Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/340

 

From 1899 to 1906 no State convention of the Mississippi Woman Suffrage Association was held. Mrs. Hala Hammond Butt, who was elected president at its second annual convention in Clarksdale in 1899, acted as president during this time but the editing of a weekly newspaper in addition to other duties left her little time for its trying demands at this early stage of its existence. Among the few other women consecrated in their hearts to woman suffrage some were barred from leadership by ill health, some by family cares, while others were absent from the State most of the time. No definite progress, therefore, was made during the early years of the century.

In 1901 Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, gave addresses in six cities in the State, arrangements for which were made by local suffragists, and a great deal of interest was aroused. In 1903 a business conference was held in Jackson, at which Mrs. Butt and three other women were present, to consider whether anything could be done for the cause of woman suffrage. In 1904 enrollment cards were distributed in a limited and unsystematic way, letters were sent to members of the Legislature, State officials and others and literature was distributed. An inspiring feature was the visit of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president at large of the National Association, who spoke in three cities.

Early in December, 1906, Miss Belle Kearney of Flora, formerly organizer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, at this time a public lecturer, returned from an absence in Europe and on the 21st, in response to a call sent out by her, a meeting was held in the parlor of the Edwards House in Jackson. Those in attendance were Miss Kearney, Mrs. Butt, Mrs.