Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/552

 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE composed of Miss Katharine Pierce of Oklahoma City, chairman , Mrs. A. P. Crockett of the same city, treasurer, and Miss Aloysius Larch-Miller of Shawnee, secretary, with representative women from the State at large as follows : Mrs. Frank Haskell, Tulsa ; Mrs. E. E. McPherron, Durant; Mrs. Walter Ferguson, Chero- kee; Mrs. Robert J. Ray, Lawton; Mrs. Hardee Russell, Paul's Valley. The county chairmen for the campaign were retained. No active work was done until after the Conference of Gov- ernors in Salt Lake City in the summer of 1919, when the amend- ment had been submitted. At this conference the new Governor, J. B. A. Robertson, gave as a reason for not calling a special session to ratify, the great expense and the fear of untimely legislation but he consented to call one if these could be avoided. In September Miss Larch-Miller, assisted by Miss Marjorie Shuler, sent by the National Association, asked the legislators to sign a pledge that they would attend a special session, serve with- out pay, consider no other legislation and vote for ratification. Pledges were signed by a majority of both Houses and presented to the Governor who made no answer. Several weeks later he addressed the State Federation of Women's Clubs and again offered the same excuses. In January, 1920, the Democratic Central Committee called county conventions of women to select delegates to a State con- vention of women to be held prior to the regular State convention. Many of these county conventions passed a resolution requesting the Governor to call a special session and it was also adopted at the State convention of about 1,500 women. A number of the regular county conventions of men and women passed it. Miss Larch-Miller attended the convention of her county, although she had been confined to her room for several days with influenza. She spoke strongly for the resolution and was opposed by the Attorney General, S. P. Freeling, one of the ablest orators in the State, but her enthusiasm and eloquence carried the day and it was adopted. The exertion proved too much for her frail body and the next night pneumonia developed and she gave her young life as the supreme sacrifice for the cause she loved. The Democratic State convention met at Muskogee February 5 and Senator Robert L. Owen's candidacy for President of the