ent
and progress. At the Centennial in Philadelphia the women's commission
brought together the exhibits shown in the Woman's Department, raised
funds necessary to build the Woman's Pavilion, suggested the Department
of Public Comfort, and originated and carried to completion other useful
and practical ideas. The board of lady managers at the World's Columbian
Exposition achieved a most wonderful success; at the Cotton Centennial
in New Orleans the women from each State and Territory did excellent
work, as did those at Atlanta, Nashville, Omaha, and Buffalo. All this
had thoroughly prepared the public mind for the cooperation of women in
further exposition work.

The board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was,
therefore, created as an official organization, acting under the
authority given it by the Government. Its most important duty--that of
appointing woman jurors--was prescribed by Congress, and all others were
secondary to it. The members realized the responsibility which rested
upon them and the necessity of making such a record that at the close of
the exposition they again might show that women's attainments and
achievements were a factor of sufficient importance to warrant their
participation in an exhibition of such magnitude; they must continue to
prove by practical demonstration that the rapid advancement and
increased usefulness of women, made possible by the educational and
other advantages that had been accorded them, rendered their work worthy
of the examination and attention of the world.

Preparatory to accepting any responsibilities that might be required of
them in order to represent woman's work officially, a formal request was
made by the members of the board of lady managers to the National
Commission, to define the full scope of their appointment and the duties
to be assigned to the board, careful inquiry being made as to what
special and important work they would be expected to perform.

Pursuant to this request, an informal meeting of the eighteen members
who had been appointed in the fall of 1901, was called by the National
Commission, in the city of New York, for December 5 of that year. Hon.
Thomas H. Carter, president of the National Commission, in an address on
that occasion, outlined their duties to a limited extent, and stated
that a meeting would be called in March, 1902, for the purpose of
perfecting their organization and determining the nature of their work.