nd
semi-public meetings. Leo Alexander and William D. Hayward contributed
the typewriters. Their arrangement was in the hands of Mesdames J. H.
Braly, A. M. Davidson, R. L. Craig and Laura B. Fay. All through that
ever-to-be-remembered hot summer of 1896 these dainty, artistic rooms,
constantly supplied with fresh flowers, afforded a cool retreat for
the busy suffragists, as well as a resting place for their less active
sisters who were invited to visit them, even if not in sympathy, and
none left without some of the literature and a gentle hint as to their
obvious duty.
In San Diego the work was led by the president, Mrs. Flora M. Kimball.
Mrs. Kimball was the first woman ever elected Master of a Grange, and
was for eight years a member of the San Diego school board. She was a
most efficient manager and the beautiful grounds around her home were
the scene of many gatherings. A gifted writer also, her satires during
this campaign, over the signature "Betty Snow, an anti-suffragist,"
made many converts.
Prominent among the workers were Mrs. Annie Bristol Sloan, president
of the San Diego County W. S. A., the Rev. Amanda Deyo, Dr. Lelia
Latta and Mrs. Laura Riddell; Mrs. Helen Joslin Le Boeuf (Tustin),
organizer of Orange County; Mrs. Lizzie H. Mills, secretary of the
Southern California W. C. T. U., and its president, Mrs. N. P. J.
Button, who kept the question prominently before the people of
Riverside County. Mrs. Ida K. Spears led the work in Ventura County
with pen and voice. Kern County though less densely settled had in its
little clusters of humanity staunch friends of the cause under the
leadership of Mrs. McLeod, and gave also its majority for the
amendment. San Bernardino was ably marshaled by Mrs. Ella Wilson
Merchant, the county president. In Santa Barbara County Mrs. Emily
Wright had stood sponsor for the cause for many years, and Mrs. S. E.
A. Higgins assisted with her facile pen. This county in its favorable
vote ranked next to Los Angeles. The work was tremendous but the
result was compensating.
The key-note of the campaign was to reach every voter without regard
to race or rank. Therefore, women of all castes and conditions were
set to work where their direct influence would be most effective.
Hundreds of precinct meetings were held during the whole summer. Each
precinct had its own organization officered by its own people--men and
women--a vice-president being appointed from each of its churches,
|