Chapter XXXVI: Introduction (4)

As all the members had become greatly interested in the project, they felt keenly disappointed when it became evident that it would be necessary to abandon the undertaking. Desiring, however, to take some part in this useful work, and being informed that the concession that had been granted for a similar purpose was in need of funds to enable it to employ additional nurses and make it possible to care for more children, on July 14, 1904, at their midsummer meeting, the board passed the following resolution:

_Be it resolved_, That the board of lady managers set apart, and
turn over, to the persons in charge of the Model Play Ground,
Nursery, and Lost Children work the sum of $5,000 to assist in
carrying on these projects on the exposition grounds.

Mrs. John M. Holcombe was made chairman of the committee having this appropriation in charge, and her final report is as follows:

The members of the board of lady managers were from the
beginning of their organization deeply interested in the need of
caring for little children at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition,
and various plans were under consideration at an early date.

To have a model crèche was the desire of the president and
members of the board, and it was with great satisfaction that
arrangements were made for a very perfect equipment.

A practical philanthropy in full working order would prove also
an exhibit of the most approved and up-to-date methods--at once
a charity, an example, an inspiration.

The Exposition Company made a generous appropriation, the sum of
$35,000 being allowed for the building and furnishing, and very
beautiful designs were made and accepted. Here infants were to
be cared for by trained nurses, receiving attention and
consideration possible only to babies of the twentieth century,
and altogether in advance of the simple and natural conditions
of baby life prior to the closing years of the nineteenth
century. Special foods specially treated, specially constructed
bottles--in fact everything special and disinfected, from the
nurse and crib down to the smallest minutiae.

The charge was to be 50 cents a day, and estimates formed on
experience went to show that on this basis the crèche would be
self-sustaining when once established and started in running
order.

Shortly before the opening of the fair, however, and at a moment
when the Exposition Company was passing through most trying
experiences and needed all possible funds, it was found that
unfavorable aspects had arisen. At the March meeting of the
board, 1904, and only a few weeks prior to the opening of the
exposition, it was learned that two concessions of a nature
similar to the crèche had been made, where the charge for
children would be but 25 cents a day. Already the board had
heard some buzz of criticism that 50 cents was too high a price
for benefit to poor people. Thus there seemed to be established
a rate of income which, for the requirements of the crèche
conducted under great expense, would be entirely inadequate.
There were apparently no sponsors for the undertaking but the
board of lady managers, and a steady loss of 25 cents on each
child for a period of seven months would pile up the losses to
unknown and quite incalculable proportions.

It is true the board had received a sum of $100,000. This was to
cover all expenses of the board, whose members were the official
hostesses of the fair. Everything was to be conducted at this
great exposition in the most munificent manner possible.
Ceremonies and entertainments which had been given at the
dedicatory exercises in 1903 indicated a scale of elegance and
boundless hospitality; in fact, hospitality was to be a
distinguishing feature of this great exposition at St. Louis.
The board of lady managers formed a part of the hospitable
equipment, welcoming the world to the official home of the
exposition, and were to fulfill one of woman's missions and
entertain in a manner and on a scale harmonious with the
greatest and most beautiful exposition the world had ever looked
upon. For these purposes the money must be made to last
throughout the seven months of the coming fair. No more fatal
thing could occur for the fair name of the board than to spend
early and inconsiderately, and to be met later with pecuniary
embarrassments and complications.

The estimate for the opening expenses of the crèche exceeded by
some $16,000 the sum appropriated by the Exposition Company. The
members of the board might have felt justified in furnishing
this sum, but there loomed before them the vast bulk of losses
which must follow as the result of cutting the price from 50
cents to 25 cents on each of the many children to be
accommodated at the crèche. It was an enormous responsibility.

Consultation with President Francis and some of the directors
seemed to indicate that the saving to them of the promised
$35,000 would be very desirable. The building was about to be
commenced, and only a few hours were granted the board for their
decision. It was obviously impossible to enter upon a work
involving great and unknown expense pregnant with such
possibilities of loss and failure, and so, with the deepest
regret, the members of the board saw their cherished castle in
the air--the beautiful, useful crèche--fade and disappear. Words
can hardly express the discouragements and heart sinking of the
members over this failure of their fond aspirations.

Mrs. Ruth Ashley Hirschfield opened her Model Play Ground on May
23, 1904. From the beginning it seemed to meet the requirements
in a simple but direct and effective manner. So successful was
it that soon the demands outgrew the accommodations, and the
possibilities of extending the work were such that Mrs.
Hirschfield welcomed the aid of the board of lady managers. Very
soon after the opening of the Model Play Ground the president
and members of the board became interested, realizing its needs
and possibilities, many of which had been carefully--even
affectionately--considered for a long period.

At the July meeting a committee was appointed to confer with
Mrs. Hirschfield, and the sum of $5,000 was appropriated for use
in the development and care of the Model Play Ground and Day
Nursery, and a special stipulation made regarding the care of
lost children. Arrangements were entered into as to times of
payment. Mrs. Hirschfield was to have the entire responsibility;
the board gave her their confidence and hearty support and five
monthly payments of $1,000 each.

Results proved the soundness of the theories, as well as the
administration of Mrs. Hirschfield, and no appropriation could
have been more advantageously applied.

It gives me the greatest satisfaction to report that the money
appropriated filled a distinct need and enabled Mrs. Hirschfield
to enlarge the scope and power of her work up to the very day
that the fair closed its doors on December 2, 1904. It seemed,
indeed, to meet every want, and no child was ever turned from
its hospitable doors. To this bright and happy spot parents
could bring their children, even wee babies, and be themselves
free to go unencumbered and enjoy the beauties and wonders
spread so lavishly before them and happy in the consciousness
that their little ones were receiving the tenderest care and
were undoubtedly enjoying the many comforts and attractions
provided for their welfare and entertainment. Here the
wage-earner at the fair could bring her little child, leaving it
with the same cheerful confidence. This also was the haven for
lost children who were brought there by the police or by members
of the Jefferson Guard, and here were they found by their
distracted parents, or from here they were sent to their own
abodes under safe escort.

The care of lost children began on June 6, when the first lost
child was brought to the playground. The system of caring for
lost children was as follows: Lost children found by members of
the Jefferson Guard or the police were brought to the Model Play
Ground, according to orders received from headquarters. Every
child brought in was recorded, and an aluminum tag bearing a
certain number was attached to each. They were cared for and
entertained, and had all the privileges accorded to children who
were registered by their parents. After being recorded they were
handed over to the matron to be washed and fed and given all
necessary attention. They were then induced to join groups of
other children of their age. As a rule they quickly forgot their
sorrows in play. They were not permitted to leave the playground
until called for or sent home. If not called for they were
escorted to their homes, or, in case of children of sufficient
age and intelligence, to the car by the attendants of the
playground. Parents inquiring for lost children were directed to
this place by guards and police. If the child had not yet been
brought in, the inquirer was informed the child would be taken
care of. The telephone and electric service proved of great
assistance. The ages of lost children ranged from 2 to 13 years.
The system kept track not only of those who were brought in, but
also of those who were reported lost, and the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition should have credit for a "lost children system" so
complete that children separated from parents or escorts were
restored to them in every case. "The method used for the care of
lost children is the most complete and far-reaching system that
has yet been devised for the use of any world's fair." (World's
Fair Bulletin, September, 1904.)

Mrs. Hirschfield gave the following gratifying statement in her
September report:

"The $5,000 appropriated by the board of lady managers has
assisted very materially in the ability to handle the increasing
number of lost children, the fund enabling the playground to
employ a larger number of trained assistants, and to add many
and attractive features.

"The expense incurred in the care of infants and lost children
was not contemplated in the original playground plan."

The accommodations for the children included bathing and laundry
facilities; clothing was furnished in some instances; two
luncheons were served daily; kindergarten classes were held
morning and afternoon; athletic exercises and baths were
furnished, and many were the children, boys particularly, who
thus enjoyed luxuries not otherwise obtainable.

Among the children attending the classes were a number who came
regularly, including children admitted free, whose parents were
employed in the exposition grounds. The fee charged to parents
who left their children to be cared for was, except in the case
of small infants, 25 cents a day. For babies requiring the
services of trained nurses, 50 cents. In the case of parents too
poor to pay no charge was made.

The ages of the children ranged from 2 weeks to 14 years. The
number cared for, by months, was as follows:

May and June, 483; July, 864; August, 1,160; September, 1,732;
October, 1,922; November, 1,189; making a total of 7,350.

The number of lost children brought to the playground was: In
June, 94; July, 132; August, 328; September, 248; October, 209;
November, 156; total, 1,166.

Children admitted free were newsboys, office boys, messenger
boys, all children earning their living, or whose parents were
employed within the exposition grounds. Many of these came
regularly. The hospitality of the playground was also open to
the children of the orphan asylums and other charitable
institutions and to the children of the city playgrounds and
kindergartens.

The number of children admitted free was, in May and June, 336;
July, 554; August, 8,616; September, 3,916; October, 1,789;
November, 5,700.

On November 2 the children of all nations were received by Miss
Helen M. Gould, who gave a souvenir gift to each child.

On November 24 the children of all nations attended Thanksgiving
dinner and ceremonies at the playground; 326 children were
seated at the tables. After dinner they played and enjoyed the
many features provided for their amusement. Every child took
home a box of dainties and a souvenir of Thanksgiving Day, that
traditional New England festivity. A member of the National
Commission planned the affair, and it proved a notable success.
Children of twenty-eight nationalities or tribes were gathered
on the playground at one time. No such representation ever took
place before, or was possible, except at the Model Play Ground
and Day Nursery of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

It continued to be of service even to the closing hour. On
December 1, the final day of the fair, 48 children, of whom 19
were less than 1 year old, were checked; 2,000 children were
admitted free of charge, and 31 lost children were cared for and
returned in safety to their homes or guardians.

In reviewing the experiences of the fair, it is gratifying to
realize that although the members of the board of lady managers
were not able to carry out one of their most cherished desires,
and suffered keen disappointment in the abandonment of the
crèche, still they had the pleasure of rendering material aid to
a beautiful work, for such certainly was the Model Play Ground
and Day Nursery.

Mrs. Hirschfield states that the assistance given by the board
of lady managers can not be measured, for far beyond the money
value of their appropriation was the power of their influence,
and the interest aroused was not alone for the occasion of the
fair, but would reach far into the future, affecting other
undertakings of a similar nature.

On the day following the close of the exposition, one of the
most able of the directors of the exposition expressed his
approval of the course of the board of lady managers. As
hostesses of the fair, he complimented them gracefully, and for
the attitude they had been obliged to take regarding the crèche,
of which he had been critical, he was happy to say he had been
converted, and he was convinced that the board had acted
prudently and wisely; that undoubtedly the attempt to carry on
the elaborate and expensive crèche would have ended in financial
failure and embarrassments; that the aid given Mrs. Hirschfield
had made the Play Ground and Day Nursery so effective that it
met all needs in a most acceptable manner and had proven one of
the most interesting and satisfactory features of the great
exposition.

Respectfully submitted.
EMILY S.G. HOLCOMBE, _Chairman_.
HELEN M. GOULD.
FRANCES M. HANGER.

The committee on woman's congresses was created by the first president of the board of lady managers in April, 1903, and its aim was to be instrumental in bringing together representative women of this and foreign countries, either as organized bodies or as individuals, in order that by discussion and comparison of all social, educational, charitable, and industrial aspirations, and an interchange of thought on important questions relating to the welfare of women, the higher intellectual, moral, and physical plane that has already been established might not only continue to be maintained, but mutual interests be renewed and encouraged. They hoped to thus foster a better understanding of the aims of women of the different countries, and, by strengthening their common cause and making possible uniformity of action, promote the advancement of women everywhere.

It was further desired by thus bringing together distinguished women from all parts of the world interested in mental development and philanthropic and reformatory work, to review not only the old, but add the new record of the historical progress of women to date, to learn not only the various achievements now being accomplished by the women of the world in all phases of life at the present time, but ascertain the objective height now sought or thought to be attainable for them in each country.

The committee felt that this exposition would afford an opportunity to carefully consider humanitarian interests, and record the close connection of women to the most important issues, their struggles, and their possibilities. The encouraging stimulus that would be given to them by the mutual expression of their hopes of the ultimate success of each earnest endeavor for their advancement, must inevitably result in aiding the elevation of women and the improvement of the conditions under which they live, and upon which not only their own welfare, but that of the nation, largely depends.

It was, therefore, a source of great regret to the members of the committee that their desire to carry out these commendable plans were doomed, in great measure not to be realized because, while the "suggestion" was again approved by the Exposition Company, no means were provided for the carrying out of the work, and their own appropriation was not received by the board in time to be made available.

The following is the final report of the committee on women's congresses:

The committee on women's congresses was appointed by Mrs. Blair,
April 19, 1903, and was composed of Mrs. Andrews, Mrs. Hanger,
and Mrs. Buchwalter, who was, by unanimous vote, made chairman
December 18 of that year.

When the committee was first created it asked for a letter of
instruction from the exposition board. This letter was received
together with a list of women's organizations which had been
compiled in the office of the Exposition Company. Communications
were at once sent to each of these associations, also to others
selected by the committee, in all more than fifty. In addition
to extending an invitation to hold its meeting at St. Louis
during the World's Fair, each organization was told that a place
of meeting would be provided, and that all possible aid would be
given in making preliminary arrangements by a board of
information which would be ready to supply any assistance
necessary in preparing for the meeting.

Up to this time it had been hoped that it would be possible to
inaugurate a series of meetings of women's associations which
would be congresses in more than name. The committee, however,
was confronted with the serious limitation of no treasury from
which to draw. At the last meeting of the board during the
incumbency of the first president, a committee had been
appointed with Mrs. Manning as chairman, which was to ask
Congress for $100,000 for the use of the board of lady managers.
It was hoped that this matter might be brought to the attention
of Congress at the special session in the fall of 1903, but the
delay caused by the necessity of electing a new president
retarded all the work of the board. Upon the election of Mrs.
Manning to the presidency a new legislative committee was
appointed which, unfortunately, was not able to report the
success of its mission of securing the appropriation until March
1, 1904, by which time all the organizations had perfected their
plans for that year, in consequence of which all idea of
congresses was reluctantly abandoned.

In the meantime responses were received from many of the larger
organizations, some of which said that experience had shown that
the interest of their stated meetings suffered when they were
held where there were so many counter attractions as were
offered by a great exposition; others did not respond at all. Of
those who accepted and held meetings in St. Louis in the season
of 1904, were the various fraternal organizations of women, the
General Federation of Women's Clubs, the National Mothers'
Congress, the International Council, Council of Jewish Women,
the Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society of
the Colonial Dames of America, the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, the P.E.O.'s, the Women's Christian Temperance
Union, the Women's Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae.

All the meetings which were held at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition were largely attended and noted for the enthusiasm of
the members and the great interest taken in the objects
represented by the respective organizations.

Respectfully submitted.
C.B. BUCHWALTER.
M.M. ANDREWS.
F.M. HANGER.

Pursuant to adjournment, on March 5, 1904, a meeting of the board of lady managers was called by the president for April 28, 1904, to enable the members to be present at the opening exercises of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which were to take place on April 30 of that year.

The board was in session until May 9, during which time many matters of importance were considered. Letters were read from organizations, reports received from chairmen of committees, and jurors appointed. On May 6 a resolution, presented by Mrs. Holcombe and amended by Miss Egan, was adopted, by which the president of the board was made active chairman of the executive, entertainment, and ceremonies committees, and full plans were made for the conduct of the affairs of the board during the coming months of the exposition period.

Twenty-one of the twenty-two members were present, and on the morning of April 30 the board met and proceeded in a body to the Administration Building, where they joined the president and directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, the members of the National Commission, and representatives from foreign countries, and, entering carriages, were driven to the Peace Monument, where seats were reserved for them. After the close of the interesting exercises officially opening the exposition, 5,000 invited guests adjourned to the Varied Industries Building, where luncheon was served. After a brilliant display of fireworks in the evening at the Stadium, the board of lady managers entertained a distinguished company at dinner, which closed the festivities of opening day.

The following is the final report of the committee on entertainment and ceremonies:

The board of lady managers took possession of their new building
which had been completed and furnished and was ready for
occupancy at the time they arrived in St. Louis for the meeting,
April 28, which was the first to be held in their own house, and
afforded them the earliest opportunity to see the structure and
the result of the work that had been done in preparing and
furnishing it for their use.

The first entertainment given by them was in honor of the
president and members of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Commission, on the evening of April 30, the official opening day
of the exposition. Invited to meet them was the representative
of the President of the United States, Secretary Taft, the
president of the Exposition Company and Mrs. Francis, the
directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company and their
wives, the governors of the States represented at the opening
exercises and their wives, the Senators, and Members of the
House, representing the two bodies of Congress, and other
distinguished visitors and citizens. It was a most brilliant and
interesting gathering, and not only rounded out the opening day
with satisfaction to all, but inaugurated the series of
entertainments that were to be afterwards given in the building
of the board of lady managers.

In the argument of President Francis before the appropriation
committee, in January, 1903, when asking Congress to make the
additional loan, he said:

"We are the nation's hosts, as we understand it. We propose to
entertain distinguished people from every section of the globe.
* * * Bear in mind we are entertaining the guests of the
Government, we think we are benefiting the commerce of the
country; we think we are doing a patriotic service in
commemorating a great event and bringing all classes into closer
relations, cementing the ties that bind the different sections
of the nation, affording our people opportunity to see something
of the people and customs and the resources of our possessions,
and, on the other hand, affording opportunity to those people to
become acquainted with this great country."

At the meeting of the board on March 2, 1904, after the board of
lady managers had obtained the appropriation from Congress that
placed it within its power to meet the requirements of its
position, President Francis was asked what he thought would be
the pleasure of the executive committee that the board do with
the funds so obtained, as no expression had been received from
the company as to what special duty it was anxious, or would
like, to have the board perform, to which President Francis
replied, that he "had not given the matter thought, but that the
board would want to do some entertaining; that the ladies were
well adapted to that; they were experienced in that sort of
thing and knew how to go about it. That he did not see much they
could do with the money aside from entertaining."

And thus the board of lady managers authoritatively took its
place in the great exposition, in the complex mechanism of which
it was but a single factor, and assumed the responsibility of
doing its share of the entertaining on behalf of women at the
exposition.

What form of government is there at the present time that is not
dependent upon the household of the executive and the homes of
the officials for the social success of an administration? An
exposition on the enormous scale of that which existed in St.
Louis partook in its management for the time being of the nature
of a government; an executive and official household was an
essential and important factor because the representatives of
all nations were to be entertained. As in this World's Fair, the
highest recognition was given to women, it was but reasonable
that women should be appointed to take the place set apart for
them, and to perform such duties as would be assigned to them in
any well-regulated government, and upon the broadest scale,
their province being that of national hostesses, their privilege
to extend a generous and far-reaching hospitality to all
official dignitaries from home and abroad who visited the
exposition.

Among the social events occurring at the building of the board
of lady managers, the following is a list of the more prominent
ones held during the exposition period:

Dinner to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission, April
30; reception tendered to Mrs. Francis, wife of the president of
the Exposition Company, May 9; reception to officers of Army and
Navy, present in and around St. Louis at that time, May 18;
luncheon to General Federation of Women's Clubs, May 19;
luncheon to Miss Roosevelt, May 31; tea to Musical Federation,
June 2; dinner to Prince Pu Lun, the official representative to
the exposition of the Empress An of China, June 10; reception to
foreign representatives at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition,
June 17; reception to P.E.O.'s, June 18; reception to governors,
and State and Territorial commissioners at the exposition, June
24; dinner to Governor Odell, of New York, and Mrs. Odell, June
28; visit of Cardinal Satolli, July 1; reception to Mrs. Charles
Mercer Hall, July 12; reception to Civic Federation, July 12;
reception to members of Interparliamentary Union, at which time
the building was draped with the flags of all nations, and the
national airs of the different countries represented were played
by the orchestra, September 12; reception to Mrs. Sarah S. Platt
Decker, president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs,
September 19; reception to members of the Congress of Arts and
Sciences, September 20; reception to members of the American Bar
Association and Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, September 30;
reception to the president, Mrs. Augustine Smythe, and officers
and members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, October
7; reception to the president, Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, and
officers and members of the National Society Daughters of the
American Revolution, October 11; reception to the governor of
Connecticut and his staff, October 13; tea to hostesses of State
and Territorial buildings, October 14; reception to the
president, Mrs. Herbert Claiborne, and members National Society
Colonial Dames of America, October 20; an informal dance,
October 25; reception to meet the president and members of the
Wednesday Club, of St. Louis, October 29; reception to meet the
members of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, November 3;
reception to meet the president and members of the Woman's Club
of St. Louis, November 7; informal dance, November 9; dinner to
President Francis, November 12; reception to Forest Park
University students, November 14; informal dance, November 18;
reception to Prince Fushimi, the official representative to the
exposition of the Mikado of Japan, November 22; dinner to
Jefferson Guards, Thanksgiving Day, November 24; final reception
of the board of lady managers on what was known as "Francis
Day," in honor of the president of the exposition, when the
board of lady managers kept informal "open house" and
entertained all who called on this, the last day of the
exposition, December 1.

The members of the board met their obligations with acceptable
dignity, offering cordial hospitality to all the important
bodies meeting within the exposition grounds. Their building was
the social center around which gathered the national and
international representatives of governments and organizations,
until more than 25,000 persons received specific invitation to
their official entertainments. And whether the hospitality was
extended to His Eminence, the emissary of the Pope, or whether
it was a reception to His Imperial Highness, the representative
of the Mikado of Japan, or a dinner to the envoy of Empress An,
of China, or to the governor of a State and his staff, or to the
members of the National Commission, or the officials of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, all were welcomed with
genuine cordiality, the board of lady managers never failing to
remember their responsibility and that they were representing
the nation and serving their country by thus doing their share
in affording an opportunity for all nationalities to become
acquainted with each other and with our social customs as
demonstrated at the exposition.

Respectfully submitted.
M. MARGARETTA MANNING, _Chairman_.
FANNIE LOWERY PORTER,
BELLE L. EVEREST,
JOSEPHINE SULLIVAN,
SALENA V. ERNEST,
M.K. DE YOUNG,
KATHARINE PRATT HORTON,
HELEN BOICE-HUNSICKER,
AMELIA VON MAYHOFF,
_Members of Committee_.

The ninth meeting of the board was called September 20, 1904. This was a special meeting called for the purpose of reconfirming the departmental jurors as is set forth in the final report of the chairman of the committee on awards.

An exposition must of necessity prove educational. The director of exhibits of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition said "The opportunity afforded for study and comparison of the various productions of human genius and activity classified and shown in detail, the finished product beside the methods and processes by which articles are produced, the vast systems of machinery in operation, and the skilled artisans occupied in difficult and intricate employments or native industries, representing accurately and in detail the latest development of the various arts and manufactures, makes it possible for not only the student to acquire knowledge, but each exhibitor may learn something from every other exhibitor in his class which may be to his advantage, and which may lead to the improvement of that which he produces, whether it be in the domain of art or manufacture, at home or abroad. The measure of the value of an international exposition is determined by the number of important countries represented by exhibits, the characteristics and comprehensive nature of these exhibits, or the excellence in quality according to the standards of the countries from which they come. That an exposition affords the greatest opportunity that manufacturers and producers of a nation have to increase their export trade by displaying their samples and products before the eyes of foreign people whose markets they seek. Exhibitors are commercial and noncommercial." The commercial exhibitor has as his chief object the advertisement of his business and consequent increase in the sale of his goods by means of his display and the possible receipt of an award which may prove valuable in future exploitation of his products. The noncommercial exhibitor has but the moral satisfaction of receiving the tangible assurance of the excellence of his work as represented by the award.

Though woman's work enters into almost all manufactured articles, its proportion in some is very small, and at the Columbian Exposition, where it was estimated that women had a share in nearly 350 industries, it was finally agreed between the board of control and the board of lady managers that the best method upon which to base the proportion of women on the juries would be to give them representation according to the amount of work done by women on articles to be judged in each department of the classification. This was a very satisfactory arrangement to that board, inasmuch as the manufacturers exhibiting were asked on the application blanks furnished them when they applied for space: "Was the work upon this exhibit done wholly or in part by women?" An affirmative answer entitled the board of lady managers to membership on the jury of awards, giving them a majority in any department where women were especially active, and a minority, or total exclusion, where she had contributed little or nothing to the department, which would seem a most equitable method.

The impossibility of ascertaining these facts greatly affected the right of representation of the board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition on the juries of awards.

President Francis, in his address to the board on March 2, 1904, spoke on this subject as follows:

I wish to say again--I think I have made this statement to you
before--that when we started the organization of the exposition
the question of separate fields of exhibit of competition was
suggested and advanced, but the stronger view was presented as
we believed by the stronger women, that there should be no
contest between individual members of the different sexes, but
that the work of each should be shown--that if women had not
arrived at that stage and made that advancement which permitted
them to compete with men's work, they had advanced but little.
Therefore we did not think of making any separate classification
for the exhibitions of women's work--they came in under the same
classification as men. On most of the lines of work upon which
women have entered, they are holding their own, if not in every
instance.

While there was formerly something to be said on each side of the question of separate exhibits, the extent to which women now enter into all departments of industrial and professional activities, renders it not only difficult, but in some instances almost impossible, to make a separate exhibit of the part they perform. It is true, if women were to-day eliminated from the employments in which they are now engaged and relegated to those of forty years ago, the exhibits of the nature of man's work would be in no wise affected, and women have not sufficiently taken the initiative (from lack of capital and adverse competition), in establishing large manufacturing plants to be enabled by these means to make exhibits on similar lines; but where women now work by the side of, and the quality of their mental and manual labor competes satisfactorily with that of men, it is now her right to receive unqualified recognition and consideration as an economic factor, and her work should not only be accorded the consideration and respect it deserves, but insure to her the receipt of equal compensation for equal services performed.

It is to be regretted that the example of other expositions was not followed in requiring manufacturers to indicate by means of some device placed upon their exhibit what proportion or percentage was "in whole or part the work of women," and it is urged that this be done in all future expositions, large and small, that all who are interested in this matter may ascertain the facts, and that the record of the kind of industries in which women share, and which portion of them they perform, may be available at all times as statistical information.

In selecting the jurors it is desirable and necessary that the most careful discrimination be used, in order to secure the best and most skillful women to represent each special department, and those well versed in the requisite technical knowledge.

At the meeting of the board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held April 29, 1903, the following resolution was offered by Mrs. Daniel Manning, and accepted by the board:

_Resolved_, First, it shall be the duty of the committee on
awards of the board of lady managers of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition, through its chairman or otherwise, to ascertain
definitely in regard to every exhibit in the exposition, whether
or not the labor of women was employed in its production.

Second, it shall be the duty of this committee to take any and
all action to secure and appoint competent jurors of awards in
every class and group of the classification where woman's labor
has been engaged in the production of any articles exhibited
therein.

A copy of this resolution, under date of May 2, was sent to the secretary of the local company, and the following reply received:

ST. LOUIS, _May 26, 1903_.

MADAM PRESIDENT: I am directed by President Francis to inform
you that the resolutions adopted by the board at a called
meeting on May 2, 1903, with reference to participation in the
award system, has been reported upon by the director of
exhibits, Mr. Skiff, who states that his division has taken
notice of the resolution, and will, in due time, prepare a list
of those exhibits which are in whole or in part the labor of
women.

Respectfully, W.B. STEVENS,
_Secretary_.

At a meeting of the board, held in the Administration Building March 1, 1904, in response to a call by the president for a report from the committee on awards, Mrs. Hanger, chairman of the committee, said:

This committee was named by Mrs. Manning after our last meeting,
as follows: Mrs. Hanger, Mrs. Knott, Miss Egan, Mrs. Porter, and
Mrs. Hunsicker. I happened to be here in January, and asked Miss
Egan to go with me to see Mr. Skiff. We waited two or three
hours and saw Mr. Skiff about fifteen minutes. It had been said
there were 200 jurors to be appointed, and we would only have
the appointing of 35 or 40 of them. He assured us that the lists
could not be made out as the exhibits were not installed. He
gave us some instructions in regard to the selection of jurors,
saying that they must stand for intellectual ability; it did not
matter how many people applied for appointment, we must be
governed by that.

I had a letter from Mrs. Manning suggesting that I try again. I
wrote to Mr. Stevens and he communicated with Mr. Skiff, and
later repeated to me the same thing. We have had quite a number
of names suggested, and I have written to the other members of
the committee asking them to come here as soon as the exhibits
are in place. I hope we can hold that meeting very early, but
until after that meeting I do not feel that we have anything to
report.

In response to questions from members of the board as to whether Mr. Skiff was to be understood to mean that there were but 35 or 40 things to be exhibited at the exposition which were made in whole or in part by women, Mrs. Hanger said that Mr. Skiff said the board "would only have the appointing of 35 or 40 women--that it was a matter of expense and that they must assist in keeping it down."

This decision was a source of great disappointment to the board, as it has been shown most conclusively that scarcely anything is manufactured that women do not at least share in the production or process of its manufacture. The act of Congress stated that there should be appointed by this board a member of every jury judging "any work that may have been produced in whole or in part by female labor," and the members were averse to an abridgment of the authority vested in them by the wording of the act.

Expositions are a natural and useful factor to women in that by their means new avenues of employment that are constantly being opened to them may be collectively demonstrated, and it can be shown in which of these they may share and excel or be most successful, and statistics may be compiled showing the proportion of wages that women receive for their share of labor performed equivalent to that of men, and other helpful information and facts procured which are not easily ascertained by other means.

The Departments of Machinery, Electricity, Transportation Exhibits, Forestry, Mines and Metallurgy, Fish and Game, and Physical Culture were not given representation by the Exposition Company on the group juries appointed by the board of lady managers, and while it is undoubtedly true that all of these fields have been invaded by women as assistant workers, yet evolution and progress in these lines are necessarily slow where their opportunities have not been commensurate with those of men and more congenial employment is undoubtedly afforded in education, art, liberal arts, manufactures, agriculture, horticulture, anthropology, and social economy.

The "Special Rules and Regulations providing for an International Jury and Governing the System of Making Awards," as applicable to the board of lady managers, read as follows:

The total number of jurors in the international jury of awards
shall be approximately 2 per cent of the total number of
exhibitors, but not in excess of that number, and each nation
having fifty exhibitors or more shall be entitled to
representation on the jury. The number of jurors for each art or
industry, and for each nationality represented, shall, as far as
practicable, be proportional to the number of exhibitors and the
importance of the exhibits.

Of this selected body of international jurors, three graded
juries will be constituted: One, the general organization of
group juries; two, department juries; three, a superior jury.

Each group jury shall be composed of jurors and alternates.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company shall certify to the
board of lady managers the numbers of groups in which the
exhibits have been produced in whole, or in part, by female
labor; to each of the groups so certified the board of lady
managers may appoint one juror and one alternate to that juror;
such appointees, when confirmed, shall have the privileges and
be amenable to the regulations for other jurors and alternates.

Nominations made by chiefs of departments, and by the board of
lady managers, shall be submitted to the director of exhibits,
and when approved he shall submit them to the president of the
Exposition Company.

The nomination of group jurors and alternates, when approved by
the president of the exposition, shall be transmitted to the
president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission for
the approval of that body.

The work of the group juries shall begin September 1, 1904, and
shall be completed not later than twenty days thereafter.

Examinations or other work not completed in the time specified
herein will be transferred to the department jury.

Each group shall carefully examine all exhibits pertaining to
the group to which it has been assigned. It shall also consider
and pass upon the merits of the collaborators whose work may be
conspicuous in the design, development, or construction of the
exhibits.

The jury shall prepare separate lists, presenting the names of
such exhibitors as are out of competition; awards recommended to
exhibitors in order of merit; awards recommended to
collaborators in order of merit; a report giving an account of
the most important objects exhibited, and a general account of
the group as a whole.

Each department jury shall be composed of the chairmen and
vice-chairmen of the group juries of the respective departments,
with one member of the directory of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company, to be named by the president of the company,
and one person appointed by the board of lady managers.

Each department jury shall complete its organization and begin
its work on September 20, 1904.

The duties of these juries shall be to consider carefully and
review the reports of the group juries; to harmonize any
differences that may exist between the recommendations of the
several group juries as to awards, and to adjust all awards
recommended so that they will be consistent with the rules and
regulations.

No more than ten days may be devoted to this work, and when the
awards recommended by the group juries have been adjusted the
department juries shall, through the chiefs of their respective
departments, submit their findings to the director of exhibits,
who shall, within five days after the receipt thereof, certify
the same to the superior jury, including such work as may have
been left incomplete by the department jury.

The officers and members of the superior jury shall be as
follows: President, the president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company; first vice-president, the director of
exhibits; second vice-president, a citizen of the United States
to be named by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission. The
members of the jury shall further consist of the
commissioners-general of the nine foreign countries occupying
with exhibits the largest amount of space in the exhibit
palaces, the chairmen and first vice-chairmen of the department
juries, the chiefs of the exhibit departments, and one person
appointed by the board of lady managers.

The superior jury shall determine finally and fully the awards
to be made to exhibitors and collaborators in all cases that are
formally presented for its consideration.

For the purpose of installation and review of exhibits and the conduct of the system of awards a classification was adopted which was divided into fifteen departments, which were divided into 144 groups, which in turn were subdivided into 807 classes. They will show that while many of the groups and classes are not suited to the requirements of woman's work, yet all products of female labor can be properly classed in these departments, and that there are extremely few occupations in which man is engaged in which woman can not and does not also work.

The list of appointments of group and department jurors appointed by the board of lady managers is given in the final report of the chairman of the committee on awards.

At a meeting held on May 9, 1904, the committee to present nominations for superior jury announced the names of Mrs. Eliza Eads How, Mrs. Philip N. Moore, Mrs. Thomas N. Neidringhaus, and Miss Mary E. Perry. On ballot the result was the election of Mrs. Philip N. Moore, of St. Louis, with Mrs. Eliza Eads How, of the same city, as alternate.

In order to arrive at some conclusion in regard to the representation of women at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and to gain some knowledge of the extent of her participation in exhibits, the following questions were addressed to the jurors appointed by the board of lady managers. They were not designed to be more than suggestive, as, of course, in some instances hardly more than one or two would apply to a given department. They were based on the rules and regulations, however, by which awards were issued.

The Department of ---- at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in
which you were a juror in group No. ----, contained ---- groups
and ---- classes within the groups. Can you give an approximate
estimate of the proportional number of exhibits by women
contained in these classes?

Please give the nature of the exhibits by women (or articles
exhibited by them) in your department, group, and classes.

Which, in your opinion, were the most striking exhibits by women
in your department?

What advancement did they show in the progress of women in any
special industry, art, science, etc.?

What proportion, or, approximately, what number, of exhibits
were installed by foreign women?

Was any display made that would lead you to think that women
were now capable of executing unusual or more creditable work
than they accomplished eleven years ago (at the time of the
Chicago Exposition) or at any time in the past?

In what way did their work (or exhibits) differ from their work
(or exhibits) of the past?

Would their work, as shown at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition,
where it was placed on equal terms of comparison with that of
men, prove helpful or suggestive to those interested in the
advancement and success of women's work? If so, how?

Was the work of women as well appreciated when placed by the
side of that of men?

Would the results have been better if their work had been
separately exhibited?

If you have attended previous expositions, please compare the
exhibits of the work of women shown in them with those shown at
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

Were any manufacturers asked (to your knowledge) to state the
percentage of woman's work which entered into the manufacture of
their special exhibits?

Were they shown in such manner as to indicate in any way, or to
enable you to distinguish, which part had been performed by
women, which by men?

In your opinion, what proportion of the work was performed by
women, as compared with that performed by men, in the groups and
classes that came under your supervision?

What proportion of women received awards in your group or
classes?

Was any new or useful or distinctive invention or process shown
as the work of woman, or special work of their art or handicraft
exhibited in your department; if so, please specify.

What can you say of the skill and ingenuity displayed in the
invention, construction, or application?

Were any of the exhibits of women developments of original
inventions, or an improvement on the work of some prior
inventor?

What was the value of the product, process, machine, or device,
as measured by its usefulness or beneficient influence on
mankind, in its physical, mental, moral, or educational aspects?

What of the merits of the installation as to the ingenuity and
taste displayed, and its value as an exposition attraction?

Did any new avenues of employment appear to be opened for women,
as shown by their exhibits at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition,
in the arts, sciences, industries, etc.; if so, to what extent;
what is their value?

In which of these will their work be of the most distinct value
by reason of the natural adaptability, sensitive or artistic
temperaments, and individual tastes of women?

In your opinion, what education will best enable women to enjoy
the wider opportunities awaiting them and make their work of the
greatest worth, not only to themselves but to the world, as
evidenced by their work at the exposition.

REMARKS.--Give any information or make any statement you may
think of interest in regard to the part taken by women as shown
by their work or exhibits at the exposition, and the beneficial
results to be derived by women in general by reason of their
representation at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

Department A, Education, of which Dr. Howard J. Rogers was chief, comprised 8 groups and 26 classes, the board of lady managers being represented in 6 of the 8 groups.

Group 1, Miss Anna Tolman Smith, of the Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C., juror.

Under the group heading of "Elementary Education," the four
classes into which it was divided represented kindergarten,
elementary grades, training and certification of teachers,
continuation schools, including evening schools, vacation
schools, and schools for special training. (Legislation,
organization, general statistics. School supervision and school
management. Buildings: Plans, models; school hygiene. Methods of
instruction; results obtained.)

In a letter Miss Smith says:

The chairmanship which I held in the group jury was that of the
committee on the report of the jury formed to prepare a survey
of the material presented to the attention of the group to serve
as an introduction to the secretary's minutes. Owing to
circumstances the committee were unable to work as a whole on
the report and it became consequently the sole work of the
chairman. I mention this fact because it illustrates the
equality of service as between men and women in the jury of
group 1.

Miss Smith's report is as follows:

WOMEN'S WORK AT THE EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITS, LOUISIANA PURCHASE
EXPOSITION.

With respect to the exhibits at St. Louis upon which the Jury on
Elementary Education (Group 1) were appointed to pass judgment,
it would be impossible to discriminate between the work of men
and women as therein illustrated.

These exhibits comprised first and chiefly the work of pupils;
second, photographs and models illustrating school architecture,
school appliances, and school life; third, statistical charts
and reports pertaining to the administrative work of school
systems.

The great bulk of the material in these exhibits belonged to the
first of the three divisions specified above. Since very nearly
three-fourths of the teachers in the public elementary schools
of the United States are women, it is obvious that the greater
proportion of the pupils' work exhibited was the direct outcome
of the efforts of women teachers.

In the South Atlantic and South Central divisions of our country
the proportion of women teachers is much smaller than in the
whole country; in the divisions named they form only a little
more than one-half the whole teaching force, but so far as they
were represented no difference was made between the work of men
and women as exhibited in the section here considered, nor was
there any difference in the mode of estimating the work.