s denied
any right or opportunity that man enjoyed. Quite early, therefore, I was
attracted to the woman suffrage movement. I had of course read of Susan
B. Anthony and from the ridicule and contempt with which she was treated
I concluded that she must be a strong advocate of, and doing effective
work for, the rights of her sex. It was then that I determined, with the
aid of Mrs. Ida Husted Harper, the brilliant writer, who afterward
became her biographer, to arrange a series of meetings for Miss Anthony
at Terre Haute.

In due course of time I received a telegram from Miss Anthony from
Lafayette announcing the time of her arrival at Terre Haute and asking
me to meet her at the station. I recognized the distinguished lady or,
to be more exact, the notorious woman, the instant she stepped from the
train. She was accompanied by Lily Devereaux Blake and other woman
suffrage agitators and I proceeded to escort them to the hotel where I
had arranged for their reception.

I can still see the aversion so unfeelingly expressed for this
magnificent woman. Even my friends were disgusted with me for piloting
such an "undesirable citizen" into the community. It is hard to
understand, after all these years, how bitter and implacable the people
were, especially the women, toward the leaders of this movement.

As we walked along the street I was painfully aware that Miss Anthony
was an object of derision and contempt, and in my heart I resented it
and later I had often to defend my position, which, of course, I was
ever ready to do.

The meetings of Miss Anthony and her co-workers were but poorly attended
and all but barren of results. Such was the loathing of the community
for a woman who dared to talk in public about "woman's rights" that
people would not go to see her even to satisfy their curiosity. She was
simply not to be tolerated and it would not have required any great
amount of egging-on to have excited the people to drive her from the
community.

To all of this Miss Anthony, to all appearance, was entirely oblivious.
She could not have helped noticing it for there were those who thrust
their insults upon her but she gave no sign and bore no resentment.

I can see her still as she walked along, neatly but carelessly attired,
her bonnet somewhat awry, mere trifles which were scarcely noticed, if
at all, in the presence of her splendid womanhood. She seemed absorbed
completely in her mission. She could scarcely speak of