History of Woman Suffrage/Volume 6/Chapter 23

 

CHAPTER XXIII.

MISSISSIPPI.^[1]

From 1899 to 1906 no State convention of the Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association was held. Mrs. Hala Hammond Butt, who was elected president at its second annual convention in Clarksdale in 1899, acted as president during this time but the editing of a weekly newspaper in addition to other duties left her little time for its trying demands at this early stage of its existence. Among the few other women consecrated in their hearts to woman suffrage some were barred from leadership by ill health, some by family cares, while others were absent from the State most of the time. No definite progress, therefore, was made during the early years of the century.

In 1901 Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, gave addresses in six cities in the State, arrangements for which were made by local suffragists, and a great deal of interest was aroused. In 1903 a business conference was held in Jackson, at which Mrs. Butt and three other women were present, to consider whether anything could be done for the cause of woman suffrage. In 1904 enrollment cards were distributed in a limited and unsystematic way, letters were sent to members of the Legislature, State officials and others and literature was distributed. An inspiring feature was the visit of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president at large of the National Association, who spoke in three cities.

Early in December, 1906, Miss Belle Kearney of Flora, formerly organizer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, at this time a public lecturer, returned from an absence in Europe and on the 21st, in response to a call sent out by her, a meeting was held in the parlor of the Edwards House in Jackson. Those in attendance were Miss Kearney, Mrs. Butt, Mrs. MISSISSIPPI 327 Edward Sloan and Dr. Delia Randall. By invitation Dr. William La Prade of the First Methodist Church opened the meeting with prayer, after which he retired leaving these four women to re- organize the State Suffrage Association. Mrs. Nellie Nugent Somerville of Greenville was in touch with the conference by telegraph and Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson of Jackson, physically unable to attend, received reports from the meeting at her telephone. In this historic hour the breath of a new life was blown into the expiring association and from that time it grew and thrived. The officers elected were Miss Kearney, president ; Mrs. Somerville, vice-president; Mrs. Thompson, treasurer. During the following spring Miss Kearney, lecturing in the State on sociological subjects, spoke unfailingly for suffrage and wherever possible organized clubs. Press work was taken up earnestly by the newly elected superintendent of that department, Mrs. Thompson. All of the over two hundred editors in the State were interviewed by letter in regard to their attitude towards woman suffrage and space was requested for suffrage items. Twenty-one agreed to publish them, only two openly declining. Among the friendly editors were L. Pink Smith of the Greenville Democrat, J. R. Oliphant of the Poplarville Free Press, Frank R. Birdsall of the Yazoo Sentinel, C. E. Glassco of the Cleveland Enterprise, Joseph Norwood of the Magnolia Gazette, James Fan Ik of the Greene County Herald. Adverse articles were carefully answered and private letters t, the enemy quietly reasoned with and in most cases verted. News bulletins furnished by the national press de- partment were u>ed but most of the matter sent out was pre- ! at home in the belief that an ounce of Mississippi was worth ind of Massachusetts. Articles published in leaflet form and ibnted ] ' were written by Mrs. Somerville, Miss Kearney. Mrs. Thompson, the Rev. Thomas K. Mellen and the If. Walter Keatherstnn, Methodist ministers. One of the valuable contributions was The Legal Status of Mississippi Women, by Robert Campbell, an attorney of Greenville. In November. 10,07. a conference lasting five days was held at in the home of Charles II. Thompson, a devoted suf and his wife, Lily Wilkinson Thompson. Among those HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE attending were Miss Kearney, Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Harriet B. Kells, president of the State W. C. T. U. and a life-long suf- fragist; Miss Laura Clay of Kentucky and Miss Kate Gordon of Louisiana. The advisability of attempting to have a woman suffrage measure introduced in the next session of the Legislature was considered. Two men besides the host appeared at this conference, a reporter, who regarded the meeting as something of a joke, and the Hon. R. H. Thompson of Jackson, an eminent lawyer, who came to offer sympathetic advice. Visits were made to the Governor, James K. Vardaman, and other State officials ; to the Hinds county legislators who had recently been elected and to others. Most of these gentlemen were polite but bored and it was decided to defer legislative action. When two months later Governor Vardaman sent his farewell message to the Legis- lature he mentioned woman suffrage as one of the questions "pressing for solution in a National Constitutional Convention." In the spring of 1908 the State convention was held in the Governor's Mansion at Jackson, Governor and Mrs. Edmund Favor Noel giving the parlors for the meeting. Six clubs were reported and State members at twelve places. Three or four women from outside of Jackson were present, Mrs. Pauline Alston Gark of Clarksdale having come from the greatest dis- tance, and about fourteen were in attendance. The officers elected were: President, Mrs. Somerville; vice-presidents, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Fannie Clark, Mrs. Kells ; corresponding secre- tary, Mrs. Pauline Clark ; recording secretary, Dr. Randall ; treasurer, Mrs. Sarah Summers Wilkinson. Superintendents were appointed for Press, Legislative, Enrollment, Industrial, Educational and Bible Study departments. In the spring of 1909, the convention was held in the ladies' parlor of the Capitol at Jackson. It lasted two days, a public evening session being held in the Senate Chamber, at which Miss Kate Gordon, corresponding secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, told of the work of the Era Club of New Orleans; Miss Jean Gordon, factory inspector for that city, spoke in behalf of child labor regulations and Mrs. Thomp- son gave a report of the press work, which had grown to such proportions that it was considered very significant of advance in MISSISSIPPI 329 suffrage sentiment throughout the State. The Rev. George Whitfield, a venerable Baptist minister, came from the neighbor* ing town of Clinton and conducted devotional exercises and gave a talk on woman's position from a Biblical standpoint. R. K. Jayne of Jackson, an early suffragist, also spoke. At this time dues-paying members were reported from seventeen towns. Mrs. Somerville was re-elected president. The annual convention was held in Greenville in 1910. Dr. Shaw and Miss Ray Costello of England made addresses ; Judge E. N. Thomas of Greenville presided at one of the evening meetings ; John L. Hebron, a Delta planter and afterwards State Senator, made an earnest speech of endorsement. It was reported that hundreds of letters were written and the association had gained a hold in fifty places, ranging from rural neighborhoods and plantation settlements to the largest towns. Frederick Sullens, editor of the Jackson Daily News, had given space for a weekly suffrage column edited by Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. J. C. nicy edited a similar column in the Greenville Democrat. Mrs. Madge Quin Fugler supplied five papers and Mrs. Mont- gomery two. Miss Ida Ward of Greenville wrote articles for the papers of that town and Mrs. Mohlenhoff edited a column in the Cleveland Enterprise. Among other papers publishing suffrage material were the McComb City Journal and the Enterprise and the M a (idzcttc. From the press superintendent there had "lit 1.700 articles, ranging in length from a paragraph to a half p.i-v. many of them written by her, and they were given pnnnimnrr in special editions. Ten copies of the Woman's '.// which came from the national press department for years t'nrwank-d to college, town and State libraries and to editors. H"v far and deep the influence of those Journals reached is imputation. In the fall of 1910 the State association joined the Tennessee 1 Suffrage Association in a booth at the Tri-State Fair in

interesting feature was the press exhibit, con- 

f a width of canvass many yards long on which had <<! clipping from Mi^Nsippi newspapers, suffrage argu- Mc ("inimnt. Tin- annual convention was held in i -HI. Miss Gordon and Judge Thomas spoke VOL. Yl 33 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE at the evening session. Editor C. E. Glasco gave an earnest talk at a morning session. The department chairmen brought encour- aging reports of their work. A letter was read from Colonel Clay Sharkey of Jackson, which later was published in leaflet form. The State meeting was held at Flora in April, 1912. Mrs. Judith Hyams Douglas, president of the Era Club of New Orleans, and Omar Garwood of Colorado, secretary of the National Men's League for Woman Suffrage, were the principal speakers. The president, Mrs. Somerville, recommended that the various State organizations of women be invited to unite with the suffrage association in forming a central committee to secure such legislation as should be agreed upon by all. This was after- wards accepted by the Federation of Women's Clubs and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Resolutions were passed, regretting the retirement from the presidency of Mrs. Somer- ville, to whose good generalship during the past four years the success of the association was in a large part due. Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson was elected president. In response to the call to take part in the parade in Wash- ington March 3, 1913, Mrs. Avery Harrell Thompson, temporarily residing there, was put in charge and with her husband, Harmon L. Thompson, arranged for a handsome float, on which Miss Fannie May Witherspoon, daughter of the member of Congress, represented Mississippi. Mr. Gibbs, a Mississippian, carried the purple and gold silk banner of the State Suffrage Association and four other young Mississippians, Judge Allen Thompson and his brother, Harmon, Walter and Edward Dent, marched beside the float, preforming valiant volunteer police duty when it became necessary. During this year the enrolled membership increased four-fold. Quarterly reports, nearly a thousand, were printed for the first time instead of written. A letter from the Irish Women's League of Dublin and one from the English Women's Equal Rights Union to the State president indicated the world- wide spirit of fraternalism which embraced even Mississippi's modest organization. Good work was done by the new superin- tendent of press work, Mrs. Dent. Not only did editors by this time willingly accept material but some of them wrote favorable editorials. The Yazoo City Herald, edited by N. A. Mott, was MISSISSIPPI 331 a new recruit. The Purple and White, a Millsaps College paper, was supplied with suffrage material by a bright senior, Janie Linfield. For the first time suffrage headquarters were maintained at the State Fair by the Equity League of Jackson. Furnishings were loaned by Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Warren from their beautiful home "Fairview." A rest room for mothers and babies was provided, other tired visitors were also welcomed and the suf- frage booth was the most popular place on the grounds. For the first time the association was invited to take part on Woman's Pay at the State Fair, when representatives from the women's State organizations held a joint meeting, and the president, Mrs. Thompson, spoke for the suffragists. Letters were sent to the Mississippi members of Congress urging them to vote for the Federal Suffrage Amendment and to President Wilson, pleading for his favorable consideration. Motion pictures were utilized in three ways suffrage plays were shown, local clubs selling tickets received a part of the proceeds and suffrage slogans were thrown on the slides between pictures. The State convention was held in the Senate Chamber of the new Capitol at Jackson in April, 1913. At the evening sessions all seats on the floor were taken, the galleries filled and chairs brought from committee rooms to accommodate the audiences. Music was furnished by the Chaminade Club of Jackson. Mayor Swepson I. Taylor gave the address of welcome. Others who ^poke were Mrs. Fannie S. Clark, Mrs. E. T. Edmonds, presi- dent of the Equity League, and Mrs. Royden-Douglas, preside 1 ! it of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. In her president's address Mrs. Thompson recommended that the association ask the Legislature to submit to the voters a State constitutional amendment giving women the ballot, and this was unanimously adopted. The Rev. E. T. Edmonds of the First Christian Church of Jackson spoke on Woman Suffrage in New Zealand, where he had been a resident. Letters to the president and secretary from U. S. Senators John Sharp Williams and James K Vardaman were read in reply to appeals that they r the Federal Amendment. Senator Vardaman said that when the amendment came up lie 33 2 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE would "be glad to vote for it." Senator Williams said that he thought "the federal government ought not attempt to control a State in the exercise of this privilege," that he favored a "white woman's primary, in which the women of the State might say whether they wanted the ballot or not" and that he thought women just as competent to use it as men but did not approve of "forcing it upon them." He was "inclined to woman suffrage" and believed that "with safeguards it might be made a bulwark of white supremacy in the State." The large reception planned by Governor and Mrs. Earl Brewer had to be omitted because of the sudden illness of Mrs. Brewer. On account of home demands Mrs. Thompson declined re-election and Mrs. Dent was made president. Under Mrs. Dent's administration the work prospered and advanced in popular favor. In the fall "woman suffrage day" was for the first time on the calendar of the State Fair. Head- quarters were again maintained, for which space tkree times as large as that used the previous year was occupied. Mrs. Dent, a successful cotton planter, brought a bale of cotton from her plantation and presented it to the headquarters, where it afforded a unique platform for the speakers. Women from different parts of the State came to act as hostesses and take part in the speaking. This year a college contest was conducted by Mrs. Thompson, who offered a gold medal for the best argument for woman suffrage written by a college student of the State. Six of the largest colleges were represented and the medal was won by Mrs. Pearl Powell, of the Industrial Institute and College. In April, 1914, the State convention was again held in Jack- son. Among the speakers were Rabbi Brill of Meridian and Mrs. Alex Y. Scott of Memphis. Mrs. Dent was re-elected president. In the fall for the first time there was a suffrage section in the parade that marked the opening of the State Fair. Six women, gowned in white and wearing yellow silk Votes for Women badges marched Mrs. Ella O. Biggs and Miss Sadie Goeber bearing a banner inscribed Women vote in twelve States, why not in Mississippi? followed by Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Avery Harrell Thompson, Mrs. Sarah C. Watts and Mrs. R, W, Pur fey and they were generously cheered along the way. MISSISSIPPI 333 In the spring of 1915 the State convention was held in Green- ville. Dr. Shaw was a guest, stopping on her way to Jackson, where under the auspices of the Equity League she spoke in the House of Representatives to a large audience, many standing throughout her address, which made a profound impression. The convention was well attended. Some of the interesting features were "an hour for men" presided over by Congressman B. G. Humphries, with excellent speeches; a five o'clock tea, given by the Belvidere Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, and the presentation of the motion picture play, Your Girl and Mine. Miss Pauline V. Orr was elected president. Miss Orr served as president for two years, widely extending the in- fluence of the association through the hundreds of young women who came under her instruction at the Industrial Institute and College, where for many years she held the chair of English. The annual convention was held in 1916 in the city hall in Meridian, where nineteen years before the State Woman Suf- frage Association was organized, and Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs of Alabama, auditor of the National Association, made an address on the opening evening. During the following year eight new leagues were formed. The convention met in Stark- ville in April, 1917, and addresses were made by Dr. Shaw, Miss Margaret Hamilton Erwin, president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association ; Mrs. Walter McNab Miller, first vice- president of the National Association; Mrs. W. H. Price, presi- dent of the Mississippi Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Mrs. Edward F. McGehee, president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Miss Orr, the president, declining re-election was succeeded by Mrs. McGehee. The Mates had now entered the war and the suffragists began to concentrate on war work. As chairman of the Woman's Committee, Mississippi l)ivi>imi of the National Council of De- fense, she was able to help popularize woman suffrage. 1 In April, 191 <S, a one-day coiitVrence was held in the Capitol 1 Besides thosr following served on the official board: Mrs. Jimniie Andrews Lipscomb, Mm. Nella Lawrence Lee, Miss Mattie Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Annie Kinkead Dmt. Mrs. Ella O. Biggs, Mrs. Alma Dorsey Birdull, Mrs. Durrant, Mrs. Marshall Tucker, Mrs. Mary I'owcll Crane, Miss Ethel Clagett, Mrs. C. C. Miller, Mrs. T. P. Buntin, Miss Estelle Crane, Miss Nannie Herndon Rice. 334 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE at Jackson, when Mrs. Marion B. Trotter of Winona was elected president and brought a great deal of energy and enthusiasm into her office. No convention was held in 1919 but at the close of the meeting of the State Federation of Women's Clubs in Clarks- dale in November a conference of the suffragists present was called. It was there decided to organize to support the ratification of the Federal Amendment, which had been submitted by Con- gress and was to come before the Legislature the following January. Mrs. B. F. Saunders of Swan Lake, retiring president of the federation, was made chairman of the Ratification Com- mittee; Mrs. Trotter, treasurer; Mrs. Somerville chairman of Petition and Press Work; Mrs. McClurg chairman of Finance. By request the National Association sent into the State its organizers, Miss Watkins of Arkansas and Miss Peshakova of New York. Mrs. Cunningham, president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and a national worker, also came to assist. Petitions were circulated, leaflets published and distributed, news- papers enlisted and legislators systematically interviewed. The organization thus speedily effected worked during the session of 1920. In April of this year the convention of the State Federa- tion, held in Gulfport, closed with a "suffrage luncheon," a bril- liant affair attended by 125 prominent men and women. Speeches were made by the Hon. Barney Eaton, a lawyer of Gulfport; Mrs. S. P. Covington, its president, and others. The State League of Women Voters was organized at this time with Miss Blanche Rogers chairman. It had been the hope for years to have an endorsement of woman suffrage from the Federation of Women's Clubs, a strong and popular organization numbering over 3,000 of the State's leading women. During its annual meeting in 1916 Miss Orr, president of the State Suffrage Association, had introduced a favorable resolution and with Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. J. W. Mc- Grath of Canton, Mrs. William Baldwin of Columbus and Mrs. W. S. Lott of Meridian led the fight for suffrage. Mrs. William R. Wright of Jackson headed the opposition, which asked for the postponement of the question until the next year and won. At the next convention, held in Meridian in 1917, the resolution was introduced by Miss Ann Rothenberg (now Mrs. RosenMISSISSIPPI 335 baum) of Meridian and passed almost unanimously. In 1919 at the annual meeting held in Clarksdale, during the presidency of Mrs. Saunders, a resolution endorsing the ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment was carried with but one dis- senting vote, that of Mrs. Lizzie George Henderson of Green- wood, daughter of the late U. S. Senator J. Z. George. When the League of Women Voters was formed the next year Mrs. Henderson was among the first to join it. In 1919, the State Teachers' Association passed unanimously a resolution endorsing woman suffrage introduced by Professor Frederick Davis Mellen of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, the son of the late Reverend Thomas L. Mellen, one of Mississippi's earliest suffragists. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union here as elsewhere was a great school for women, teaching them the need of the ballot, and the majority of its members were suffragists but all through the years the minority, who did not want the question brought into the Union, overruled their wishes. Mrs. Harriet B. Kells, the president for many years and a lifelong suffragist, was not able to overcome this situation and it never endorsed woman suffrage. There never has been any organized opposition among Missis- sippi women. During the session of the Legislature in 1920 there was an open attempt to organize opposition to ratification of the Federal Amendment but it failed. LEGISLATIVE ACTION. After the suffrage association in 1913 decided to ask for the submission of an amendment to the State constitution to enfranchise women the preliminary work of interviewing legislators and distributing appropriate literature was conducted by the chairman of the Legislative Committee, Mrs. Nellie Nugent Somerville, the president, Mrs. Annie Kin- kead Dent, and other members. The president at her own ex- pense sent the Woman's Journal and other literature to all legis- lators for three months. The concurrent resolution asking for the submission was introduced in the House Jan. 9, 1914, by N. A. Mott of Yazoo county. Senator Hall Sanders of Talla- hatchie county offered it in the Senate three days later. The I tallM ( 'onunittce on Constitution, to which the hill was referred, ted a hearing, at which speeches were made by Mrs. Monroe HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE McClurg, Miss Belle Kearney, Mrs. Somerville, Miss Kate Gordon (La.), Judge Allen Thompson and Colonel Clay Sharkey. The committee reported unfavorably by a majority of one. A minority report was made by the chairman, Henry A. Minor of Noxubee county, and others. Representative Mott offered a resolution inviting the women to present their case in the House the next day, which was carried by a close vote about one o'clock in the afternoon and the hearing was set for ten the next morning. The Daily News had gone to press and the Clarion Ledger, a morning paper, had some time before for- bidden its columns to any news or notices in any way favoring woman suffrage or advertising it. The president of the Equity League of Jackson, Mrs. J. W. Tucker, with her assistants, announced the hearing over the telephone, the legislators spread the story and when the women who were to speak filed into the House on that memorable morn- ing of January 21 they found all available space occupied and the galleries overflowing. An invitation was sent to the Senators to come over but so many had already deserted their posts for the House that there was not a quorum to vote on the invitation. Hilary Quin of Hinds county, Speaker of the House, presided, introducing the speakers and extending every possible courtesy. They were Mrs. McClurg, Miss Kearney, Miss Orr, Miss Gordon, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Dent and Mrs. Somerville. The speeches made so profound an impression that hardly had the last word been spoken when there came a loud and insistent call from the enemies for adjournment. The bill was presented next day. Emmett Cavette of Noxubee county strongly championed it and Speaker Quin left the chair to make a speech in its favor. Repre- sentative S. Joe Owen of Union county vigorously led the fight against it and it was lost by 80 noes, 42 ayes. In 1916 the women's organizations united in a bill making women eligible to serve as county school superintendents and on the boards of educational and benevolent institutions. During the session of 1918 the suffrage association being in the midst of war work took no initiative in behalf of legislation but Senator Earl Richardson of Neshoba county on his own account intro- duced in the Senate a concurrent resolution to amend the State MISSISSIPPI 337 constitution. The members of the Equity League gave assist- ance; Mrs. Isaac Reese of Memphis was invited to come to the Capitol and on the day the vote was taken she and Miss Kearney made brief speeches before the Senate. On motion of Senator P. E. Carothers the question was submitted without debate, which a disappointment to its friends, H. H. Casteel of Holmes county declaring that he had remained up nearly all of the night before preparing his speech. The vote was a tie, 21 to 21. The House took no action. Through the years the officers and members of the State and local suffrage associations united with those of other women's organizations to obtain laws. The age of consent was raised first to 12, then to 16 and in 1914 to 18; better child labor laws were secured; the law permitting a father to dispose of the children by will at his death was repealed. It is a fact not generally known that Mississippi was the pioneer State in securing to married women the right to own and dispose of property. This was done by an Act of the Legislature on Feb. 15, 1839. RATIFICATION. Congress submitted the Federal Amendment in June, and the Ratification Committee was organized in Novem- ber. It opened its headquarters in Jackson at the beginning of the legislative session in January, 1920, after having made a whirlwind campaign. At the initial meeting of the committee in Clarksburg there had been great enthusiasm and women gave money as they never had done before. Mrs. B. F. Saunders was made chairman and among those who worked with her in Jackson were Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Trotter, Mrs. Sam Covington, Miss Blanche Rogers, Mrs. Thompson, Miss Kearney, Mrs. Annie Neely and Mrs. Cunningham of Texas. The legislators were matically interviewed, literature distributed, petitions cir- .ted and the press kept supplied with arguments and news. Mrs. Thompson, in charge of the Jackson press, wrote innu- tble articles, and Mrs. Somerville and others contributed to the press work. letters, telegrams and petitions from all over the < urging ratification poured in daily upon both lloiisc-s. Delegations of women came to urge their represent at ives to vote for ratification. Nine influential women came from Landerdale county bringing a petition of 2,100 names of prominent people HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE obtained in a day and a half and begged their representatives to vote for the amendment but not one of them did so. Many of the State's leading newspapers were in favor of ratification. The Daily News of Jackson, in keeping with its policy for years, gave editorial support and generously of its space. The Clarion Ledger, also a Jackson daily, boasted of being the only paper in the State which openly fought ratifica- tion. The editor, Colonel Hiram Henry, a veteran journalist of the State, always bitterly opposed to any form of woman suffrage, began his attack weeks before the Legislature met and daily during the session the pages of his paper reeked with hatred for the cause. The literature of the "antis" was largely copied and extracts from negro journals published in the North were reproduced in glaring headlines, extracts so offensive that had they been used against any cause save that of disfranchised women would have been suppressed. It was through his in- fluence that Mrs. Cola Barr Craig, once a resident of Jackson, and Mrs. James S. Pinckard of Alabama came early in January to organize a branch of what they called the Southern Women's Rejection League. They held a public meeting in the Carnegie library, at which besides the two speakers, there were nineteen women present, many of them the old friends of Mrs. Craig. No one would take even the temporary chairmanship and the attempt to organize failed ignominiously. Not daunted Mr. Henry sent for Miss Kate Gordon of New Orleans, a veteran suffragist who had joined hands with the "antis" in fighting ratification. She was advertised for a speech at the Carnegie library and all legislators were urged to attend. Two legislators and fifteen women were present, six of the latter State workers for ratification. The retiring and incoming State officials were almost to a man outspoken in their advocacy of ratification. Governor Theo- dore G. Bilbo, the retiring Governor, instead of having the clerk of the House read his farewell message, according to time honored custom, delivered it in person. Woman suffrage was its conspicuous feature and after a profound argument for ratification of the Federal Amendment, he closed his remarks with the solemn statement: "Woe to that man who raises his MISSISSIPPI 339 hand against the onward march of this progressive movement !" The newly elected Governor, Lee M. Russell, in his inaugural address, delivered in front of the Capitol to an audience of thousands, devoted more time to woman suffrage than to any other topic, making a clear cut, logical argument for ratification and a powerful plea for the enfranchisement of women. On January 21, W. A. Winter, Representative from Grenada county, offered the following resolution : "Resolved that the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States be and hereby is rejected as an unwarranted, unnecessary and danger- ous interference with the rights reserved to the States, or to the people, in both State and Federal Constitutions. . . ." This came without warning to the friends of ratification and was not referred to a committee but rushed to a vote after Representative Guy W. Mitchell of Lee county had spoken strongly against it. It was carried by a vote of 94 ayes to 25 noes and the announce- ment received with cheers and laughter. Sennett Conner of Cov- ington county was the Speaker of the House whose ruling per- mitted this unparliamentary action. Sent to the Senate the Winter Resolution of Rejection was referred to the Committee on Constitution, of which Senator Minor was chairman. At the meeting of the committee W. B. Mixon of Pike county was authorized to draft a resolution ratify- ing the amendment, to be offered in the Senate as a substitute. This was done and Senators Minor, Mixon and Fred B. Smith made a majority report. This resolution was earnestly advocated by Senators Percy Bell and Walton Shields of Washington county, W. B. Roberts of Bolivar, Fred B. Smith of Union, A. A. Cohn of Lincoln and E. F. Noel of Holmes. It failed of adoption and the Winter resolution was recommitted to the Committee on Constitution, where it remained. In the meantime Senator Mixon had introduced a bill in the Senate giving the right to women to vote in Primary elections and Representative A. J. Whitworth of Pike county a similar one in the 11 In Mississippi a nomination is equivalent to an election. Both bills were defeated. A resolution for a woman suffrage amendment to tin- Slate constitution to be submitted to the voters at the election of November, 1920, passed both 34 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE Houses with very little opposition. During the last three weeks of the session Senator Mixon introduced a bill giving the right of suffrage to women in the event of the ratification of the Federal Amendment by thirty-six Legislatures, thus enabling them to vote in the August primaries, and Representative Whit- worth introduced two bills, one giving suffrage to women in primary elections and the other in general elections, both con- tingent upon ratification. These bills passed without opposition. During the last week of the Legislature Senator Roberts called out of the committe the original Winter Resolution of Rejection and in Committee of the Whole it was amended by striking out the word "reject" and substituting the word "ratify." Thus amended the vote in the Senate stood 21 ayes, 21 noes and Lieutenant Governor H. H. Casteel broke the tie in favor of its adoption. News of the Senate's favorable action spread all over the country in a few hours. Telegrams came pouring in to the Governor and Legislature offering congratulations and appealing to the House to make Mississippi the 36th State to ratify. The Senate substitute was presented to the House the next afternoon, March 31. Representative "Winter moved that the House "do not concur with the Senate Resolution of Ratifica- tion." Immediately there came calls for the vote. Telegrams were on the Speaker's stand from William Jennings Bryan, Homer Cummings, chairman of the Democratic National Com- mittee, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Attorney Gen- eral A. Mitchell Palmer and many other prominent Democrats. A vote was taken as to whether these should be read to the House. Representative E. M. Lane of Smith county, although an opponent of ratification, made an earnest appeal that the courtesy of a hearing should be accorded these national party leaders. A vote of 65 to 32 decided that the telegrams should not be read. Governor Russell had stated that he desired the privilege of the floor to make an appeal in behalf of ratification but this courtesy was denied him. Representatives T. D. Rees of Prentiss county and Walter Sillers of Bolivar spoke in favor of ratifica- tion but were poorly heard so great was the confusion and so loud and insistent the calls for the vote. Representative Mitchell was absent. Dr. Whitworth (author of three suffrage bills at MISSISSIPPI 341 this session) spoke against ratification and while he was speak- ing Representative R. H. Watts of Rankin county interpolated, "I would die and go to hell before I would vote for it." The substitute was defeated by 94 noes, 23 ayes. Thus was banished forever the dream of Mississippi suffragists that the women would receive the ballot from the men of this great State. Speaker Sennett Conner was responsible above every one else for the defeat of ratification. Its chance was weakened by the fact that Mississippi's entire delegation in Congress, including Senators John Sharp Williams and "Pat" Harrison had voted against submitting the Federal Amendment. Did space permit there would be added to the names mentioned in this chapter many others who gave "aid and comfort" to the cause. Among those who never failed when asked to help with financial burdens was the late Major R. W. Millsaps, founder of Millsaps College for men and women. The army of active suffragists was never large. Many women wanted the ballot but comparatively few were under conviction to work for it. To those who did, especially in early, trying days, belongs that indescribable exultation which is the portion of those who help onward a great revolutionary movement for the uplift of the race. The amendment to the State constitution was voted on at the general election in November, 1920, and received 39,186 ayes, 24,296 noes but it was not carried, as the law requires a majority of all the votes cast at the election. As the women were already enfranchised by the Federal Amendment they did not make a campaign for it but as registration is necessary four months be- fore election and the ratification did not take place until two months before this one, they were not able to vote, Mississippi and Georgia being the only two States that denied this privilege.

 

1. The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Lily Wilkinson Thompson, an officer in the State Suffrage Association from its organization until its work was finished.