The Part Taken by Women in American History/The Woman's National Press Association
The Woman's National Press Association.
The Woman's National Press Association is the oldest organization of its kind in the world and one of the earliest of women's clubs. The Association is national having members in nearly every state in the Union; also in England and the Philippine Islands.
The first president was Mrs. Emily Briggs, "Olivia." At the close of her term Mrs. M. D. Lincoln was made president, followed by Mary S. Lockwood, Mrs. Hannah B. Sperry, Mrs. E. S. Cromwell, Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood and Mrs. Peeler. The club has a membership of over one hundred. It has had such names among its members as Mrs. Lippincott, "Grace Greenwood"; Miss Mary F. Foster; Mrs. E. M. S. Marble; Mrs. Clara B. Colby; Mrs. E. D. N. Southworth; Mrs. Olive Logan; Miss Clara Barton. Prominent speakers have addressed the association including such names as Hon. Theodore Roosevelt; Dr. William T. Powell, Geologist; Charles M. Pepper; Dr. Sheldon Jackson; C. K. Berryman, Cartoonist; Lillian Whiting; the late Professor Wm. Harkness; Professor Robert T. Hill; Dr. B. L. Whitman; Hon. Frank Mondell; Frank G. Carpenter; Ainsworth R. Spofford; Mrs. May Wright Sewail; Mrs. Ellen M. Henrotin; members of the United States Congress and many prominent journalists. In December, 1894, the Woman's National Press Association issued the call for the formation of a federated organization of Women's Clubs in the District of Columbia.