NEW JERSEY. PART II.[1]
In December, 1911, a Joint Legislative Committee, representing the four woman suffrage organizations in New Jersey was formed with Mrs. George T. Vickers as chairman, and in January, 1912, a resolution for a submission to the voters of a woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution was first introduced in the Legislature at the request of this committee.
On Oct. 25, 1912, a parade was given in Newark under the auspices of the State Suffrage Association with all four organizations represented among the marchers, who numbered about 1,000 men and women. This was followed by a well-attended mass meeting at Proctor's Theater, arranged by the Women's Political Union, at which Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, president of the National Suffrage Association, was the principal speaker.
The twenty-second annual convention of the association was held in Trenton in November, when the following officers were— elected: President, Mrs. E. F. Feickert; first vice-president, Mrs. F. H. Colvin; second, Miss Elinor Gebhardt; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Charles P. Titus; recording secretary, Mrs. Charles P. Eaton; treasurer, Mrs. Anna B. Jeffery; auditor, Miss Bessie Pope. Twenty-five local branches were reported with a total membership of 2,200.
In December the Legislative Committee was re-organized on the basis of equal representation for each of the four organizations. Mrs. Everett Colby was elected chairman and Mrs. Minnie J. Reynolds was engaged as legislative secretary, who resigned in six months to become field organizer for the Women's Political Union. This committee continued to function until 1917, when the Women's Political Union, the Equal Franchise Society and the Men's League having disbanded and their branches having joined the State association the political work was taken over by its Legislative Committee. In 1914 Mrs. Philip McKim Garrison succeeded Mrs. Colby and she was succeeded by Mrs. Robert 5. Huse in 1916. Among those who served actively were Miss Bessie Pope, who gave valuable and continuous service to the
- ↑ The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Lillian F. Feickert, president of the State Woman Suffrage Association 1912-1920.