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SUFFRAGE LEAGUEItivnss Gertrude ^^atkins, of Lit-! tie Rock, Will Speak atCourt House Tonight. 1'Miss Gertrude Watkins, of Little , Rock, Ark., will speak to the ladies j of the city at the Sororis Club room on North Third street, this afternoon at 4 o’clock and will deliver a secondaddress at the County Court House' this evening at 8 o’clock in the interest of equal suffrage. Miss Watkins,! who possesses a charming voice and winning personality, is in the city in the interest of the National American Suffrage Association, with the object j of organizing a local equal suffrageleague which will be.done under the auspices of the North Carolina Asso-I ciation, of which Mrs. Malcolm Platt, j of Asheville, is president and Mrs. T.W. Ingle, of Davidson, is first viceI president.; Miss Watkins, when interviewed i this morning, stated that practically! all cities of importance in the Stat5had equal suffrage leagues with the exception of Wilmington and she is I very anxious to line this city up with the movement which has grown to i gigantic proportions in the last tew years and which is now sweeping thecountry like a tidal wave. Miss Watkins has given much time to thestudy of *the biggest question before • the American woman today and is 1 prepared to explain why Wilmington should have an equal suffrage league.She was a prominent figure in the j halls of the legislative buildings of her own State when women were given the franchise and she deliv-i ered a number ,^of addressee during 1 the suffrage campaign in New York.I During the West Virginia campaign, i inaugurated by the women in their . successful effort to gain the privilege j j of the ballot, Miss Watkins delivered1 I a number of addresses which helped to swing the victory to the women in 'that State. She came here from Charlotte and she states that the Queen City has a league that is unusually strong and growing rapidly.In speaking of the question this morning Miss Watkins declared that equal suffrage was long over-due in this city and in her opinion the timeis now ripe for the organization of a strong Wilmington League. She is very hopeful that a_ large crowd will attend tonight’s speaking regardles.5 of their views on the question be-, cause she is confident that her argu-i ment and manner of presentation ! will show the question up in a differ-I ent light from that in which it has ! been viewed by many.Another matter pointed out by Miss Watkifis was that the vote of the women of the West, California j particularly, re-elected Woodrow Wil- ’son to the presidency, and she added that all her people had always been Democrats. This fact alone is sufficient to guarantee the young lady a welcome to the city, even i hough all j were opposed to her views. Miss! Watkins stated that the great suf-frage organization knew no politics; that its members were made up of women of the Democratic and Republican parties both, but women who are banded together with the purpose of obtaining the franchise and the right to cast a ballot—the privilege 1 of helping conduct the affairs of thecountry.In conclusion Miss Watkins asked that the fact that no admission willbe charged to tonights .meeting bestressed. She is very anxious to have all who can possibly crowd intothe spacious court room do so, forshe is confident that she has a message that all ladies will wish to hear. Miss Watkins is speaking at the So-rosis Club room this afternoon and ?he will speak again tonight at theCourt House.
Newspaper Details
Wilmington Dispatch
Wilmington, North Carolina, US
Fri, Dec 08, 1916
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 12 Nov 2019
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