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REPRESENTATIVE WOMEN OF NEW ENGLAND


society she has liekl ever since. For ten years she was superintendent of the prison, jail, and almshouse ilepartinent, and is now superin- tendent in this department for Middlesex County and president of the Winter Hill W. C. T. U. of Somerville.

When the Australian ballot system was in- troduced in Massachusetts, Mrs. Hill was ap- pointed by the Prohibition State Committee to go from town to town with the ap))aratus illustrating the process of voting under the new system; and large audiences composed of all parties came to see and hear. No ojiportu- nity was. lost by the speaker to remind her hearers of the inconsistency of allowing a woman to instruct men in the process of voting and denying her the right to vote herself.

In 1888 Mrs. Hill's residence was in Charles- town. For two years she had been president of the Ward and City Committee of Women Voters, and she was also president of the Bunker Hill Woman's Educational League, an organ- ization that was formed in February. Through the efTorts of this organization alone twenty- six hundred women were assessed, with a view to taking part in the school election; and a most vigorous campaign was carried on, women being stationed at the various registration places to watch proceedings. The result of the election was most gratifying. Not only was the whole school board ticket successful, but the women hatl much influence in bringing about a change at City Hall. The Independent Women Voters' party was the outgrowth of the struggle of 18S8, and until 1896 Mrs. Hill was the leader of this party. In 1889 the Woman's Voice and Public School Champion was first printed. Mrs. Hill became the editor and general manager, and still retains these offices.

In 1895 she was chosen State secretary of the Massachusetts Branch of the International Order of The King's Daughters and Sons, an organization having six thousand members in the State, comprising two hundred and seventy circles and two hundred and twenty-nine in- dependent members, and carrying on a most helpful charitable work. A vacation Home at Hanson, Mass., which acconunodates sixty peo- ple, among them many mothers and their little families, is a State work. The Vacation Home of The King's Daughters is Gordon Rest. For eighteen years Mrs. Hill has had personal supervision of this home. The work increases year by year, and is the largest undertaking of its kind in the State.

In 1885 the New England Helping Hantl Society was formed, its aim being to proviile at a moderate rate a comfortable home for young women earning low wages. Of this society Mrs. Hill was for several years the .secretary, and for ten years she was its president. She has aided in many ways in ameliorating the conditions of working men and women.

She has always stood finnly for free speech. On one occasion when a man was denied the privilege of answei'ing a s])eakei' who had, as he affirmed, made false statements, she mounted to the platform and asked that he be allowed a hearing. So intense was the excitement that threats of bodily harm were made, but, as she preserved a perfectly calm demeanor, the ex- citement was quelled and she was uninjured.

For eighteen years Mrs. Hill's voice has been heard in pul))it and on platform in the advocacy of good causes in Massachusetts and other States. The In(le])endent Women Voters of Detroit, Mich., were organized hy her efforts. In Mrs. Hill's evangelistic and Bible services a simple faith is taught, with a reliance on Christ as mediator and Saviour.

The result of labor in prisons and missions has been most gratifying in the reconstruction of broken-up homes, in the obtaining of employment for disheartened men and women, and in the redemption of those who have become victims of evil habits. Following in the footsteps of her belovetl father, .she has done much to help on the anti-cigarette movement, and has been instrumental in banding hundreds of young i^eople together to labor in Christian service. Naturally possessed of a very hopeful, cheerful temperament, obstacles which might seem to others very hard to overcome have not hindered or discouraged her in the least. She looks with the utmost faith toward the time when right shall triumph over wrong and her native land lie indeed a Christian nation.