To the Organizers of the New York Campaign.
Catt Marshalls her New York Troops
Catt, Carrie Chapman. To the Organizers of the New York Campaign. (1914).
8vo.; 5 typescript leaves; pin holes at top right corner; rectos only; creased. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
A five-page memorandum to the organizers of the New York suffrage campaign, addressing ten orders of business: expense accounts, work reports, collections, expenses, Sunday meetings, campaign clubs, results, instructions (regarding the sale of the Program for five cents for the District Leaders to buy for their Captains), and “poster” (available on order for 50 cents). In the “Results” section, she reminds and encourages her organizers,
As Miss Anthony used to say: “Some people have the art of bringing together, and others the art of [sic] scattering.” Your business is to bring together, and an organizer is to be judged by her results. The business of suffrage organization in my judgment is from now on to be a permanent profession, but it will be open only to those who are able to secure results.
Catt is most persuasive and admonishing in the “Collections” section. She explains that some organizers felt awkward asking for money from people they were trying to recruit for the suffrage cause:
I beg to remind you that the rich and powerful of the State of New York and every other state are on the other side. This has always been the case in every reform. There are now a few well-known wealthy people who sympathize with suffrage, but if any of them have come forward with large sums of money, I do not know it. Our campaign fund is made up of small sums given by people who make more or less sacrifice in order to contribute at all. We shall not be able to give New York the kind of campaign it ought to have unless we can add to the fund through collections at our meetings. I have been connected with a great many campaigns, and I had charge of the organization department of the National Association for five years, and in all my experience I have never known so little money turned in by organizers as is true in this State of New York. I have no doubt that the people are tight-fisted and have not been trained to give to such work as ours. On the other hand, I believe that our organizers have not laid sufficient stress upon the very necessary part of the work. In the long run the people will feel a great deal more responsibility in the campaign if they feel that they have a part in it. The expenses of this office including the expense of the organizers in the field is $3000 per month. We need to put still more organizers in the field…. Explain…that the cost of such an educational campaign as we are conducting cannot be less than $100,000 per year for the next two years, and that we have no rich friends to give large sums of money; that our funds are made up of small contributions and that we regard it as a privilege which ought to be allowed every friend of the cause to contribute something to it.
A good example of Catt’s authority and practical-mindedness, as well as the intricacy and details involved in organizing the New York State Suffrage Campaign
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