must
fill them with something more and so must women."[96]

Her advanced ideas did not cause as much consternation as she had
expected and she was asked to repeat her speech at the Massachusetts
teachers' convention; but the thoughts of many in that audience were
echoed by the president when he said to her after the meeting, "Madam,
that was a splendid production and well delivered. I could not have
asked for a single thing different either in matter or manner; but I
would rather have followed my wife or daughter to Greenwood cemetery
than to have had her stand here before this promiscuous audience and
deliver that address."[97]

It was one thing to talk about coeducation but quite another to offer
a resolution putting the New York State Teachers' Association on
record as asking all schools, colleges, and universities to open their
doors to women. This Susan did at their next convention, and while
there were enough women present to carry the resolution, most of them
voted against it, listening instead to the emotional arguments of a
group of conservative men who prophesied that coeducation would
coarsen women and undermine marriage. Nor did she forget the Negro at
these conventions, but brought much criticism upon herself by offering
resolutions protesting the exclusion of Negroes from public schools,
academies, colleges, and universities.

Such controversial activities were of course eagerly reported in the
press, and Henry Stanton, reading his newspaper, pointed them out to
his wife, remarking drily, "Well, my dear, another notice of Susan.
You stir up Susan and she stirs up the world."[98]

* * * * *

The best method of arousing women and spreading new ideas, Susan
decided, was holding woman's rights conventions, for the discussions
at these conventions covered a wide field and were not limited merely
to women's legal disabilities. The feminists of that day extolled
freedom of speech, and their platform, like that of antislavery
conventions, was open to anyone who wished to express an opinion.
Always the limited educational opportunities offered to women were
pointed out, and Oberlin College and Antioch, both coeducational, were
held up as patterns for the future. Resolutions were passed, demanding
that Harvard and Yale admit women. Women's low wages and the very few
occupations open to them were considered, and whether it was fitting
for women to be doctors and ministers. At one