CHAPTER XIX.
MARYLAND.PART 1.[1]
When the fourth volume of the History of Woman Suffrage closed in 1900 it left the Maryland association just eleven years old. Since 1894, when the Montgomery County and the Baltimore City Associations united, it has been represented by accredited delegates in every national convention. These thirtyone years of organized effort by no means represent all of the suffrage agitation in the State.[2]
As Baltimore is the only large city and contains more than half the population of the State it is not surprising that this city has been the real battleground of the movement. Twenty-five State conventions have been held here, continuing one or two days, and two State conferences of two days each. The first of the conferences was arranged by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, the new national president, and held in Baltimore in 1900, at which time Miss Susan B. Anthony was the guest of honor and was presented with a purse of gold for her 80th birthday by the Maryland women. The second conference was held in 1902. The speakers at these conferences besides the national officers were Helen Morris Lewis of North Carolina, Annie L. Digges of Kansas, Clara Bewick Colby of Washington, D. C., Dr. Cora Smith Eaton of Minneapolis and Catharine Waugh McCulloch of Chicago. The day sessions were devoted to business and discussions, followed by addresses in the evening. The State
- ↑ The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Emma Maddox Funck, president of the Baltimore Suffrage Club twenty-five years and of the State Woman Suffrage Association eighteen years.
- ↑ Dr. William Tindall, of Washington, has the records to prove that in 1838, when the people of Georgetown voted on a proposal to withdraw from the State of Maryland, 63 women cast their ballots. As early as 1867, through the efforts of Lavinia C. Dundore, a large equal rights society of men and women was organized in Baltimore, which continued until 1874 and was represented in the national conventions by its president, Mrs. Dundore. A Baltimore paper of April 4, 1870, says: "A petition, asking for the right of suffrage and political justice, was presented to the House of Delegates, signed by Eliza S. White, Lavinia C. Dundore, Ellen M. Harris and 150 other ladies. It was reo ferred to the Committee on Federal Relations."
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