Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/646

 A resolution was adopted to send congratulatory and affectionate letters to the pioneers, Miss Emily Howland of Sherwood, N. Y.; the Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell of Elizabeth, N. J., and Mrs. Charlotte Pierce of Philadelphia. The Rev. Olympia Brown of Racine, Wis., one of the few remaining pioneers, was— guest of honor of the convention and received especial attention throughout the week. A telegram was sent to Mrs. Ida Husted Harper of New York in recognition of her constant, untiring work on the last volumes of the History of Woman Suffrage, still in progress. Very laudatory resolutions of "sincere gratitude" were adopted and sent to Will H. Hays and Homer Cummings, chairmen of the Republican and Democratic National Committees, for their services in behalf of the Federal Suffrage Amendment.

Five large rooms in the hotel were required for the 1,400 guests who attended the "ratification banquet" the evening of February 14 and there were almost as many disappointed women who could not obtain seats. Mrs. Catt presided and the following program of sparkling speeches was given: The Apology of New York [for re-election of U. S. Senator Wadsworth], Mrs. F. Louis Slade; The Specials of the Middle West, Mrs. Peter Olesen, Minnesota; Tradition vs. Justice, Mrs. Pattie Jacobs, Alabama; By the Grace of Governors, Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard, Wyoming; "All's Well That Ends Well," Mrs. T. T. Cotnam, Arkansas. Mrs. Halsey W. Wilson, "cheer leader," had prepared a program of well-known songs cleverly adapted to suffrage and set to popular airs.

The culminating feature, arranged by Mrs. Richard E. Edwards, was a living "ratification valentine." On the stage was disclosed a big heart of silver and blue and in the opening appeared one after another the faces of the presidents of the States whose Legislatures had ratified and they recited caustic but good humored rhymes at the expense of the women whose States were still in outer darkness. It was a hilarious occasion greatly enjoyed by the younger suffragists and those who had come late