by Mrs. W. W. Boyd, Jr.

The time was judged to be ripe for an organized effort to secure
action at the general election of 1914 and two plans presented
themselves: First, to ask the Legislature to submit to the voters an
amendment to the State constitution giving full suffrage to women;
second, to secure the necessary number of signatures under the newly
enacted initiative petition law to place the amendment on the ballot
regardless of action by the Legislature. The former method was tried
first but the latter was found to be necessary. A finance committee
was appointed by the league to raise funds for the campaign and at a
luncheon in St. Louis amid great enthusiasm $11,000 were pledged,
which were turned over to Mrs. B. B. Graham, campaign treasurer.
Headquarters were opened down town with Mrs. Knefler, campaign
manager, in charge. The interest aroused throughout the State by the
circulating of the petition was manifested at the State convention in
Columbia, in May, 1914, which was attended by a number of delegates
from the country districts. Mrs. Miller was re-elected president. On
"suffrage day," May 1, men and women addressed crowds between acts at
different theaters and on the steps of public buildings. Miss Fola
LaFollette was the speaker at a large evening meeting and addressed
the Men's City Club at luncheon the next day. The slogan was sent out
far and wide, "Suffrage for Missouri in 1914." After the heavy task of
obtaining 14,000 names to the petition and a strenuous campaign the
amendment was defeated at the polls.

In 1915 an offer was made by a newspaper man in Monet to publish a
suffrage magazine and eagerly accepted, the suffragists agreeing to
furnish the material and to work up the subscriptions. Mrs. Blair was
the first editor of the _Missouri Woman_ and all went well for a few
months, then the publisher failed. This was a keen disappointment but
through the efforts of Miss Mary Bulkley and Percy Werner of St.
Louis, Flint Garrison, president of the Garrison-Wagner Printing
Company, a prominent Democrat and an ardent suffragist, became
interested and agreed to publish the magazine. It was adopted as the
organ of the State Federation of Women's Clubs and was endorsed by the
State branch of the National Congress of Mothers and the State Parent
Teachers' Association. In March, 1916, Mrs. Blair, owing to the
difficulty of editing the magazine from her home in Carthage while it
was published in St. Loui