Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/348

334 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE at Jackson, when Mrs. Marion B. Trotter of Winona was elected president and brought a great deal of energy and enthusiasm into her office. No convention was held in 1919 but at the close of the meeting of the State Federation of Women's Clubs in Clarks- dale in November a conference of the suffragists present was called. It was there decided to organize to support the ratification of the Federal Amendment, which had been submitted by Con- gress and was to come before the Legislature the following January. Mrs. B. F. Saunders of Swan Lake, retiring president of the federation, was made chairman of the Ratification Com- mittee; Mrs. Trotter, treasurer; Mrs. Somerville chairman of Petition and Press Work; Mrs. McClurg chairman of Finance. By request the National Association sent into the State its organizers, Miss Watkins of Arkansas and Miss Peshakova of New York. Mrs. Cunningham, president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and a national worker, also came to assist. Petitions were circulated, leaflets published and distributed, news- papers enlisted and legislators systematically interviewed. The organization thus speedily effected worked during the session of 1920. In April of this year the convention of the State Federa- tion, held in Gulfport, closed with a "suffrage luncheon," a bril- liant affair attended by 125 prominent men and women. Speeches were made by the Hon. Barney Eaton, a lawyer of Gulfport; Mrs. S. P. Covington, its president, and others. The State League of Women Voters was organized at this time with Miss Blanche Rogers chairman. It had been the hope for years to have an endorsement of woman suffrage from the Federation of Women's Clubs, a strong and popular organization numbering over 3,000 of the State's leading women. During its annual meeting in 1916 Miss Orr, president of the State Suffrage Association, had introduced a favorable resolution and with Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. J. W. Mc- Grath of Canton, Mrs. William Baldwin of Columbus and Mrs. W. S. Lott of Meridian led the fight for suffrage. Mrs. William R. Wright of Jackson headed the opposition, which asked for the postponement of the question until the next year and won. At the next convention, held in Meridian in 1917, the resolution was introduced by Miss Ann Rothenberg (now Mrs. Rosen-