Chapter XXXVIII: Introduction (6)

If we may apply to art what Goethe said of poetry we find that
among its votaries there are two kinds of self-half-informed
people, "dilettanti," he calls them, "he who neglects the
indispensable mechanical part, and he thinks he has done enough
if he shows spirituality and feeling, and he who seeks to arrive
at poetry merely by mechanism in which he can acquire an
artisan's readiness, and is without soul and matter."

This exposition has no doubt been the means of discouraging a
number of men and women from continuing in a profession for
which they are not qualified by the possession of any rare gift.
It is to be hoped, however, that the work accepted and shown at
the St. Louis Exposition will prove that a class of women
artists has been produced in the decade just past who have at
least learned the grammar of their chosen art work--the value of
simple lines and pure tones.

The work of the women was placed side by side with that of the
men artists and where the pictures would show to the best
advantage and harmonize with the surrounding ones.

In examining for awards the merit of the work was discussed and
considered regardless of the name the canvas bore; but that this
was the better plan for exhibiting women's work leaves room for
doubt, because as a whole women's work could not be viewed,
thereby leaving the exhibition incomprehensive to the average
visitor who could not grasp the importance of woman's
contribution to the world of art by the scattered pictures as
arranged in the various galleries of the Art Building. I do not
hesitate to say that women in general by their representation at
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition derived little or no benefit
by having their work placed side by side with that of men,
chiefly because it was reduced to insignificance by the small
proportion of works exhibited. Secondly, the visiting public was
not attracted by the fact that women had a picture here and
there hanging on some one of the walls in the Palace of Art.

Had their work been collected in one gallery the display would
have been more comprehensive and better appreciated. But,
nevertheless, this exposition has emphasized the fact that woman
fills an important place in the field of art. She wields her
brush deftly, conscientiously, and her canvases fit well side by
side with those of her brother artists.

Women at the exposition excelled most in figure paintings in
oils, and in this line of work have made greater progress since
the Chicago Exposition than in any other branch of the fine
arts. The execution is bold, free, and shows a greater
familiarity with the subject portrayed, though they have reached
a very high standard in watercolor landscapes and are notably
strong in miniature painting. The innate refinement and delicate
sense of detail and color which characterizes women are
prominent for the features for the production of the high finish
required in a miniature. Mural painting is beginning to attract
women, and with their love for beautiful homes they must soon
excel in this branch and bring decorative art to a fuller
perfection.

One of the crowning glories of this exposition is that it has
brought to the few American artists living at home the
opportunity to study the salient characteristics of the schools
of the various countries exhibiting at the St. Louis Exposition.

Twenty-four countries exhibited in the Fine Arts Department and
contributed to Groups IX and X 5,468 pictures from nearly 1,500
professional artists, of which number not more than 300 were
women (289) and fully half this number were represented by their
work in the United States section. The number of awards bestowed
in the United States section was 41 to women exhibitors against
239 to men. The total number given in the foreign sections,
collectively, was 17 to women against 398 to men. No work
executed prior to the Chicago Exposition was in competition for
award.

EXHIBITS BY WOMEN IN THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF GROUPS IX AND X.

United States: Oil paintings, 64; water colors, 41; mural
paintings, 6; miniatures, 42. Argentina: Oil painting (by Julia
Wernicke), 1. Belgium: Oil paintings, 21; water colors, 6.
Ceylon: Oil paintings, 2. Italy: Oil paintings, 9; water colors,
2. Nicaragua: Oil painting (Miss Andrea Garcia), 1. Portugal:
Oil paintings, 4. Sweden: Oil paintings, 6. England: Oil
paintings, 16; water colors, 13; drawings, 10. Austria: Oil
paintings, 3. Canada: Oil paintings, 10; water colors, 2.
Holland: Oil paintings, 21. Japan: Oil paintings, 5. Peru: Oil
painting (Miss Amalia Franco), 1. Russia: Oil paintings, 15;
water colors, 15. France: Oil paintings, 19; water colors, 17.
The two last-named countries (France and England) did not
exhibit in any department for awards.

List of honors conferred by the international jury of awards
upon women artists exhibiting in the Department of Fine Arts of
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition:

United States section.--Group IX, gold medal: Cecelia Beaux,
Lucia Fairchild Fuller, Laura C. Hills, Theodora W. Thayer.
Silver medal: Adelaide Cole Chase, Louise Cox, Helen Emmet,
Lidia F. Emmet, Rosina E. Sherwood, Janet Wheeler, Mary S.
Green, Elizabeth Nourse, Violet Oakley, Sara C. Sears, Susan
Watkins. Bronze medal: Ellen Witherald Ahrens, Martha S. Baker,
Alice Beckington, Emma Lampert Cooper, Mary C. Dickson, Elinor
Earle, Adele Herter, Emma Kipling Hess, Margaret Kendall, Anna
E. Klumpke, Clara T. MacChesney, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, Mabel
Packard, Pauline Palmer, Lilla Cabot Perry, Alice T. Searle,
Amanda Brewster Sewell, Mariana Sloan, Letta C. Smith, Mary Van
der Veer, A.B. Wing, Louise Wood. Group X, silver medal:
Charlotte Harding, Jessie Willcox Smith. Bronze medal: Maud
Alice Cowles, Elizabeth Shippen Green.

Belgium.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, silver medal: Louise
De Hem, Henriette Calias, Marie De Bievre, Juliette Witsman.

Canada.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, silver medal:
Florence Carlyle. Bronze medal: Laura Muntz.

Germany.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, bronze medal: Anna
Maria Wirth.

Holland.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, gold medal: Therese
Schwartze.

Japan.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, silver medal: Madam
Shoyen Uyemura. Bronze medal: Madam Giokushi Antomi.

Portugal.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, silver medal:
H.R.M. the Queen of Portugal.

Russia.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, bronze medal; Miss
Eliza Backlund, Miss Emile Loudon.

Sweden.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, bronze medal; Esther
Almquist, Fanny Brate, Anna Nordgren, Charlotte Wahtstrom.

Group 11, Mrs. Elizabeth St. John Matthews, New York City, Juror.

Under the group heading "Sculpture," the four classes into which
it was divided represented: Sculpture and bas-reliefs of figures
and groups in marble, bronze, or other metal; terra cotta,
plaster, wood, ivory, or other material; models in plaster and
terra cotta; medals, engravings on gems, cameos, and intaglios;
carvings in stone, wood, ivory, or other materials.

Mrs. Matthews reports as follows:

The recent Louisiana Purchase Exposition furnished further
evidence of the importance of such gatherings of the world's
artisans, and has left with us an illuminating impression of the
effectiveness of the greater civilization which is the result of
unification of national interest in the development of the
useful and beautiful. This is probably the greatest good from
such expositions, and they serve to cement the workers of the
world in one grand mosaic of endeavor.

The field of application is large, and the progressive people
are few. We are babes as yet in the ability to receive ideas,
and with comparatively little capacity for the expression of
them in tangible work, so that whatever tends to a common
interest that speaks for progress, let it be exultant cause for
practical thinkers to give their support to every such movement.

The wide identification women have accomplished in the fields of
industrials and art during the past decade has made it necessary
that the sex be taken into serious consideration in expositions,
and that requisite encouragement and support be given women it
is necessary that they should have adequate representation on
committees and boards that are formed for administration.
Service on such boards by women is invariably conscientious and
efficient, and for this reason their services are valuable in
all departments in which the work of women is involved, and it
is certainly obvious that socially they are indispensable.

As a member of the committee on awards in sculpture at the
recent exposition at St. Louis, I wish to say that in the
sculptural exhibit 60 out of 350 pieces, or 17-1/2 per cent,
were by women. Four of these pieces were by women of foreign
birth and residing in foreign countries. Of this number there
were a few portrait busts, and the remainder were ideal and
symbolic works.

The first impression one received in viewing the work in this
department was that there was a number of women sculptors in
this country of more than ordinary ability, and this impression
grew the more you examined their work with that of men. It is
true that by far the greater number of pieces sent by women were
small, but even they showed a capacity for conception,
construction, technique, and individuality that will ere long
make them fully the equals of men in this important branch of
the arts. And there were large pieces there, too, that spoke of
a daring that will soon develop into a confidence that promises
well for future work, and this element was what the women
sculptors of the country lacked more than any other.

The placing of their work alongside that of men will do much to
increase confidence in their own powers; and while it would not
be exact to say that the work of the two sexes was equal in
merit, the difference was not great. For this reason I think the
managers did an extremely wise thing in not segregating the work
of the two sexes, and to have placed them side by side, so that
the weak points could be discovered and remedied and the points
of excellence improved. All were delighted to see the
advancement women have made in sculptural art in the past few
years, and this advancement is attested by the fact that they
received 1 gold, 3 silver, and 16 bronze medals in this
department alone.

The progress they have made in the past ten years has been most
gratifying, and they are certainly progressing more rapidly
along certain lines than men. The deficiencies and points of
weakness brought out by this exhibition will soon be overcome,
and as women have become convinced that natural endowment does
not fit men for greater work than women, they will evolve
grander themes than heretofore. And by firmness with which woman
in art is already treading this upward path, she is convincing
others that another road exists than that which their feet knew.

It is positive that the encouragement given to man on account of
his physical prowess, by both men and women, has had a
psychological effect in helping him to evolve ideas and to carry
them out in tangible form. Women will be helped to a large
extent only by women; they must not wait for that help that has
been given man. They must do the work that comes to their
consciousness, or that which is given them to do, without
question or hesitation. There should not be any doubt or leaning
on any seeming staff. Women are the originators, the creators of
spiritual and material progress, and must not be fearful in
expressing themselves. The female mind is more refined, more
delicate, thus receiving truer perceptions than man's. The
sensitiveness of the woman nature is of much advantage in any
artistic endeavor.

The fine arts, music, poetry, painting, and sculpture, have been
the educators of nations. Now that woman's thought is finding
greater expression, their mental and moral influence on both
sexes will be great; and as such expositions are world-wide
educators, the beneficent influence of women as coworkers and
practical idealists is above and beyond computation as a proper
exposition attraction. It was a great surprise to the millions
of people who saw the excellence of talent that was shown by the
women artists, and the fact that women did it elevated the
sentiment and appreciation of art. Indeed, without the work of
women officially organized, and as individuals, it could not
have reached, as it did, the height of success.

Group 12, Miss Rose Weld, Newport News, Va., Juror.

Under the group heading "Architecture" the four classes into
which it was divided represented: Drawings, models, and
photographs of completed buildings. Designs and projects of
buildings. (Designs other than of architectural or constructive
engineering.) Drawings, models, and photographs of artistic
architectural details. Mosaics; leaded and Mosaic glass.

It is unfortunate that in this department the extent in which women share in the kind of work represented in this group was not demonstrated. While there are not many women architects of buildings as yet, it is believed that the number is rapidly increasing, and within the past ten years it has been discovered that their aptitude for designing and working in leaded glass is of the highest, their artistic tendencies rendering them peculiarly adapted to this kind of work.

Miss Weld reports as follows:

In this department there were only two women exhibitors, both
Americans. The English and French exhibits were not open for
competition, but, so far as I could find out, there were no
exhibits by women from either of these countries.

One of the American women exhibited as an architect some
attractive plans and interior views for a farmhouse. The other,
as a landscape architect, some photos of garden scenes.

This last exhibit was the more striking of the two, as it showed
that in the last few years women had made inroad into another
profession hitherto left to the men.

Miss Brown only finished her studies in landscape architecture
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1903, where she
was one of the first three women to take the course, a course
only established within the last few years, so that there has
not been much time in which to show what women can do in the
profession. It is only a step from private gardens to public
parks and grounds.

Until lately the laying out of the grounds has been left to the
landscape gardener, after the house and other buildings have
been completed by the architect. It is the idea of the landscape
architect, as I understand it, to consider both elements in the
original design, instead of leaving them to the different tastes
of the architect and landscape gardener in the hope of having a
more harmonious result.

Though both the exhibits mentioned above were appreciated in
their classes, I can not help thinking that not enough attention
was paid to the way they were presented, especially in the case
of the garden scenes. Six little photos mounted in one frame did
not show to the advantage or make the impression that the
working drawings and one large photo of the result would have
made.

As the work of men and women must stand side by side in the
world, the proper way is to exhibit it on terms of equal
comparison, as was done at St. Louis. If the work is better than
the men's, so much the more glory; if not so good, it ought to
arouse ambition.

It was a great disappointment to see such a small exhibit by
women in this department, a department where such creditable
work has been done by women in this country, and if there had
been at all a just representation I am sure it would have been a
great surprise to some of the foreign visitors. I hope the other
departments were better represented.

Group 14, Mrs. Eugene Field, Buena Park, Ill., Juror.

Under the group heading, "Original objects of art workmanship,"
the eight classes into which it was divided represented: Art
work in glass (other than that which is included in group 12);
art work in earthenware, pottery, or porcelain; art work in
metal (other than that included in group 11); art work in
leather; art work in wood (other than that included in group
11); art work in textiles; artistic bookbinding; art work not
covered by any other group.

It is to be regretted that Mrs. Field felt unable to make any report on this group, which so self-evidently must have contained much work done at least in part by women. It is well known that they have, within the past few years, entered the field of artistic bookbinding with the most gratifying success; that they excel in art work in textiles, and are proficient in art work in leather.

Department C. liberal arts, Col. John A. Ocherson, chief, comprised 13 groups and 116 classes, the board of lady managers being represented in but three of the groups.

Group 16, Miss Frances B. Johnston, Washington, D.C., Juror.

Under the group heading "Photography," the two classes into
which it was divided represented: (Equipment, processes, and
products); materials, instruments, and apparatus of photography;
equipment of photographic studios; negative and positive
photography on glass, paper, wood, cloth, films, enamel, etc.;
photogravure in intaglio and in relief; photocollography;
stereoscopic prints; enlarged and micrographic photographs;
color photography; direct, indirect, and photocolor printing;
scientific and other applications of photography; artistic
photography as applied to portraiture, landscapes, etc.

Miss Johnson says:

There were comparatively few women exhibitors whose work was
passed upon by our group jury, but notwithstanding this fact,
the work of the women ranked very high, and was fully recognized
in the awards. In this regard I do not venture to base any
report to you on my memory alone, and I have, so far, been
unsuccessful in getting any official list of the awards made.

Group 17, Mrs. Horace S. Smith, Chicago, Ill., Juror.

Under the group heading "Books and publications--Bookbinding,"
the seven classes into which it was divided represented
equipment and products: Newspapers, reviews, and other
periodicals; collections of books, forming special libraries;
new books and new editions of old books; drawings, atlases,
albums; musical publications; equipment, processes, and products
of making stitched books and of bookbinding; specimens of
bindings, stamping, embossing, gilding, etc.

No report.

That the work of women entered into the nature of the exhibit is shown by the fact that the Exposition Company granted the board representation upon it, and one has but to step into any large bindery to see scores of women busily engaged in the various departments, from folding the printed sheets to laying on the gold leaf. On newspapers the range of their work is from typesetting to editor in chief, and no library seems to exist at the present time without one or more women on its working staff.

Under the group heading "Maps and apparatus for geography,
cosmography, topography," the four classes into which it was
divided represented: Maps, charts, and atlases; geographical,
geological, hydrographical, astronomical, etc.; physical maps of
all kinds, topographical maps, flat or in relief; terrestrial
and celestial globes, statistical works and tables; tables and
nautical almanacs for the use of astronomers, surveyors, and
seamen.

Mrs. Woolwine writes:

Having served as juror in group 18 of the Department of Liberal
Arts at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, it gives me great
pleasure to make for you the best report I can on woman's work,
my knowledge of most of which has been obtained from outside
sources, as by neither registration nor cataloguing was there
any differentiation between the work of man and woman.

There were two very large relief maps of New Orleans and the
levee system of the Mississippi River, which were the work of
Miss Jennie Wilde, of New Orleans, and, while they rank low in
the final prize award, attracted a great deal of attention and
admiration. Comparatively speaking, I think this work much more
ambitious than that heretofore undertaken by a woman along this
line, and should prove a stimulus to woman in a new field. I
could not see that results would have been better if their work
had been separately exhibited.

So far as I know, manufacturers were not then asked to state the
percentage of woman's work which entered into their special
exhibits; nor were they, as a rule, shown in such manner as to
indicate in any way which part was performed by woman and which
by man. The grand prize work, I am informed by the Rand, McNally
Company, was nearly half performed by women; certainly 45 per
cent of it. In this the skill and ingenuity displayed and the
originality was not separable from that of her colaborers.

Group 18, which consisted of geographical work in general, was
hardly a fair test of woman's skill, surveying and engineering
having been considered out of her line. Therefore I consider the
one exhibit by woman a step forward along a new line, a
willingness to compass great things, an evidence of woman's
ambition and desire to succeed, but with her past education and
opportunities inadequate for equal competition.

If I may suggest, it will be greatly to our interest that women
should have their work so catalogued that they may have credit
for what labor they perform. No doubt much work is done in map
making by women, but no mention of it is catalogued or credit
for its excellence asked by them.

It seems to me that a committee to investigate these questions
at the beginning of each great exposition, or at the time of the
placing of the exhibits, would be of very great statistical
value in determining the amount of labor and the degree of skill
exercised by woman in these departments.

The art of embroidery has been supposed always to be one peculiarly belonging to women, but that the men at least occasionally invade the field of her occupations is shown by the fact that the large Japanese and Chinese maps exhibited in the Transportation Building were both done by men, and showed exquisite workmanship, particularly the embroidered one.

The letter Miss Wilde herself has written in regard to the work on her relief map of the levee system may be of interest, as this certainly represents a new field of labor for women. It counted one more gold medal in the awards.

All of the work on my relief maps was done by "woman," my sister
assisting me greatly. On account of the limited time I had to
finish the maps in, I was unable to finish them entirely myself,
so had to employ assistants, but in each case it was the hand of
woman. I received a gold medal for my work, or rather my work
received a gold medal, it being an order from the State of
Louisiana, and forming a part of their exhibit the medal had to
become the property of the State.

Surveying and engineering I have never studied, except in the
making of these maps, when every assistance in regard to data,
etc., was given to me by the most noted State and city
engineers, they coming from time to time to supervise the work,
and laughingly saying, when I had completed the same, that they
would have to give me a diploma for proficiency in the
profession. Of course I had to read up and learn a great deal in
regard to surveying and engineering in making the maps, as
everything is done correctly to a scale.

Department D, manufactures, Mr. Milan H. Hulbert, chief, comprised 24 groups and 231 classes, the board of lady managers being represented in but 7 groups.

This would seem to be one of the departments where women should have been accorded fuller recognition. Space does not permit an examination of the number of groups into which their work largely enters, but in the group of "clock and watch making," for instance, it would seem scarcely just not to grant them their full measure of praise for work well done. In one factory alone in Massachusetts, where more than 3,000 persons are employed, hundreds of them are women and girls, employed not only in assembling the parts, but attending various machines. Under the group "Toys," also "Dolls, playthings," it is self-evident women must have much to do with their manufacture and preparation for the market, and their inventions of toys and playthings for children would seem to preeminently entitle them to the place in this group which was denied them.

Group 37, Mrs. R.A. Edgerton, Milwaukee, Wis., Juror.

Under the heading "Decoration and fixed furniture of buildings
and dwellings," the nine classes into which it was divided
represented: Permanent decoration of public buildings and of
dwellings. Plans, drawings, and models of permanent decoration.
Carpentry; models of framework, roof work, vaults, domes, wooden
partitions, etc. Ornamental joiner work; doors, windows, panels,
inlaid floors, organ cases, choir stalls, etc. Permanent
decorations in marble, stone, plaster, papier-maché, carton
pierre, etc. Ornamental carvings and pyrographics. Ironwork and
locksmiths' work applied to decoration; grill work and doors in
cast or wrought iron; doors and balustrades in bronze, roof
decoration in lead, copper, zinc, dormers, spires, finials,
vanes; crest and ridge work. Decorative paintings on stone,
wood, metal, canvas, or other surfaces. Signs of all varieties.
Mosaic decorations in stone or marble for flooring; enameled
mosaic for walls and vaulted surfaces. Various applications of
ceramics to the permanent decoration of public buildings and
dwellings.

As much time was consumed in endeavoring to communicate with the principal of this group, Mrs. Edgerton as alternate did not arrive in St. Louis until the work of the jury was far advanced, and therefore could make no report.

Group 45, Mrs. Isaac Boyd, Atlanta, Ga., Juror.

Under the group heading "Ceramics," the 13 classes into which it
was divided represented: (Raw materials, equipment, processes,
and products.) Raw materials, particularly chemical products
used in ceramic industrials. Equipment and methods used in the
manufacture of earthenware; machines for turning, pressing, and
molding earthenware; machines for making brick, roofing tile,
drain tile, and pottery for building purposes; furnaces, kilns,
muffles, and baking apparatus; appliances for preparing and
grinding enamels. Various porcelains. Biscuit of porcelain and
of earthenware. Earthenware of white or colored body, with
transparent or tin glazes. Faience. Earthenware and terra cotta
for agricultural purposes; paving tiles, enameled lava.
Stoneware, plain and decorated. Tiles, plain, encaustic, and
decorated; mosaics, bricks, paving bricks, pipes. Fireproof
materials. Statuettes, groups and ornaments in terra cotta.
Enamels applied to ceramics. Mosaics of clay or of enamel. Mural
designs; borders for fireplaces and mantels.

No report.

Group 53 (later combined with Group 61), Mrs. F.K. Bowes, Chicago, Ill., Juror.

Under the group heading of "Equipment and processes used in
sewing and making wearing apparel," the nine classes into which
it was divided represented: Common implements used in
needlework. Machines for cutting clothes, skins, and leathers.
Machines for sewing, stitching, hemming, embroidering, etc.
Machines for making buttonholes; for sewing gloves, leather,
boots and shoes, etc.; plaiting straw for hats. Tailors' geese
and flatirons. Busts and figures for trying on garments.
Machines for preparing separate parts of boots and shoes
(stamping, molding, etc.). Machines for lasting, pegging,
screwing, nailing. Machines for making hats of straw, felt, etc.

Mrs. Bowes writes as follows:

AMALGAMATION OF GROUPS 53 AND 61.

Chairman, Daniel C. Nugent, St. Louis; honorary vice-president,
Jean Mouilbeau, Paris, France; first vice-president, John
Sheville Capper, Chicago; second vice-president, J.E. Wilson,
Elmwood, Ill.; secretaries, Charles W. Farmer, New York City,
and Ella E. Lane Bowes, Chicago (elected by the jury to fill the
place of Secretary Charles Farmer, owing to his being called to
New York City). Group 53: Chairman, J.E. Wilson, Elmwood, Ill.;
vice-chairman, Charles E. Moore, Brockton, Mass.; secretary,
Ella E. Lane Bowes, Chicago, Ill.; Mary G. Harrow, Ottumwa,
Iowa; Mathilda Ripberger, Dresden, Germany. Group 61: Chairman,
John Sheville Capper, Chicago, Ill.; secretary, M. Blum, Paris,
France; M. Mouilbeau, Paris, France; Eugene Leonard, Paris,
France; Fred L. Rossback, Chicago, Ill.; W.E. McClelland, New
York City; M. Magai, Japan; Nellie Saxton, Brazil; Celia Nelson,
Philadelphia, Pa.; Ella E. Lane Bowes, Chicago, Ill.

_Group 53_.--Group 53 was composed of two men and two women
jurors, viz, the chairman and vice-chairman, men; the secretary,
the writer, an American, and a German woman.

Group 53 was composed of equipments, processes, etc. Class 326,
common implements used in needlework. Class 327, machines for
cutting clothes, skirts, and leathers. Class 328, machines for
sewing, stitching, hemming, embroidering. Class 329, machines
for making buttonholes; for sewing gloves, leather, boots and
shoes, etc.; plaiting straw for hats. Class 330, tailors' geese
and flatirons. Class 331, busts and figures for trying on
garments. Class 332, machines for preparing separate parts of
boots and shoes (stamping, molding, etc). Class 333, machines
for lasting, pegging, screwing, nailing. Class 334, machines for
making hats of straw, felt, etc.

In this group of nine classes there was no distinctive exhibits
by women, but the outcome of their skillful labor on the
wonderful machines was purely their own and well displayed.

The most practical exhibit of woman's work was the finished
product of sewing machines in the United States and Great
Britain sections.

The Singer sewing machine exhibit furnished the best display in
the group. The work was very fine in detail, done by skilled
artisans.

Among the work in the homely arts were shoes, corsets,
underwear, and skillful darning. The manufacture of these useful
articles proved interesting.

In the beauty arts was displayed embroideries and fancy
monograms, a skilled workman demonstrating a machine that would
produce twelve monograms at one time in elaborate embroidery; in
fact, the machines seemed as human as the workers themselves;
although they were not talkers, they were "Singers."

Among the notable exhibits in this group was the attractive
display of paper patterns. The Butterick Pattern Company
exhibited on life-size wax figures the evolution of dress during
the past one hundred years, true to the fashions of each decade
in style, color of dress, and bonnet.

The McCall Company's exhibit consisted of life-size wax figures
attired in paper patterns, up to date in all the idiosyncracies
demanded by fashion, an educational feature in this line of
work.

As a work of art the large and handsome display of paper
costumes has never been equaled. No such display of costumes,
representing lace, velvet, linen, silk, cloth, etc., all made in
paper, has ever been seen anywhere in the world prior to this
exhibit; and this work of art was the handicraft of women.

In the Homer Young Company's sewing machine the demand and
supply for women's comfort was again called out in the combined
dressing table and sewing machine, a good invention for flats,
the fad of the day, that was designed for convenience.

The electric flatirons were certainly an advance in the right
direction.

A great time saver was the "Universal button fastener,"
"guaranteed not to come off."

In some departments of manufacture exhibits the percentage of
woman's labor was said to be 10 per cent; the wax-figure
department, 75 per cent; in operating sewing machines for the
manufacture of wearing apparel, etc., the percentage is about
90. Operation of sewing machines and kindred industries have
reached about as high a state of perfection as possible. The
same holds good in regard to the Singer sewing machines of Great
Britain. Their output is larger for machines for the manufacture
of embroideries, lace, saddlery, leather, top-boots, sewings,
and upholstery. A specialty of machine work was their fine
hemstitching. Perhaps the attractiveness of the Singer sewing
machine exhibits was owing largely to the fact that they were
shown in motion.

Germany's sewing-machine product showed great skill in
workmanship. Lintz & Eckardt, Berlin, displayed the output of
eight styles of embroidery machines, ribbon plaiting, and a
three-needle machine with band apparatus, which turned out
wonderful work of bead and silk embroideries on silk and other
fabrics.

The many dress cutting and ladies' tailoring systems, again the
inventions of man, are perhaps among the most useful in women's
work to-day in teaching dress cutting from a perfect system, and
greatly assisting in the work of drafting garments from actual
measurements. They are time savers, and are so constructed as to
follow the changes in fashion, and women can, by their use,
become expert workmen and display artistic skill. A great
advancement has been made along this line of work during the
past ten years, or since the last exposition; not only from a
practical standpoint, but as an educational feature, especially
in rural districts, for through their schools, conducted through
correspondence, they have enabled women throughout the country
to learn dressmaking and to keep in close touch with the styles
of the world. The McDowell system, for manufacturing purposes,
is superior, and under a skilled workman is most correct. The
Edward Curran drafting machines are useful for the novice--good
on account of their simplicity, being more portable on account
of folding into a small compass. The same can be said of the
Valentine system.

In this group there was no installation by foreign women.

In group 53 there was nothing unusual displayed that would lead
one to think that women were more capable of executing more
advanced work than they accomplished eleven years ago.

In the Louisiana Purchase Exposition woman's work was installed
in such a manner and not being specified, one could not tell
where their work began and where it left off. As to the
appreciation of woman's work, it was taken as a whole and was
judged as a work of mankind. Women's work and men's work of
to-day would be hard to separate. Perhaps if women's work could
be brought out more prominently it would be better for them. No
work was displayed in such a manner as to enable one to
distinguish between the two. In the manufacture of personal
effects, the larger proportion was women's work. No woman
received an award in group 53 to my knowledge.

As has been said before, the operation of machines is especially
women's work. Women were not the inventors, but they displayed
ingenuity and skill in the operation--application. Although they
are not the original inventors, it is a well-known fact that
many improvements are women's suggestions. Their working at the
machines and the ingenuity and taste displayed in the choice of
work was of marked value as an exposition attraction.

_Group 61. Various industries connected with clothing (processes
and products)_.--Class 383, hats; hats of felt, wool, straw,
silk; caps, trimmings for hats. Class 384, artificial flowers
for dressing the hair, for dress and for all other uses.
Feathers, millinery, hair: coiffures, wigs, switches. Class 385,
shirts and underclothing for men, women, and children. Class
386, hosiery of cotton, wool, silk, and floss silk, etc.;
knitted hosiery, cravats, and neckties. Class 387, corsets and
corset fittings. Class 388, elastic goods, suspenders, garters,
belts. Class 389, canes, whips, riding whips, sunshades,
parasols, umbrellas. Class 390, buttons; buttons of china,
metal, cloth, silk, mother-of-pearl or other shell, ivory, nut,
horn, bone, papier-maché, etc. Class 391, buckles, eyelets,
hooks and eyes, pins, needles, etc. Class 392, fans and hand
screens.

Owing to Mr. Farmer being called to his home, Mrs. Ella E. Lane
Bowes, secretary of group 53, served as secretary of group 61
also. Group 61 was composed of 11 individuals, 7 men and 4
women, with an American for chairman and a Frenchman for
secretary, and two vice-chairmen.

Group 61 contained 30 classes. Within this group there was no
especial exhibit by women, although their work stood out in
prominence.

The most striking display was the corset display of Birdsey &
Sumers, of New York. The corsets were shown on wax half-size
figures, the color scheme being carried out in detail to match
the corset. The most prominent figure was one done in white
satin and real lace with jewel clasps, etc. This display, from
its artistic arrangement and elegant materials was in conformity
with the French exhibits. With the exception of the jewels, it
was purely of American production; and the arrangement and
display of the exhibit was due to an American woman, an employee
of the manufacturer.

Another notable display was that of Kops Brothers, of New York.
They exhibited the "Nemo" corset and the "Smart Set," in an
artistic manner. The arrangement of this display was also due to
a woman.

Strouse-Adler & Co., New York City, showed a practical exhibit
of what was termed by the exposition officials a "live exhibit,"
manufacturing garments from start to finish, and was an
attractive display. These demonstrations were by women.

In the exhibit of the American Hosiery Company, New Britain,
Conn., the goods were up to the high standard of the "Grand
Prix."

The Lewis Knitting Company, Janesville, Wis., made an attractive
display, and the writer was told at this exhibit that the
garments were brought to a high state of perfection through the
ingenuity of Mrs. Lewis.

The Wayne Knitting Mills, Fort Wayne, Ind., made a very
beautiful display of fine knit goods, the work of women.

The Kleinert Rubber Company, New York City, made an artistic
display of fancy things and were assisted in the arrangement of
same by a woman. This exhibit should have special mention for
having had everything in place and on time before opening day,
which could not be said of many others. I was told that here
also many of the improvements were the suggestions of women.

Many of the finest exhibits in this group were ladies' lingerie.
There were many creditable exhibits of women's underwear, the
work of their hands, and marvelous creations in bead embroidery,
lace, and artificial flowers.

A most brilliant display was made by the Rosenthal-Sloan
Millinery Company, consisting of artificial flowers manufactured
by women. This artistic display was said to have been suggested
and carried out in detail by a woman. A unique feature of this
display was a map of the United States, each State being formed
with its adopted flower, the States being outlined in golden
rod, the proposed national flower.

The writer understood that in some of the underwear and hosiery
mills women were superintendents of departments and employed in
great numbers in other work, the proportion of women to men
being between 80 and 90 per cent.

The J.B. Stetson Company, of Philadelphia, Pa., made a good
practical display of hats, and in their line the finished
product was equal to any in the world, and showed great progress
since the Columbian Exposition, when the writer had the pleasure
of judging their exhibit. The average of woman's work is about
equal.

In this group the advancement in special industries has been in
the processes of women's work in the knit goods and corsets,
which show greatest improvement. The creditable work shown in
the arrangement and display of exhibits by suggestions and
carrying out of detail by women leads one to think that women
are more remarkable along these lines of work and have
accomplished much in the last eleven years, since the time of
the Chicago Exposition, or at any time in the past.

Their work was more individualized in former expositions, while
in the latter it was impossible to draw comparisons in the
advancement or success of women's work, the work not being
placed in such a way as to enable one to judge whether it was
solely that of women or men. All work was exhibited as the work
of mankind in general, and could not be classified under the
head of either women's or men's work.

Where manufacturers were questioned relative to the percentage
of women working in their establishments, they gladly answered
the questions.

No woman received an award in this group.

Among the useful and distinctive inventions shown were the
garter supporters, well known to be the invention of a woman.

The underwear in general, corsets, and accessories are more
useful and more healthful from a physical standpoint, especially
the corsets of to-day. This is an advancement.

There was more ingenuity displayed in the installation and taste
in artistic arrangement of the exhibits, making them of greater
value as exposition attractions; whereas in former expositions
Philadelphia was experimental, the World's Columbian Exposition
educational, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition exploitive.

There is no reason why women should not have a large
representation, if not equal with men, in all expositions. While
they may not be the real inventors of the machines, devices,
etc., they many times are the suggestors. Being the spenders and
buyers for the home and family makes them more competent as
judges of merchandise of all kinds and quicker to note
improvements.

In the work of the world, especially in anything pertaining to
the home, educational matters, arts, and professions, women hold
such a prominent place to-day, almost exclusively doing the work
in the manufacture of articles and habiliments for creature
comforts, that it is impossible to ignore them.

_Summary of groups 53 and 61 (jury composed of 19 persons)_.--In
previous world's fairs they were called judges, but at this one
they were "jurors."

It would be well to dwell upon the vastness of the work
accomplished by the petit jury within a brief period of time,
for they were in constant work for twenty days, from morning
till night, visiting the many exhibits. Upon examination, the
value of the commodity or product was decided and the usefulness
of the same and comparisons made with similar exhibits,
consultation in jury meetings, where the many good points of the
exhibits were presented and discussed, and a final decision was
reached by vote of the jury as a whole.

The various machines were for the manufacture of women's
habiliments, with the much-needed garment-drafting machine,
which, if not invented by women, was at their suggestion and
creation of the demand for supplies.

The up-to-date paper patterns, wax figures, papier-maché forms,
milliners' findings, and sewing machines made the grand whole.
The finished products were the marvelous creations of her hands,
for, as truly said, man did invent these machines, but women
work and bring forth the grand finale, therefore one is not
complete without the other. In all things it takes the good work
of men and women to complete the whole. And this applies to jury
work as well.

From the writer's experience in expositions up to date she would
approve the combination of the John Boyd Thatcher individual
judge and diploma systems, together with the bronze, silver,
gold, and "grand prix," which would be preferable from an
educational standpoint and also to show to the world what the
medal was given for. Also, the group or petit jury doing the
work should combine with a larger jury, and perhaps a court of
appeal, it being impossible for anyone in a higher court to know
the why and the wherefore of the workers of the petit jury; and
as far as the writer could learn it was the concensus of opinion
of both exhibitors and jurors, as heretofore stated, that the
opportunity to hold to the last was more preferable.

As an observer of the workings of world's fairs from the
Centennial at Philadelphia, and also being closely allied with
other great fairs, having visited same since that time and being
a judge heretofore, will repeat the general remark of exhibitors
and judges of former expositions. The consensus of opinion was
that "no world's fair was complete without a jury composed of
men and women, a just representation," working in unison and
perfect accord with only one end in view--justice to all.

Group 61 (combined with 53, as above), Mrs. A.G. Harrow, Ottumwa, Iowa, Juror.

Under the group heading, "Various industries connected with
clothing," the ten classes into which it was divided represented
(processes and products): Hats; hats of felt, wool, straw, silk;
caps, trimmings for hats. Artificial flowers for dressing the
hair, for dress, and for all other uses. Feathers. Millinery.
Hair; coiffures, wigs, switches. Shirts and underclothing for
men, women, and children. Hosiery of cotton, wool, silk, and
floss silk, etc.; knitted hosiery; cravats and neckties. Corsets
and corset fittings. Elastic goods, suspenders, garters, belts.
Canes, whips, riding whips, sunshades, parasols, umbrellas.
Buttons, buttons of china, metal, cloth, silk, mother-of-pearl,
or other shell, ivory, nut, horn, bone, papier-maché, etc.
Buckles, eyelets, hooks and eyes, pins, needles, etc. Fans and
hand screens.

Mrs. Harrow reports as follows:

The work of group 53, of which I was a member, did not take us
very extensively among the women exhibitors of the exposition,
but in every instance where their work came under our
observation or inspection they demonstrated their marked ability
in the manner and taste shown in their display, and in some
instances, where their competitors were men, they proved the
fact that if their work was not superior, it was at least equal
to that of the men.

In my opinion it is better for women's work to come in
competition with that of men and not be separated.

All women in general, I feel sure, must have been greatly
benefited by having a fair representation at the exposition, as
it could not but help placing a higher standard upon all women's
work, and that work in particular in which she excelled.

And as woman's work receives benefit, and also success by being
placed on equal terms of comparison with that of men, so
likewise may man's work receive helpful suggestions and real
advancement by being brought into competition with the work of
women.

Group 58 (later combined with Group 59), Mrs. E.D. Wood, Indianapolis, Ind., Juror.

Under the group heading "Laces, embroidery, and trimmings," the
seven classes into which it was divided represented: Lace made
by hand, laces, blond or guipure, wrought on pillow or with the
needle or crochet, made of flax, cotton, silk, wool, gold,
silver, or other threads. Laces made by machinery; tulles, plain
or embroidered; imitation lace, blond and guipure, in thread of
every kind. Embroidery made by hand; embroidery by needle or
crochet, with thread of every kind, on all kinds of grounds
(fabric, net, tulle, skin, etc.), including needlework upon
canvas, as well as embroidery appliqué or ornamented with gems,
pearls, jet, spangles of metal or other material, feathers,
shells, etc. Embroidery made by machinery, with the foundation
preserved, or with the foundation cut or burned away. Trimmings;
galloons, lace or braids, fringes, tassels, all kinds of
appliqué and ornamental work, handmade or woven, for millinery
or garments, ecclesiastical vestments, civil or military
uniforms; for furniture, saddlery, carriages, etc.; threads and
plates of metal, gold or silver, real or imitation, spangles,
chenilles, and all other articles used for trimmings. Church
embroidery; church ornaments and linen; altar cloths, banners,
and other objects for religious ceremonies in fabrics ornamented
with lace, embroideries and trimmings. Curtains, with lace,
guipure, or embroidery, upon tulle or fabrics; blinds, screens,
portieres, lambrequins, and other draperies, ornamented with
lace, embroidery, and trimmings.

Mrs. Wood writes:

Our jury was a large one--about thirty members. They came from
France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, China, Japan, Great Britain,
Mexico, Porto Rico; the other members were Americans, and
represented the different States. The work we were to do was
what was known as "groups 58 and 59," and covered so much ground
we found that in order to finish in the required time we would
have to divide our jury, so that some were detailed to examine
embroidery, others costumes, trimming, laces, etc. I was on the
lace committee. Laces made by hand, wrought on pillows, by
needle or crochet, silk, wool, gold, silver, or thread,
machine-made laces, imitation, embroidered tulles, and lace
curtains. It would be impossible to describe the beauties of the
lovely laces, the time, patience, and labor given to them. We
examined the exhibits in the Manufacturers' Building, Varied
Industries, all foreign buildings. The work done by women in the
Philippines, Porto Rico, Mexican and Alaskan exhibits was as
fine in texture and as beautiful as imported laces. The work in
every instance was as handsome as that shown at the Chicago
World's Fair, but perhaps not on so large a scale.

I was a member of a committee of four appointed to adjust the
losses on the handsome imported costumes and wraps in the French
section that were damaged during a wind and rain storm that
swept over the exposition grounds during the summer and damaged
the building and the immense glass cases containing these
valuable goods, the loss of which amounted to hundreds of
dollars to the Exposition Company.

Group 59 (combined with Group 58 above), Mrs. William S. Major, Shelbyville, Ind., Juror.

Under the group heading "Industries producing wearing apparel
for men, women, and children," the four classes into which it
was divided represented: Clothing to measure for men and boys;
ordinary costumes, suits for hunting and riding, leather
breeches and similar articles; suits for gymnastic uses and
games, military and civil uniforms, campaign clothing of special
types, robes and costumes for magistrates, members of the bar,
professors, ecclesiastics, etc., liveries, various costumes for
children. Clothing, ready-made, for men and boys. Clothing to
measure for women and girls; dresses, vests, jackets, cloaks
(made by ladies' tailors, dressmakers, or cloak makers), riding
habits, sporting suits. Clothing, ready-made, for women and
girls. Patterns.

Mrs. Major reports as follows:

In group 58, Department of Manufactures, the proportional number
of exhibits by women contained in these classes was small--I
would think about 10 per cent. Groups 58 and 59 exhibited laces,
embroideries, trimmings, decorations for gowns, costumes, and
wraps, drawn work and Tenneriffe. Art needlework was the most
striking exhibit by women in that department. Women showed great
advancement in each industry, without question. Very few
exhibits were installed by foreign women; the foreign costumes
were largely from the man tailor. The needlework in the Visayan
Village of the Philippine exhibit was of a very high order, but
no provision was made to grant awards upon this--the Philippine
exhibit--and Miss Anna Woolf, of St. Louis, and I called the
attention of the authorities to the deserving character of the
exhibit and made a plea for awards to be made by the higher
jurors, and they promised to do so. I do not know whether it was
done or not, however, but there was no woman's work in the whole
Louisiana Purchase Exposition more deserving or of higher grade
than the needlework in that village exhibit. Enough can not be
said of these little workers. The present age is one of
superiority, in which women not only show their ability, but
each year they are granted more, and more widespread becomes
their ability to grasp all vocations and fill them most
creditably.

I am confident there was no question of the interest shown by
men in woman's work; in fact, I think it attracted more
visitors, and the results would not have been better if their
work had been separately exhibited.

The work shown at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was on a
much greater and higher plane than ever has been exhibited
before. Where women exhibited they received a greater number of
awards in proportion. Miss Mary Williamson was an original
designer of artistic needlework, showing exceptional talent, and
was awarded a grand prix for her designs.

I attended the Paris Exposition of 1878, also the Centennial at
Philadelphia, 1876; spent much time at the Columbian World's
Fair in Chicago, and possess a diploma and gold medal for my
artistic needlework exhibited at the Columbian Exposition.

Miss Margaret Summers, of Louisville, Ky., was also a juror in the above-combined groups 58 and 59, and writes:

In group 59 the costumes made by men were about twice as many as
those made by women, though the handsomest of the exhibits was
the work of a woman, Caroline, of Chicago.

All the work done by women showed a great improvement over that
exhibited at the Chicago Exposition, not only in the cut and
design, but in the artistic finish and the care given to every
detail.

The hand work was a special feature of all the garments for
women in the lingerie, gowns, and manteaux.

The most intricate designs were executed in a manner betokening
the true artist, and none but those educated in the art of
combining colors and in designing could have obtained the
results seen at St. Louis.

The tendency in all garments for women, however, was toward the
ornate rather than the simple, and with but few exceptions every
gown, every wrap, and all the lingerie was most elaborate. But
the hand of the true artist was shown in these garments in that
they were beautiful and in good taste in spite of their
elaborateness.

It would have been advantageous if the women's work had been
arranged separate from the men's, because they would have
attracted more attention as a woman's exhibit per se and would
therefore have called greater attention to the progress women
have made in these lines. In other words, the separate exhibit
would have served better for a comparative study of woman's
advancement in the past ten years.

There was a greater variety of woman's work than was shown at
the Chicago Exposition, and that in itself showed an
advancement. The greater scope gave evidence of a broadening
influence, and the women showed themselves proficient in all
they undertook.

As compared with the work of men, I should say that the women's
exhibit had every right to be placed side by side with the
men's, just as was done.

In Group 58 was eventually placed the wonderful piece of embroidery of the "Sistine Madonna," the work of Miss Ripberger, of Berlin. The linen upon which the life-like figures were wrought was probably 6 by 8 feet in size, and in order to reproduce the colors the silk had been matched with the colors in the original painting. The reproduction of Raphael's wonderful work was a marvel of artistic ability and patience, and was exquisitely executed. It justly deserved the grand prix accorded it.