In 1890 the amendment had received 35 per cent. of the whole vote cast upon it; in 1898 it received 77 per cent. The figures show unmistakably that the falling off in the size of the vote was almost wholly among the opponents.[1]
Organization: After the defeat of the suffrage amendment in 1890 a more thorough State organization was effected and a convention has been held every year since. That of 1891 met in Huron and Mrs. Irene G. Adams was elected president. Soon afterwards she compiled a leaflet showing the unjust laws for women which disgraced the statute books.
In 1892 a successful annual meeting took place at Hastings and Mrs. Mary A. Groesbeck was made president. In September, 1893, the convention was held in Aberdeen during the Grain Palace Exposition. The State president and the president elect, Mrs. Emma A. Cranmer, had charge of the program for Woman’s Day, and Mrs. Clara Hoffman (Mo.) gave addresses in the afternoon and evening.
In 1894 Mrs. Anna R. Simmons was elected president and continued in office for six years. This year $100 was sent to aid the Kansas campaign. During 1894 and ’95 she made twenty public addresses and held ten parlor meetings. At the convention in Pierre in September, 1895, she was able to report fifty clubs organized with 700 members. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee, was present at this ¢onvention. :
Active work was continued throughout 1896 and 1897, when the submission of a suffrage amendment was secured. The year of 1898 was given up to efforts for its success. Mrs. C. C. King established and carried on almost entirely at her own expense the South Dakota Messenger, a campaign paper which was of the greatest service. The State convention met in Mitchell September 28-30. Miss Elizabeth Upham Yates (Me.) came as representative of the National Association and gave two addresses to large audiences. The following October a conference of National and State workers was held at Sioux Falls, the former represented by Mrs. Chapman Catt, the Rev. Henrietta G. Moore
- ↑ Petitions have been presented to several Legislatures to grant Municipal Suffrage by statute but a bill for this purpose has been brought to a vote only once, in 1893, when it was passed by the Senate, 27 ayes, 11 noes; and defeated in the House by only one vote.
