LETTER: 4 typed letter carbons, 1914.
[Suffrage]. Olcott, Jane. Four typed letter carbons, Oneonta, N.Y., September 18, 1914.
Seven 8-1/2 x 11” typescript carbons; some repaired on the versos and at folds; first letter is three pages; second letter is two pages; final two letters are each one page.
The first and longest letter in this set is addressed to Miss Eva Ward and contains a summary of Olcott’s suffrage activities in various counties in New York. Olcott proudly describes their high visibility at various fairs:
At Newark Valley we had a tent and a booth. A large blue and white and yellow bunting banner floated high over the Grand Stand…At Whitney Point we had a booth and the very unique Broome County automobile—a yellow Ford touring car with running gear of King blue and Votes for Women lettering on each side. The headlines in a local paper about the Fair read, “Yellow car seen everywhere”—which gives some idea of the way we worked all over the fair grounds speaking every place possible. The Fair management even held up the races while I drive our car in front of the Grand Stand…and made a ten minute talk to an audience of several thousand.
Olcott also tells Ward of her upcoming debate with an anti-suffragist named Mrs. Goodwin at the Cooperstown Fair and requests information that might help her prepare. Olcott writes, “Do you know what line of argument the lady in question puts up; I have never met a professional anti before and I want to do full justice to them so if you can help me out on any please do.”
The second letter, addressed to Mrs. [H.W.] Cannon, Treasurer of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association, describes the recent meeting that took place in Downsville and lists the new officers elected. An enrollment list was originally enclosed with the letter. The third letter, addressed to Mr. L.E. Sanford, is brief and apparently accompanied 200 “suffrage drinking cups” that Mr. Sanford was to distribute on an upcoming train trip, in the hopes of converting the crew into “ardent suffragists.” The final letter is addressed to Dr. Isabell Stanley and concerns the “cut” (newspaper clipping) of Carrie Chapman Catt from the recent convention. Olcott asks Dr. Stanley to locate it and send it on to Eva Ward at the Press Bureau in New York.
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