Incorporated," with Mrs.
French president. Mrs. McCormack was elected president of the original
Equal Suffrage Association, of which this chapter is the history.

The Southern States Suffrage Conference, Miss Kate M. Gordon,
president, met in Chattanooga, November 10-11, just before the
national convention. A special suffrage edition of the _News_, with
Mrs. Frances Fort Brown editor-in-chief, was issued and the conference
was a great success. Many prominent women from outside the State
attended and all except Mrs. Oliver H. P. Belmont of New York and Miss
Christabel Pankhurst of England, who was with her, went on to the
national convention at Nashville. Here a special edition of the
_Tennesseean_ was issued, many street meetings were held and suffrage
arguments filled the air. Both State delegations were seated.

By the end of the year only four cities with a population of five
thousand or over were still unorganized. In December Miss Mary
Pleasant Jones organized the Nashville Business Women's League with a
large membership. Organization was continued during 1915. Through the
courtesy of Judge Samuel C. Brown, the Circuit Court at Benton was
suspended for an hour to hear the speeches of Miss Wester, Miss Sarah
Ruth Frazier and Mrs. Ford and a club was then organized with 100
members. Mrs. Ford organized the Business Woman's Suffrage Club of
Chattanooga with 160 charter members. A Men's Suffrage Club was formed
there, the first in the State, R. B. Cook, George Fort Milton and J.
B. F. Lowery, officers.

This year the suffragists assisted a vigorous campaign to secure a
majority vote for holding a convention to prepare a new constitution,
opened headquarters in the different cities and worked day and night,
and they received letters of high appreciation from the chairman of
the State committee. The convention really won but was lost by
dishonest election returns. The annual convention was held at the
Hotel Patton, Chattanooga, December 9, Mrs. McCormack presiding. In
1912 a treasury fund of $5.50 was turned over to the new treasurer,
Miss Wester, who handled in 1915 $1,127. The National Association this
year elected Mrs. McCormack auditor.

National Suffrage Day, May 2, 1916, was celebrated in all of the
larger cities. The Business Women's Club brought Mrs. Emmeline
Pankhurst of England and Miss Margaret Foley of Boston to Chattanooga
and the 5,000 capacity auditorium was packed. The State Federation of
Women's Cl