Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/149

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GEORGIA
135

for a State charter was filed under the name of the Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia.

On July 29 a meeting was called for permanent organization and with representatives from different parts of the State present the following were elected: President, Mrs. McDougald; first vice-president, Mrs. John Dozier Pou of Columbia; second, Miss Mildred Cunningham of Savannah; secretary, Mrs. Henry Schlesinger; treasurer, Mrs. Benjamin Elsas; organizer, Mrs. Mary Raoul Millis; auditor, Miss Genevieve Saunders, all of Atlanta. Members of the Executive Board were: Mrs. Mary Meade Owens of Augusta; Mrs. Mayhew Cunningham of Savannah; Miss Anna Griffin of Columbus; Mrs. Charles C. Harrold of Macon. Affiliated branches were organized with presidents as follows: In Savannah, Mrs. F. P. McIntire; in Augusta, Mrs. Owens; in Columbus, Miss Anabel Redd; in Atlanta, Miss Eleanore Raoul; in Macon, Mrs. Harrold; in Athens, Mrs. W. B. Hill; in Albany, Mrs. D. H. Redfearn.

From these centers a great deal of work was done for suffrage in the adjacent smaller towns. The city organizations opened offices and committees of local women were put in charge of the work of raising money and distributing suffrage propaganda. Tens of thousands of letters, leaflets, books and speeches were distributed throughout the State. All of the women's clubs were urged to endorse suffrage; schools were asked to debate the subject and prizes offered for the best arguments in debate and in written composition. Suffrage parades on foot and in automobiles were had in all the cities, suffrage plays put into the theaters, suffrage slides into the movies and every means of educating the public was used. The best national speakers were brought into the State and immense audiences worked up for them. The beloved Dr. Anna Howard Shaw spoke in Atlanta to one of 6,000. The National American Woman Suffrage Association, of which the Equal Suffrage Party was an affiliating branch, gave hearty co-operation in securing these speakers. The party held annual conventions, where new officers were generally elected as a matter of democratic policy. The second took place in Atlanta Nov. 17, 1915, where Mrs. McDougald was re-elected president and the other officers selected were Mrs. J. D. Pou of