work to getting up the convention,
and then effaced themselves as far as possible....[101]

Perhaps no one person did more, unintentionally, to promote the
enthusiasm of the convention than the Rev. Dr. Hawthorne, a
Baptist preacher. He had felt called upon to denounce all woman
suffragists from his pulpit, not only with severity but with
discourtesy, and had been so misguided as to declare that the
husbands of suffragists were all feeble-minded men. As the
average equal-rights woman is firmly convinced that her husband
is the very best man in the world, this remark stirred the women
up to a degree of wrath which no amount of abuse leveled against
themselves would have aroused. On the other hand, the Atlanta
people, even those who were not in favor of suffrage, felt
mortified by this unprovoked insult to their guests, and many of
them took occasion in private to express their regret. Several
speakers at the convention criticised Dr. Hawthorne's utterances,
and every such allusion was received with warm applause by the
audience....

At the beginning of the convention four announcements were made which
added much to the general good cheer--that South Australia had
followed the example of New Zealand in extending Full Suffrage to
women; that the Supreme Court of Ohio had pronounced the School
Suffrage Law constitutional; that the Governor of Illinois had filled
a vacancy on the Board of Trustees of the State University by
appointing a woman; that the Idaho Legislature had submitted a woman
suffrage amendment.

The most perfect arrangements had been made for the meetings, and the
novelty of the occasion attracted large crowds, but there was also
much genuine interest. The success was partly due to the excellent
work of the press of Atlanta. There was, however, no editorial
endorsement except by _The Sunny South_, Col. Henry Clay Fairman,
editor.

The national president, Miss Susan B. Anthony, said in opening the
convention: "With this gavel was called to order in 1869 that
Legislature of Wyoming which established the first true republic under
the Stars and Stripes and gave the franchise to what men call the
better-half of the people. We women do not say that, but we do claim
to be half."

Miss Anthony seldom made a stated address either in opening or
closing, but throughout the entire convention kept up a running fire
of quaint, piq