LETTER: ALS to Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake.
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. Autograph Letter Signed (to Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, March 10, 1886). Tenafly, N.J.: To Mrs. [Lillie Devereux] Blake, March 10th, 1886; holograph letter signed in full, “Elizabeth Cady Stanton.”
4to, single sheet folded to 5 x 7-3/4,” buff laid stationery with Mrs. Stanton’s initials “ECS” engraved at upper left corner of first leaf; written on first and third sides; folded twice (to fit an envelope); “Stanton” (with a flourish underneath) written in ink at last leaf (likely by Mrs. Blake); 1-1/2 x 2” patch of offsetting rear leaf; very good.
Mrs. Stanton writes Mrs. Blake to say, “I fear I shall not be able to attend the reception this convention. I am well again but very busy.” (The New York Suffrage Association, which Lillie Devereux Blake headed from 1879-1890, held its annual convention in March. The 1886 convention met in Masonic Hall in New York City March 23rd and 24th with Susan B. Anthony among those who addressed the members.) She urges Mrs. Blake to see the French Consul “ ... & give him all the information he needs for his forthcoming article.” Stanton then refers to pending matters in Albany: “The prospects at Albany are indeed cheering. I trust all your labor there will be crowned with success” and closes, “Cordially yours, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.”
The letter, with Mrs. Stanton’s rapid fire handling of various matters at hand, gives an excellent idea of her efficient, yet tactful leadership style. She indicates she already had written Mrs. Blake once that day, but takes up her pen immediately to answer Mrs. Blake’s letter “received this evening.” The reference to the French Consul and the article he is writing may pertain directly or indirectly to the gift by the French government of the Statue of Liberty to be unveiled in the fall of 1886. (Though Mrs. Blake had tart observations on the statue, the New York Woman Suffrage Association organized a special viewing by boat in October with speeches by Mrs. Blake and others.) Stanton’s final comments on the “excellent prospects in Albany” probably relate to legislation spearheaded by Mrs. Blake. During her tenure at President of the New York Woman Suffrage Association, she sought passage of a number of laws affecting women. In 1888, for instance, Blake successfully lobbied for a bill requiring the presence of women doctors in mental institutions. The letter, brief as it is, mirrors the high activity of the woman suffrage movement: reaching out to members through annual conventions, attaining a greater degree of acceptance by the public through good press, and vigorously pursuing the passage of laws beneficial to women. Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Stanton respected and liked each other, as is clear by the genuine warmth of the letter. Many years later when Susan B. Anthony indicated she was ready to step down from the presidency of the NAWSA, Elizabeth Cady Stanton thought Lillie Devereux Blake an obvious choice as successor.
As Mrs. Stanton largely left organizational matters to Susan B. Anthony, her letters are far rarer. This letter, with its nice content, and to a key New York woman suffrage leader, is exceptional.
History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. IV, p. 839.
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