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The first suffrage convention ever held which assumed a national character by inviting representatives from other States took place in Worcester, Mass., Oct. 23, 24, 1850.

The New England Woman Suffrage Association was formed at Boston in November, 1868, with Mrs. Julia Ward Howe as president; and the Massachusetts Association was organized in the same city Jan. 28, 1870, of which also Mrs. Howe was elected president. In 1871 Henry B. Blackwell, editor of the Woman's Journal, was made corresponding secretary of both associations and has filled the office of the latter continuously, of the former twenty-two years.

From those years until the present each of these bodies has held an annual meeting in Boston and they have almost invariably been addressed by men and women of State, of national and of international reputation. They have met in various churches and halls, but of late years the historic old Faneuil Hall has been selected. The State association meets in the winter and the New England association during Anniversary Week in May, when there are business sessions with reports from the various States, public meetings and a great festival or banquet. The last is attended by hundreds of people, all the tickets are frequently sold weeks in advance, and with its prominent after-dinner speakers it has long been an attractive feature.