Chafin,
in charge, and maintained committees on organization, literature,
legislative work, press and lectures; formed clubs, held mass meetings
and systematically distributed literature. The Council was the first
suffrage organization in New York City to interview Assemblymen and
Senators on woman suffrage and it called the first representative
convention held in the big metropolis.

The Woman Suffrage Party of Greater New York was launched by this
Council at Carnegie Hall, October 29, 1909, modelled after that of the
two dominant political parties. Its first convention with 804
delegates and 200 alternates constituted the largest delegate suffrage
body ever assembled in New York State. The new party announced that it
would have a leader for each of the 63 assembly districts of the city
and a captain for each of the 2,127 election districts, these and
their assistant officers to be supervised by a borough chairman and
other officers in each borough, the entire force to be directed by a
city chairman assisted by city officers and a board of directors. Mrs.
Catt, with whom the idea of the Party originated, and her co-workers
believed that by reaching into every election district to influence
its voters, they would bring suffrage close to the people and
eventually influence parties and legislators through public opinion.

The population of Greater New York was 4,700,000 and the new party had
a task of colossal proportions. It had to appeal to native Americans
of all classes and conditions and to thousands of foreign born. It
sent its forces to local political conventions; held mass meetings;
issued thousands of leaflets in many languages; conducted street
meetings, parades, plays, lectures, suffrage schools; gave
entertainments and teas; sent appeals to churches and all kinds of
organizations and to individual leaders; brought pressure on
legislators through their constituents and obtained wide publicity in
newspapers and magazines. It succeeded in all its efforts and
increased its membership from 20,000 in 1910 to over 500,000 in 1917.

In 1915, at the beginning of the great campaign for a suffrage
amendment to the State constitution, which had been submitted by the
Legislature, the State was divided into twelve campaign districts.
Greater New York was made the first and under the leadership of Miss
Mary Garrett Hay, who since 1912 had served as chairman, the City
Woman Suffrage Party plunged into strenuous work, hol