e Association.

In 1911 Mrs. Effie L. D. McAfee, a member of the New York branch, was
sent by the Friends' Equal Rights Association to the congress of the
International Alliance held at Stockholm, Sweden, where, in honor of a
sect so long identified with the cause of woman suffrage, she was
given a place on the program and filled it most acceptably. In 1916
the Philadelphia branch returned to the regular dues-paying basis,
with Rebecca Webb Holmes of Swarthmore as president. The New York
branch, notwithstanding the enfranchisement of the women of that State
in 1917, continued its organization in order to help the less
fortunate sisters, with P. Francena Maine as president. The Illinois
Yearly Meeting in 1919 added to the membership of the Friends' Equal
Rights Association.

The association usually has been represented at the annual conventions
of the N. A. W. S. A. Its presidents have been: Mrs. Chapman, New
York; Lucy Sutton, Baltimore; Mary Bentley Thomas, Ednor, Md.; Ellen
H. E. Price, Philadelphia; Anne Webb Janney, Baltimore. The specific
task of the association has been to get a clear utterance on woman
suffrage from the different Yearly Meetings, representing in total
membership about 20,000. Invariably they have endorsed the principle
and any pending legislation in favor. Affiliation with the National
Association has been deeply appreciated by its members, as to be an
integral part of one of the glorious world forces is a privilege not
to be lightly held.

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCES.[144]

For half a dozen years toward the end of the long contest for the
enfranchisement of women--1912-1917 inclusive--an organization that
played a considerable part in it was the Mississippi Valley
Conference. From the time that the National Suffrage Association was
formed in 1869 to 1895 its annual conventions were held in Washington,
and from that date to 1912 nine of the seventeen were held in eastern
States. Because of the expense of travel the representation of western
women was very small compared to that of the eastern section of the
country. All the national presidents were from the East and in order
that the officers might attend board meetings and conferences most of
them were eastern women. Those of the West keenly realized the need of
greater opportunity of getting together, becoming acquainted,
developing leadership and planning their work, as all of the suffrage
campaigns at this time took place in the