gates from the Fayette and Kenton county societies met and organized the Kentucky Equal Rights Association. The following officers were elected: President, Miss Clay; vice-presidents, Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick, Mrs. Mary B. Clay; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Eugenia B. Farmer; recording secretary, Miss Anna M. Deane; treasurer, Mrs. Isabella H. Shepard.
The second annual convention was held in the court house at Lexington, Nov. 19-21, 1889, with officers and delegates representing seven counties. The evening speakers were Mrs. Clay, Mrs. Josephine K. Henry and Joseph B. Cottrell, D. D. A committee was appointed, Mrs. Henry, chairman, to present the interests of women to the approaching General Assembly and the Constitutional Convention. (See Legislative Action for 1890.)
The next annual meeting took place in Richmond, Dec. 3, 4, 1890. Mrs. Sarah Hardin Sawyer was asked to prepare a tract on co-education, which proved of great assistance in opening the colleges to women. The evening speakers were Mrs. Shepard, Mrs. Henry and the Rev. John G. Fee, the venerable Kentucky Abolitionist.
The fourth convention was held in Louisville, Dec. 8-10, 1891, and was addressed by the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw and the Rev. Dr. C. K. J. Jones.
The fifth annual meeting convened in Richmond, Nov. 9, 10, 1892.[1] Mrs. Lida Calvert Obenchain's paper, "Why a Democratic Woman Wants the Ballot," was afterwards widely circulated as a leaflet. The evening speakers were Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby of Washington, D. C., and Dr. J. Franklin Browne.
The General Assembly of 1892 was in session most of that— year and some months in 1893, as there was a vast amount of business to be done in bringing all departments of legislation into harmony with the new constitution. During all this time the State association was busy urging the rights of women; and at its sixth convention, held in Newport, Oct. 17-19, 1893, was able to report that a law had been secured granting a married woman the power to make a will and control her separate property. Among the speakers was the Rev. G. W. Bradford.
- ↑ The State W. C. T. U. at its convention in 1892 adopted a franchise department, and has proved a faithful and valuable ally in educating public sentiment and obtaining desired legislation.
