principal work of the State Association has been to
secure action by the Legislature for suffrage and better laws and
conditions for women. This work was under the direction of Miss Clay
until the end of her presidency, with a corps of able assistants, and
she continued to help the legislative work. She was always sustained
by the interest and generosity of her sister, Sallie Clay (Mrs. James)
Bennett of Richmond, Ky. Mrs. S. M. Hubbard of Hickman was the largest
contributor and was a strong factor in the western part of the State.
As early as 1902 a bill for the franchise for presidential electors
was presented. In 1904, to the amazement of the suffragists, the act
of 1894 was repealed which gave School suffrage to the women of the
three third-class cities, Lexington, Covington and Newport. The reason
given was that too many illiterate negro women voted. It was made a
strict party measure, but one Democrat voting against the repeal and
but one Republican for it.

Following this action the women went to work to obtain School suffrage
for all women in the State able to read and write. In organizing this
protest against the repeal Mrs. Mary C. Roark, afterwards head of the
Eastern Kentucky Normal School, was a leader. Mrs. A. M. Harrison,
member of the school board in Lexington, was prominently identified
with the effort. This proved a long, hard struggle, as it was
considered an entering wedge to full suffrage by the liquor interests
and ward politicians of the cities and was bitterly fought. Year after
year the bill was defeated in the Legislature. At the request of the
suffrage association in 1908 the State Federation of Women's Clubs
took charge of it as a part of its work for better schools, but it was
defeated that year and in 1910. The Federation did not cease its work
and in 1912 the Democratic party included a School suffrage plank in
its platform. It already had the support of the Republican party and
this year the bill passed both Houses by a vote of more than two to
one. The Democrats were in control of the two Legislatures that
rejected it and also of the one that passed it. Mrs. Breckinridge was
legislative chairman for the federation during the years covering
these three sessions.

In 1912 the suffragists accepted the invitation of the Perry
Centennial Committee to have a suffrage section in the parade in
Louisville and their "float" attracted much attention. This is
believed to have been the first suffra