Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/455

 of Labor granted the vice-president time for an address at its convention in Troy as early as 1908 and thereafter endorsed the suffrage bills and sent speakers to the hearings on them. Women from labor unions spoke at conventions of the State Suffrage Association, which had a Committee on Industrial Work. The Western New York Federation of Women's Clubs, under the leadership of Mrs. Nettie Rogers Shuler of Buffalo, its president, was the first federation to admit suffrage clubs and a suffrage resolution was passed at its convention in 1909, at which time it had 35,000 members.

The annual conventions of the State association always were held in October. The thirty-third in the long series met at Oswego in the Presbyterian Church in 1901 and was welcomed by Mayor A. M. Hall. Addresses were made by Miss Susan B. Anthony, honorary president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association; Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, its vice-president-at-large; Alice Stone Blackwell, its recording secretary; Harriet May Mills and Julie R. Jenney of Syracuse. A memorial service was held for one of the pioneers, Charlotte A. Cleveland of Wyoming county, Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf, former State president, and Mrs. Ella Hawley Crossett, vice-president, offering testimonials of her ability and helpfulness. She left the association a legacy of $2,000, the first it ever had received. Mrs. Mariana W. Chapman, president since 1896, was re-elected.

The convention of 1902 was held in Buffalo at the Church of the Messiah. The wife of the Mayor, Erastus Knight, represented him in giving a welcome from the city. Owing to the illness of Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Crossett presided. She was elected president, after having served four years as vice-president. Miss Mills was chosen for that office and they served for the next eight years.

In 1903 the convention was held in the Presbyterial Church at Hornellsville welcomed by Mayor C. F. Nelson and the Rev. Charles Petty, pastor of the church. Mrs. Crossett responded and gave her annual address, which showed much activity during the year. Miss Mills, chairman of the State organization committee, said that she had arranged for fifty-five meetings. Dr. Shaw had spoken in thirty different counties, the president