sixteen had become thus affliated, representing a membership of about 1,125,000 women.
An International Council also was organized in 1888 to be composed of similar National Councils in various countries and to meet in a Congress every five years. At the close of the century fourteen National Councils had affiliated with the International, representing a membership of 6,000,000. This is not only immeasurably larger than any other association of women but is exceeded in size by very few organizations of men, and its two great Congresses — during the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and at London in 1899 — were occasions of world-wide interest and value.
Each of the more than one hundred national associations of women in the United States holds its annual, biennial or triennial convention in some one of the large cities, which is attended by delegates from all parts of the country. The sessions are presided over by a woman, discussions are carried on with due attention to parliamentary usage, a large amount of business is transacted with system and accuracy, and in every respect these meetings compare favorably with those conducted by men after centuries of experience. They are treated with the greatest respect by the newspapers which vie with each other in publishing pictures of the delegates, their addresses and extended and complimentary reports of the proceedings. The character of these national organizations, the scope of their objects and the extent of their achievements can in no way be so strikingly illustrated as by giving a list of the most important.[1]
The International Council of Women was organized March 31, 1888, in Washington, D. C., "to unite the women of all the countries in the world for the promotion of co-operative internationalism through the abatement of that prejudice which springs from ig-
- ↑ The National Suffrage Association is not included in the list, as twenty-one chapters of this volume are devoted to its work. It was the intention to give the name of the president of each organization, but as this officer is so frequently changed it seemed best to abandon this plan save in special instances. The figures given are for 1900 with but few exceptions. The church missionary societies not mentioned here, and some other national bodies, were appealed to several times for statistics without response. The list, however, includes all of any considerable size and importance. It did not seem that it would represent the true proportions of these associations if arranged alphabetically or according to date of organization, therefore the editors have used their individual judgment in placing them.
