LIMA HOSTED 1916 OWSA CONVENTION

DAY two: NOVEMBER 15, 1916

LOCAL AND STATE LEADERS WELCOMED ATTENDEES

Harriet Taylor Upton, President of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association since 1899, opened the first session at 9:30 am. Lima Political Equality Club President Ethelyn Sherwood and Lima Federation of Clubs President Edith Hughes gave welcome addresses. A letter of welcome by Lima Mayor Ballis H. Simpson was read. Author Nellie Marguerite Nearing also gave an address. During the session, OWSA Vice Presidents gave reports, updating attendees on events across the state.

The afternoon session, beginning at 2 pm, covered fundraising on a national and state level.

Library of Congress.

Harriet Taylor Upton, 1923. President of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association.

Allen County Museum Collection.

Trinity M. E. Church, date unknown.

A GRAND LUNCHEON

Women of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church hosted an elaborate luncheon in their church. Yellow and white decorations, including yellow streamers and yellow chrysanthemums, adorned the tables. The local hostesses sat at the head of each of the fifty tables. Open to all women, three hundred seventy-five women attended.

Entertainment during the luncheon included five-minute speeches from several speakers:

Alice Vignos of Canton: “The Things They Do in Littletown, West Virginia”
Lucy Hall of Ashtabula: “Campfire Girls”
Katherine "Katie" Selbert of Columbus: “Overlooked Opportunities”
Charlotte Reeve Conovet of Dayton: How women in voting states insist upon examining candidates before voting for them
Anna Johnson of Springfield: Reforms that the State Federation of Women’s Clubs were working towards

Ohio Woman Suffrage Association President Harriet Taylor Upton, Lima City Federation of Women’s Clubs President Edith Hughes, Allen County Political Equality Club President Ethelyn Sherwood, 4th Congressional District Chairman Bessie Crayton, and the five speakers sat at a special table under the American flag.

The committee who arranged the luncheon included chairman Minnie (Young) Gramm, Bessie (Sullivan) McGinnis, Bertha (Highbee) Borges, Susie (Reed) Wallace, Ada (Jackson) Moke, and Claudia May (Stewart) Black.

PRESENTATIONS ON
MUNICIPAL SUFFRAGE

East Cleveland amended its charter to enable women to vote on June 6, 1916. Florence Allen, a lawyer, argued that municipal suffrage was constitutional. In the evening session, starting at 7:30 pm, Florence Allen spoke on “Women’s Suffrage Under the Home Rule Amendment.” Then Edna Brush Perkins shared “How Did it Happen in East Cleveland?” and Lillian Frost of East Cleveland provided a further update titled, “What Has Happened Since?”.

At 8:30 pm, Helen Hart Hurlburt of Warren presented on “How it Feels to be Torpedoed,” when she was on Stephane, which was sunk by a submarine.

Following their speeches, Harriet Taylor Upton delivered the annual president’s address.

Library of Congress.

Woman suffrage headquarters in Cleveland, c.1912. A: Miss Belle Sherwin, President, National League of Women Voters; B: Judge Florence Allen; and C: Lucia McBride. McBride, OWSA Chairman of the Finance Committee, reported on finances during the afternoon session.