark, "to secure the enfranchisement of women of all nations." It praised the honorary president, Susan B. Anthony, and the American women who took over the leadership of this international venture, Carrie Chapman Catt, the president, and Rachel Foster Avery, corresponding secretary.

To celebrate the occasion, German suffragists called a public mass meeting, and Susan, eager to rejoice with them, was surprised to find members of the International Council disgruntled and accusing the International Woman Suffrage Alliance of stealing their thunder and casting the dark shadow of woman suffrage over their conference. To placate them and restore harmony, she stayed away from this public meeting, but she could not control the demand for her presence.

"Where is Susan B. Anthony?" were the first words spoken as the mass meeting opened. Then immediately the audience rose and burst into cheers which continued without a break for ten minutes. Anna Howard Shaw there on the platform and deeply moved by this tribute to Aunt Susan, later described how she felt: "Every second of that time I seemed to see Miss Anthony alone in her hotel room, longing with all her big heart to be with us, as we longed to have her.... Afterwards, when we burst in upon her and told her of the great demonstration, the mere mention of her name had caused, her lips quivered and her brave old eyes filled with tears."

The next morning her "girls" brought her the Berlin newspapers, translating for her the report of the meeting and these heart-warming lines, "The Americans call her 'Aunt Susan.' She is our 'Aunt Susan' too."

This was but a foretaste of her reception throughout her stay in Berlin. To the International Council, she was "Susan B. Anthony of the World," the woman of the hour, whom all wanted to meet. Every time she entered the conference hall, the audience rose and remained standing until she was seated. Every mention of her name brought forth cheers. The many young women, acting as ushers, were devoted to her and eager to serve her. They greeted her by kissing her hand. Embarrassed at first by such homage, she soon responded by kissing them on the cheek.

The Empress Victoria Augusta, receiving the delegates in the Royal Palace, singled out Susan, and instead of following the custom of kissing the Empress's hand, Susan bowed as she would to any distinguished American, explaining that she was a Quaker and did not understand the etiquette of the court. The Empress praised Susan's great work, and unwilling to let such an opportunity slip by, Susan offered the suggestion that Emperor William who had done so much to build up his country might now wish to raise the status of German women. To this the Empress replied with a smile, "The gentlemen are very slow to comprehend this great movement."

When the talented Negro, Mary Church Terrell, addressing the International Council in both German and French, received an ovation, Susan's cup of joy was filled to the brim, for she glimpsed the bright promise of a world without barriers of sex or race.

The newspapers welcomed her home, and in her own comfortable sitting room she read Rochester's greeting in the Democrat and Chronicle, "There are woman suffragists and anti-suffragists, but all Rochester people, irrespective of opinion ... are Anthony men and women. We admire and esteem one so single-minded, earnest and unselfish, who, with eighty-four years to her credit, is still too busy and useful to think of growing old."

Her happiness over this welcome was clouded, however, by the serious illness of her brother Daniel, and she and Mary hurried to Kansas to see him. Two months later he passed away. Now only she and Mary were left of all the large Anthony family. Without Daniel, the world seemed empty. His strength of character, independence, and sympathy with her work had comforted and encouraged her all through her life. A fearless editor, a successful businessman, a politician with principles, he had played an important role in Kansas, and proud of him, she cherished the many tributes published throughout the country.

Courageously she now picked up the threads of her life. Her precious National American Woman Suffrage Association was out of her hands, but she still had the History of Woman Suffrage to distribute, and it gave her a great sense of accomplishment to hand on to future generations this record of women's struggle for freedom.

Missing the stimulous of work with her "girls," she took more and more pleasure in the company of William and Mary Gannett of the First Unitarian Church, whose liberal views appealed to her strongly. She liked to have young people about her and followed the lives of all her nieces and nephews with the greatest interest, spurring on their ambitions and helping finance their education. The frequent visits of "Niece Lucy" were a great joy during these years, as was the nearness of "Niece Anna O," who married and settled in Rochester. The young Canadian girl, Anna Dann, had become almost indispensable to her and to Mary, as companion, secretary, and nurse, and her marriage left a void in the household. Anna Dann was married at 17 Madison Street by Anna Howard Shaw with Susan beaming upon her like a proud grandmother.

Longing to see one more state won for suffrage, Susan carefully followed the news from the field, looking hopefully to California and urging her "girls" to keep hammering away there in spite of defeats. Her eyes were also on the Territory of Oklahoma, where a constitution was being drafted preparatory to statehood. "The present bill for the new state," she wrote Anna Howard Shaw, in December 1904, "is an insult to women of Oklahoma, such as has never been perpetrated before. We have always known that women were in reality ranked with idiots and criminals, but it has never been said in words that the state should ... restrict or abridge the suffrage ... on account of illiteracy, minority, sex, conviction of felony, mental condition, etc.... We must fight this bill to the utmost...."

The brightest spot in the West was Oregon, where suffrage had been defeated in 1900 by only 2,000 votes. In June 1905, when the National American Association held its first far western convention in Portland during the Lewis and Clark Exposition, Susan could not keep away, although she had never expected to go over the mountains again. As she traveled to Portland with Mary and a hundred or more delegates in special cars, she recalled her many long tiring trips through the West to carry the message of woman suffrage to the frontier. In comparison, this was a triumphal journey, showing her, as nothing else could, what her work had accomplished. Greeted at railroad stations along the way by enthusiastic crowds, showered with flowers and gifts, she stood on the back platform of the train with her "girls," shaking hands, waving her handkerchief, and making an occasional speech.

Presiding over the opening session of the Portland convention, standing in a veritable garden of flowers which had been presented to her, she remarked with a droll smile, "This is rather different from the receptions I used to get fifty years ago.... I am thankful for this change of spirit which has come over the American people."

On Woman's Day, she was chosen to speak at the unveiling of the statue of Sacajawea, the Indian woman who had led Lewis and Clark through the dangerous mountain passes to the Pacific, winning their gratitude and their praise. In the story of Sacajawea who had been overlooked by the government when every man in the Lewis and Clark expedition had been rewarded with a large tract of land, Susan saw the perfect example of man's thoughtless oversight of the valuable services of women. Looking up at the bronze statue of the Indian woman, her papoose on her back and her arm outstretched to the Pacific, Susan said simply, "This is the first statue erected to a woman because of deeds of daring.... This recognition of the assistance rendered by a woman in the discovery of this great section of the country is but the beginning of what is due." Then, with the sunlight playing on her hair and lighting up her face, she appealed to the men of Oregon for the vote. "Next year," she reminded them, "the men of this proud state, made possible by a woman, will decide whether women shall at last have the rights in it which have been denied them so many years. Let men remember the part women have played in its settlement and progress and vote to give them these rights which belong to every citizen."

Reporters were at Susan's door, when she returned to Rochester, for comments on ex-President Cleveland's tirade against clubwomen and woman suffrage in the popular Ladies' Home Journal. "Pure fol-de-rol," she told them, adding testily, "I would think that Grover Cleveland was about the last person to talk about the sanctity of the home and woman's sphere." This was good copy for Republican newspapers and they made the most of it, as women throughout the country added their protests to Susan's. A popular jingle of the day ran, "Susan B. Anthony, she took quite a fall out of Grover C."

Susan, however, had something far more important on her mind than fencing with Grover Cleveland—an interview with President Theodore Roosevelt. Here was a man eager to right wrongs, to break monopolies, to see justice done to the Negro, a man who talked of a "square deal" for all, and yet woman suffrage aroused no response in him.

In November 1905, she undertook a trip to Washington for the express purpose of talking with him. The year before, at a White House reception, he had singled her out to stand at his side in the receiving line. She looked for the same friendliness now. Memorandum in hand, she plied him with questions which he carefully evaded, but she would not give up.

"Mr. Roosevelt," she earnestly pleaded, "this is my principle request. It is almost the last request I shall ever make of anybody. Before you leave the Presidential chair recommend to Congress to submit to the Legislatures a Constitutional Amendment which will enfranchise women, and thus take your place in history with Lincoln, the great emancipator. I beg of you not to close your term of office without doing this."

To this he made no response, and trying once more to wring from him some slight indication of sympathy for her cause, she added, "Mr. President, your influence is so great that just one word from you in favor of woman suffrage would give our cause a tremendous impetus."

"The public knows my attitude," he tersely replied. "I recommended it when Governor of New York."

"True," she acknowledged, "but that was a long time ago. Our enemies say that was the opinion of your younger years and that since you have been President you have never uttered one word that could be construed as an endorsement."

"They have no cause to think I have changed my mind," he suavely replied as he bade her good-bye. In the months that followed he gave her no sign that her interview had made the slightest impression.

One of the most satisfying honors bestowed on Susan during these last years was the invitation to be present at Bryn Mawr College in 1902 for the unveiling of a bronze portrait medallion of herself. Bryn Mawr, under its brilliant young president, M. Carey Thomas, herself a pioneer in establishing the highest standards for women's education, showed no such timidity as Vassar where neither Susan nor Elizabeth Cady Stanton had been welcome as speakers. At Bryn Mawr, Susan talked freely and frankly with the students, and best of all, became better acquainted with M. Carey Thomas and her enterprising friend, Mary Garrett of Baltimore, who was using her great wealth for the advancement of women. She longed to channel their abilities to woman suffrage and a few years later arranged for a national convention in their home city, Baltimore, appealing to them to make it an outstanding success.

Arriving in Baltimore in January 1906 for this convention, Susan was the honored guest in Mary Garrett's luxurious home. Frail and ill, she was unable to attend all the sessions, as in the past, but she was present at the highlight of this very successful convention, the College Evening arranged by M. Carey Thomas. With women's colleges still resisting the discussion of woman suffrage and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae refusing to support it, the College Evening marked the first public endorsement of this controversial subject by college women. Up to this time the only encouraging sign had been the formation in 1900 of the College Equal Suffrage League by two young Radcliffe alumnae, Maud Wood Park and Inez Haynes Irwin. Now here, in conservative Baltimore, college presidents and college faculty gave woman suffrage their blessing, and Susan listened happily as distinguished women, one after another, allied themselves to the cause: Dr. Mary E. Woolley, who as president of Mt. Holyoke was developing Mary Lyons' pioneer seminary into a high ranking college; Lucy Salmon, Mary A. Jordan, and Mary W. Calkins of the faculties of Vassar, Smith, and Wellesley; Eva Perry Moore, a trustee of Vassar and president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, with whom she dared differ on this subject; Maud Wood Park, representing the younger generation in the College Equal Suffrage League; and last of all, the president of Bryn Mawr, M. Carey Thomas. After expressing her gratitude to the pioneers of this great movement, Miss Thomas turned to Susan and said, "To you, Miss Anthony, belongs by right, as to no other woman in the world's history, the love and gratitude of all women in every country of the civilized globe. We your daughters in spirit, rise up today and call you blessed.... Of such as you were the lines of the poet Yeats written:

'They shall be remembered forever, They shall be alive forever, They shall be speaking forever, The people shall hear them forever.'"

During the thundering applause, Susan came forward to respond, her face alight, and the audience rose. "If any proof were needed of the progress of the cause for which I have worked, it is here tonight," she said simply. "The presence on the stage of these college women, and in the audience of all those college girls who will someday be the nation's greatest strength, tell their story to the world. They give the highest joy and encouragement to me...."

During her visit at the home of Mary Garrett, Susan spoke freely with her and with M. Carey Thomas of the needs of the National American Association, particularly of the Standing Fund of $100,000 of which she had dreamed and which she had started to raise. Now, like an answer to prayer, Mary Garrett and President Thomas, fresh from their successful money-raising campaigns for Johns Hopkins and Bryn Mawr, offered to undertake a similar project for woman suffrage, proposing to raise $60,000—$12,000 a year for the next five years.

"As we sat at her feet day after day between sessions of the convention, listening to what she wanted us to do to help women and asking her questions," recalled M. Carey Thomas in later years, "I realized that she was the greatest person I had ever met. She seemed to me everything that a human being could be—a leader to die for or to live for and follow wherever she led."