Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/342

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