officers. Early in the session the following bill was introduced by Hon. Lorraine B. Sessions of Cattaraugus:
Senator Edwin G. Halbert of Broome rendered efficient aid and the bill passed at once in the Senate by a nearly unanimous vote. Hon. G. W. Husted of Westchester introduced it at once in the assembly and earnestly championed the measure. It passed by a vote of 87 to 3. The bill was laid before the governor, who promptly affixed his signature to it, and thus, at last, secured to the women of the Empire State the right to vote on all school matters, and to hold any school offices to which they might be chosen. The bill was signed on February 12, and the next day being Friday, was the last day of registration in the city of Syracuse, the election there taking place on the following Tuesday. The news did not reach there until late in the day, the evening papers being the first to contain it. But, although so little was known of the measure, thirteen women registered their names as voters, and cast their ballots at the election. This was the first time the women of New York ever voted, and Tuesday, February 18, 1880, is a day to be remembered.
[1] The voting for officers, like all other school matters, was provided for, not under the general laws, but by the school statutes. There are two general elections in chartered cities and universal suffrage for school as well as all other officers; no preparation being required of voters but registration. In the rural districts school meetings
- ↑ Mrs. Lucy A. Brand, principal of the Genesee school of this city, a woman with abilities as good as those of any male principal, but who, because she is a woman, receives $550 Jess salary a year than a male principal, was the first woman in the State of New York to cast a vote under the new school law. On Saturday afternoon she was at a friend's house, when the Journal was thrown in, containing the first editorial notice of the passage of the law. Mrs. Brand saw the welcome announcement. "Let us go and register," she at once said, her heart swelling with joy and thankfulness that even this small quantity of justice had been done woman. "Where is my shawl? I feel as if I should die if I don't get there," for the hour was late, and the time for closing the registry lists was near at hand. To have fest this opportunity would have placed her in the position of a second Tantalus, the cup withdrawn just as it touched her lips. But she was in time, and the important act of registering accomplished, she had but to possess her soul in patience until the following Tuesday. Who shall say how long the two intervening days were to her; but Tuesday morning at last arrived, when, for the first time, Mrs. Brand was to exercise the freeman's right of self-government. A gentleman, the owner of the block in which she resided, offered to accompany her to the polls, although he was a Democrat and knew Mrs. Brand would vote the Republican ticket. Although not hesitating to go alone, Mrs. Brand accepted this courtesy. As she entered the polling place the men present fell back in a semi-circle. Not a sound was heard, not a whisper, not a breath. In silence and with a joyous solemnity well befitting the occasion, Mrs. Brand cast her first vote, at five minutes past eight in the morning. The post-master of the city, Mr. Chase, offered his congratulations. A few ordinary remarks were exchanged, and then Mrs. Brand left the place. And that was all; neither more nor less. No opposition, no rudeness, no jostling crowd of men, but such behavior as is seen when Christians come together at the sacrament. I have long known Mrs. Brand as a noble woman, but talking with her a few days since I could but notice the added sense of self-respecting dignity that freedom gives. "I feel a constant gratitude that even some portion of my rights have been recognized," said she, and I left her, more than ever impressed, if that is possible, with the beauty and sacredness of freedom.—[M. J. G.
