NAWSA GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE International Woman's Suffrage Alliance - 1946 Telephone: Wembley 4261 International Alliance of Women Voters For Equality, Liberty, And Peace Alliance Internationale Des Electrices Pour L’egalite La Liberte, La Paix Internationaler Staatsburgerinnenverband Fur Gleichheit, Freiheit Und Frieden (International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship). Hon. President and Founder: Carrie Chapman Catt. Hon Vice-President: Adele Schreiber. Board: President: Margery I. Corbett Ashby, Wickens, Birch Grove, Haywards Heath, Sussex. First Vice-President: Germaine Malaterre Sellier (France). Second Vice-President: Gunwati Maharaj Singh (India). Third Vice-President: Hanna Rydh (Sweden). Treasurer: Nina Spiller (Great Britain). Corresponding Secretary: Emilie Gourd, Crets de Pregny, Geneva, Switzerland. Members: Milena Atanatskovitch (Yugoslavia), Margarete Bonnevie (Norway), Marguerite Boyer (France), Hoda Charaoui (Egypt), Tatiana Feodorova (U.S.S.R.), Marie Ginsberg (Poland), Dimitrana ivanova (Bulgaria), Dorothy Kenyon (U.S.A.), Andree Lehmann (France), Margot Petersen (Denmark), Bessie Rischbieth (Australia), Heloise Rocha (Brazil), Edel Saunte (Denmark), Caroline Slade (U.S.A.). Read International Women’s News Monthly: Price 6S. P.A. Headquarters Secretary: Katherine Bompas Headquarters: 45, Kingsway, Wembley, Middlesex, England. 26th February 1946 Dear Miss Peck, Forgive me for being very slow to thank you for your letter of January 8th. I am at the moment rather desperately busy as the Alliance work is growing rapidly and I am still doing my other part-time war job. I hope to be free of it next month and then things will be easier. I had not realised that Mrs. Catt had reached her 87h birthday. What a very remarkable person she is - I am afraid we don’t make her kind any longer andyet we need them so desperately. I did not meet Mrs. Roosevelt while she was here for U.N.O. as the delegates were kept very busy, but Mrs. Corbett Ashby did. I think that as regards the relations between our two countries, you are more annoyed with us that we with you. Maybe we being a slower race have not so quickly turned from the atmosphere of the war years with their greater inter-dependence and fraternal sentiment, to the harsher and more realistic attitude of every day. So we may be a wee bit hurt and your side thinks we go on expecting too much. Let us hope it will come right but I hope it will come quickly as the need for good relations is very, very urgent. We are finding the expense of International Womens News rather a problem and I only hope we can manage to keep it going. All expenses for printing and so on have risen so enormously while subscriptions tend to fallaway as people face the rising cost of living and having to snap out of the rather happy-go-lucky attitudes towards money we got into during the war. With kindest regards, Yours sincerely, Katherine Bompas Secretary TELEPHONE: WEMBLEY 4261 INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WOMEN ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL DES FEMMES Equal Rights - Equal Responsibilities Droits égaux - responsabilités égales (International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship). President: MARGERY I. CORBETT ASHBY. MONTHLY PAPER: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S NEWS PRICE 6S. P.A. HEADQUARTERS SECRETARY: KATHERINE BOMPAS HEADQUARTERS: 45, KINGSWAY, WEMBLEY, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND. 24th May 1946 To Presidents of Auxiliaries and Members of the Board Dear Madam, ALLIANCE CONGRESS, INTERLAKEN, Aug.10-17, 1946 Resolutions & Programme. I now enclose the Resolutions to form the basis of the Congress Programme, begging you most urgently to get them considered by your society and send any amendments to the Alliance Office as soon as possible; or if there is not time for this, to bring any such amendments in writing to the Congress itself. The Board wishes me to express who hope that you will not bring forward any other resolutions, because for this first post-war Congress it is urgent that a clear-cut and compact programme should emerge on the questions which are the special business of the Alliance and on which we may hope for full agreement. This is not a time for controversy, but rather for seeing whether we can consolidate the Alliance to carry out its proper purpose in this confused and difficult post-war world. I also attach a general plan of the Programme Supporting National Conferences. I recal the suggestion made in our last letter of May 16th, that you might arrange a National Conference to discuss those Resolutions to arouse interest and a sense of international participation among your members and public. We shall be much interested to learn whether you can do this and to receive your subsequent account of its results. Women Members of Parliament. It would be very valuable if you were able to include in your delegation, or invite as guests of honour, the women members of your Parliament. Women are in the Parliaments of the world because of the work done by our women's movement: they are the visible evidence of the success of our work. If you can give the names and addresses of these women M.P.s, we shall be glad to send them a special invitation. Their presence would be a great encouragement, especially to our Swiss hostess society still struggling so valiantly for the right to vote. Yours sincerely, Katherine Bompas, Secretary Chère Madame, CONGRES DE L'ALLIANCE, INTERLAKEN, 10-17 AOUT 1946 Résolutions et Programme. Je vous envoie ci-joint les résolutions qui formeront la base du programme du Congrès, en vous priant très urgemment de les soumettre à votre organisation et nous envoyer dès que possible toute modification que vous désirez proposer. Ou si le temps no permet cet envoi, voulez-vous apporter tout projet de modification par écrit au Congrès. Le Comité Exécutif m'a chargée de vous prier de ne pas proposer d'autres résolutions, parce que pour ce premier Congrès d'après-guerre, il est important d'adopter un programme not, envisageant les questions spéciales avec lesquelles notre Alliance doit s'occuper, et ou nous sont toutes d'accord. A ce moment nous ne voulons pas dissiper nos forces, mais plutôt renforcer l'Alliance afin qu'elle puisse travailler vers son propre but dans ce monde d'après-guerres, si plein de difficultés et de confusion. -2- Conférences Nationales. Je rappelle la suggestion faite dans notre lettre du 16 mai, pour des conférences nationales dont le programme soit basé sur ces Résolutions, afin d'éveiller l'intérêt et le sens de participation au travail international parmi vos membres et votre public. Voulez-vous nous dire si vous avez pu donner suite à cotte suggestion, et si oui, nous en envoyer un petit rapport. Femmes membres de Parlement. Il serait très précieux si vous pourrez nommer vos membres de parlement féminins parmi vos déléguées, ou les inviter ay Congrès à titre honorifique. S'il y a des femmes aux parlements, cela est dû au travail de notre mouvement féministe: elles sont l'évidence visible du succès de ce travail. Nous sont prêtes de les inviter directement, si vous voudrez bien nous on donner les noms et les adresses. La présence de ces femmes serait un encouragement, tout spécialement pour la Société suisse qui mène une luttre si vaillant pour le droit de suffrage. Croyez, chère Madame, à mes sentiments cordiaux Katherine Bompas, Secrétaire Draft Programme Projet de Programme Aug.10. Morning Registration le 10 août. Inscription des & afternoon of delegates délégées Meetings of Séances du Comités Board and International Exécutif et international Committee Evening Reception Reception le soir Aug.11. Morning Opening Session le 11 août: Séance d'ouverture President's address Adresse de la Présidente Greetings & 5- minute speeches Messages:Rapports de cinque minutes Afternoon: In Memoriam meeting Séance commemorative Aug.12 Morning Resolutions on Peace le 12 août. Résolutions sur la and on Democracy Paix et la Démocratie Afternoon Reports from Board, Rapports de Comité H.Q., etc. Exécutif, Bureau Central Aug.13.Morning Resolutions on le 13 août. Résolutions sur les Political Rights & Droits politiques et Economic Rights économiques Afternoon Resolutions on the Resolutions sur la Housewife & Worker & menagère et travailleuse, Legal Disabilities l'incapacité civil Aug.14. Free for Excursion le 14 août: Libre pour excursion Aug.15. all day: Future and le 15 août: L'avenir et le Programme Programme Aug.16. Morning: Resolutions on le 16 août: Résolutions sur l'Unité Equal Morals, & dela Morale, et Vital questions Questions vitales du of the day jour. Afternoon: What next? Notre action future Aug.17. Morning Closing session le 17 août: Séance de clôture Unfinished business Résolutions d'urgence Emergency Resolutions etc. Afternoon: Meetings of Board & Séances du Comité Exécutif International et Comité International Committee June 14, 1946 Rev. W. B. Faherty, S. J. St. Louis University 221 North Grand Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri My dear Sir: Your letter to the Secretary of the League of Women Voters in Washington, D. C. was forwarded to me because they have no record there of the convention at Rome in 1923. The International Woman's Suffrage Alliance was organized in 1904 and still continues. It has held congresses every other year in the capitols of Europe. I was President of the Alliance for twenty years, and I was President at the time of the Rome Congress. I am enclosing a list of the delegates from the United States to the Rome Congress. I have placed a letter "D" before those I know have died. There may be several others who are deceased, and some of the addresses may now be incorrect. I do not know whether any one of these women was a Catholic. There were several Catholic women who were very prominent in our rank, and worked with us faithfully for many years, but no one of these seems to be in this list. The visit to Pope Pius XI was organized by a committee of Catholic women who had secured an invitation from the Pope himself. In our Alliance women of all religious faiths were invited to equal membership. We had Catholics, Protestants and Jews from Europe and the United States. We had Hindus from India and Mohammedans from several countries. The invitation was therefore sent to us as a group of women visiting Rome and was not directed to an organization representing any particular cause. The visit was a function entirely outside the procedure of the congress, and no record therefore was kept in the minutes of the congress. No record ever came to us as to what the Pope had said in his address but the delegates privately did give us their impression of the occasion. 2. June 14 1946. Have you applied to the Vatican for a possible copy of the address made by Pope Pius XI to the delegates who came to call upon him at that time? Certainly if the Pope made a pronouncement in favor of Woman Suffrage they would have kept a copy, and I feel certain that if we had heard that this was true, we also would have remembered it with great distinction. What I remember is this: - Pope Pius XI received the delegation with gracious kindness and spoke to them happily, and pleased every one. I think he said something that indicated that he appreciated their high motives and wished them success, without saying in a clear expression that he favored Woman Suffrage. He certainly did not say that he did not favor it, nor that he did, and I think that is about all that can be gotten out of that interview. I suggest you write to Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Ship Gate, Surf Road, Cape Cottage, Maine. She was an important delegate, and had charge of the work for the Federal Amendment in Washington. She may not have gone on that visit to the Pope, but if she did, she would be apt to remember correctly what he said. I was otherwise occupied and did not go with the delegation. Mrs. Gifford Pinchot was at that time the wife of the Governor of Pennsylvania. They live somewhere in Pennsylvania, and I think if you particularly wanted to write her you could merely direct the letter to Pennsylvania, and she would get it, as they are very important people. Allow me to add that I have read of late years with great satisfaction the many expressions of the present Pope favoring the work for peace in the world, and lately, when the women of Italy were about to cast their first vote, he addressed the women of that country with great sympathy and appreciation of this new liberty which had come to them. I am aware that you must have a record of all this, and that you are not writing the record of this particular Pope. Very sincerely yours, P.S. Just as this letter was finished a friend came in to call She reminded me that Mrs. Anne O'Hare McCormick was present at the Rome Congress. She was not a delegate, but probably was representing the New York Times. It is not unlikely that she was the one who wrote the news for the Times and that she was present at the audience granted by the Pope. I suggest that you write to her, as she is now on the editorial staff of the New York Times. LIST OF DELEGATES FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE ROME CONGRESS Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Pres. - Ship Gate, Surf Rd., Cape Cottage, Me. [* D *] Mrs. Frank J. Shuler 400 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. [* D *] Dr. K. Bement Davis 604 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. Mrs. Frederick Nathan 141 West 75th Street, New York, N.Y. Mrs. James Paige 420 Oak Grove Ave., Minneapolis, Minn. Mrs. Anne Webster 532 Seventh St., N. W., Washington, D.C. Mrs. W. Y. Morgan 420 Sherman St. East, Hutchinson, Kansas Miss Caroline Roberts 2000 Mount Royal Terrace, Baltimore, Md. [* D *] Mrs. Craig C. Miller Marshall, Michigan [* D *] Miss Janet Richards Wyoming Apartment, 2022 Columbia Rd., N. W., Washington Mrs. Gifford Pinchot Executive Mansion, Harrisburg, Pa. Mrs. John J. O'Connor Wardman Park Inn, Washington ALTERNATES Mrs. Benjamin Perry 532 Seventeenth St. N. W. Washington DC Mrs. Julian Nathan c/o American Express Company, 11 Rue Scribe, Paris Mrs. Genevieve Parkhurst c/o Pictorial Review, 214 West 39th St. New York, N.Y. Miss Kraft 95 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, N.Y. Mrs. John T. Murphy 158 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe. Mrs. Gaillard Stoney 3294 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Cal Mrs. Walter Peck 113 Waterman St. Providence, N. J. Mrs. Helen Lowell Million 3407 North Fifth St., Des Moines, Iowa Mrs. Frank Griswold Notthorpe, Radnor, Pennsylvania Mrs. Martha Helen Elliott 14 Carver Street, Boston, Mass. Mrs. Bates Montclair, N. J. Mrs. R. E. Twitchell 107 Bower Place, Santa Fe. TELEPHONE: WEMBLEY 4261 INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WOMEN ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL DES FEMMES Equal Rights - Equal Responsibilities Droits égaux - responsabilités égales (International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship). Hon. President and Founder: CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT. Hon Vice-President: ADELE SCHREIBER. BOARD: President: MARGERY I. CORBETT ASHBY, Wickens, Birch Grove, Haywards Heath, Sussex. First Vice-President: GERMAINE MALATERRE SELLIER (France). Second Vice-President: GUNWATI MAHARAJ SINGH (India). Third Vice-President: HANNA RYDH (Sweden). Treasurer: NINA SPILLER (Great Britain). Corresponding Secretary: MARGOT PETERSEN (Denmark) Members: MILENA ATANATSKOVITCH (Yugoslavia), MARGARETE BONNEVIE (Norway), MARGUERITE BOYER (France), HODA CHARAOUI (Egypt), TATIANA FEODOROVA (U.S.S.R.), MARIE GINSBERG (Poland), DIMITRANA IVANOVA (Bulgaria), DOROTHY KENYON (U.S.A.), ANDREE LEHMANN (France), BESSIE RISCHBIETH (Australia), HELOISE ROCHA (Brazil), EDEL SAUNTE (Denmark), CAROLINE SLADE (U.S.A.). Monthly Paper: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S NEWS PRICE 6s. P.A. Headquarters Secretary, KATHERINE BOMPAS HEADQUARTERS, 45, KINGSWAY, WEMBLEY, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND. July 22 1946. Dear Mrs Chapman Catt, It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to carry on as President of the International Alliance. I had always intended to retire at 60 from most activities as I felt home & husband would need me more. I have had wonderful happiness from the most perfect partner who has been most unselfish and understanding. However, the war came to postpone the programme. I do want to see my successor appointed. I have hesitated to make the decision because the Alliance was in such low water & faced with such immense difficulties especially in Europe that it seemed unfair to hand over to anyone else. At the same time contact with the younger European women makes me convinced that a new type of woman is needed to lead, not my generation of women of birth & leisure & some wealth (all good things) but a younger trained professional women of real standing in her own department of work. But of course it is much more difficult to find one who can give enough time & energy to the work. I have however tentatively approached our Swedish member Dr. Hanna Rydh, she is an archaeologist and author, stands very high in her profession, a widow with almost grown up children. She has had wonderfully mixed experiences of life. Her husband a member of the Swedish aristocracy was governor of one of the biggest provinces of Sweden, she took the lead in all social welfare work, she is president of the liaison committee of womens organizations, speaks English French and German & has great ability & charm. If we could persuade Mme Vischer Alioth of Switzerland to become Hon Secretary we should have a good balance of english & french or shall we say anglosaxon & latin outlook. We may find some fine new material in Tuberlaken for the Board members but not very likely to find anyone for President. The real drawback will be the neutrality of Sweden & Switzerland during the war so that if we could find a belligerent Hon Sec or President it would be better. Yours affectionately, Margery Corbett Ashby Wickens Birch Grove Near Haywards Heath, Sussex Tel: Chelwood Gate 64 Station Haywards Heath Aug 22 1946 My dear Mrs. Catt, I am just home from the Congress at Tuberlaken & hasten to write to you about it. We succeeded in getting women from 20 countries present but owing to the political conditions at their backs not all were properly accredited delegates. First let me mention the great impression made on the congress by Judge Dorothy Kenyon their Lord Strauss. They were recognized as first rate and were elected on to our Board to everyones satisfaction. We have made Judge Kenyon a vice president with the special charge of being our liaison officer with UNO. It was the work Emilie Gourd did so devotedly for the League of Nations & the I.L.O. The whole tone of the Congress would have delighted you. We had women MPs young & immensely enthusiastic from France Italy & Holland & from the other women one felt the sense of self confidence & power, real responsibility for international peace, social conditions and a better status for women. The exceptions were the rather meek Swiss. The Greek women were first rate & had gained their poise from work in the resistance but were bitterly disappointed at not having the vote. Needless to say our resolutions were far too long & complicated & the resolutions put [it] in as "urgency" raised all possible difficulties. But the spirit of the congress was good & everyone wanted the alliance to continue. It was a very painful wrench to resign after 23 years & I remembered how hard it was for you to persuade people you meant what you said in 1923. Dr Rydh was admired & liked by everybody, her only weak spot is her languages. Neither english french or german come smoothly tho she has excellent knowledge of them. 2 TEL. CHELWOOD GATE 64 STATION HAYWARDS HEATH WICKENS BIRCH GROVE NEAR HAYWARDS HEATH, SUSSEX Everybody was terribly kind to me & tho I don't deserve it as you did they have made me an Honorary President & given me a vote on the Board. Dr. Rydh is a delightful person to work with & I shall be able to help her. Alas I cannot undertake a year for travelling. I have resigned just because my husband needs me much more than before because of his health. Mme Boel of the International Council of Women came & we discussed privately the possibility of getting together. I am hoping to come over to USA in October with Dr Rydh & shall hope to discuss this with you. I missed Rosa Manus & Emilie Gourd most terribly. Everyone was kind but inexperienced in running a congress so Mrs Bompas & I had to carry it as best we could. I think our new board members are excellent & if only we could get a little more money we could do so much work. I quite agree with you about getting in the women of the East. Do you remember Alice Charaoui the one veiled woman in Rome? She has developed into a great leader & has not only secured a revolution in womens status in Egypt but has brought in the women of Lebanon Syria & Palestine (arab) She is a terror at conferences being quite undisciplined but a treasure at a distance ! Must shop but send you all my most affectionate admiration & thanks Margery Corbett Ashby Tel: Chelwood Gate 64 Station: Haywards Heath. Wickens Birch Grove Near Haywards Heath Sussex Dec 16, 1946. Dear Mrs. Chapman Catt, Of course I am late as usual with my New Year greetings, but they are none the less very sincere for your health & happiness in the New Year. It is a lovely memory to have seen you again in your charming house surrounded by the women of all ages old & young whom you have never ceased to inspire. I wish I could come over next year again but if I can travel I think it must be East. We hope to have a regional IWSA in Cairo in December or January. Dr. Rydh is very anxious for us to do practical work & as you know by your own experience the best way to help people is to go to them. I have seen Maitre Marcelle Reuson the belgian woman lawyer in London this past week. She was working in the Red X in France during the war & then in the underground. She was asked to be candidate for a UN post. I also met a greek woman who says conditions on the barren islands of the political exiles is terrible. I hope 1947 brings peace. Please give my best wishes for 1947 to Miss Wilson Yours lovingly Margery C Ashby Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.