Mamie Shields Pyle correspondence, 1918-06-17 - 1918-06-18

June 18th, 1918.

My dear Mrs. Stevens: —

I have just finished reading your very inspiring report of June 17th. You can not imagine what a relief it is when the word comes that things are moving in this satisfactory way. I shall write to the committee at Hot Springs, to-day, assuring them of the pleasure it is to us at Headquarters to know that they have taken up this work.

I am very glad to have you express yourself so favorably as to the effect of schools and especially of the speeeches which the women are making. I feel that those speeches are really a great deal more valuable than the school, but the novelty of the school brings them out to hear the speeches. I am sure they are having a perfectly wonderful experience at Mitchell, because of the reports that have come in from there. Mrs. Lewis, the Chairman, told me that they had sold over 200 tickets for the war dinner, last night, and that a great deal of interest was being shown by the women in the coming school.

I am sorry that you had to endure such intese heat at Hot Springs, last week. It is the hottest place, when it is hot, but perhaps you can slip away and go up into Custer and on up into the Canyon, where you will get cooled off and forget all about the discomforts of the past week.

I am very glad, indeed, that you were able to get out-side of the select for who have been doing the suffrage work at Rapid City. Perfectly lovely women, but I have felt for a long time that the suffrage cause was buried within their little group. When any money has been needed, however, they have always gone down into their own pockets and paid it and it has never come out of the people in general. That is perfectly alright for them to continue that particular thing, provviding thay will also interest a few out-side of themselves, to give the smaller amounts. I should imagine that by the time you get through with Rapid City, the field would be very ripe for Mrs. Rewman to come down and help them raise money.

It will be of especial interest to you to know that Miss Hattie Fox, of Mobridge, has responded

with a great deal of interest to my letter, calling attention to the fact that the Equity Convention is to meet at Mobridge on the 19th and 20th of month. I wrote to Mrs. Burr, at Selby, and also to Miss Fox. I have not heard from Mrs. Butt, but received a reply from Miss Fox. We are sending per a package of literature, copies of the patriotic song folders and posters to-day. These she asked for and seems to have very good ideas of how to use them. I am very glad indeed that she is alive, though the chairman does not seem to be.

I received a definite resignation from Mrs. Herreid. She says she is not "peeved, just tired". Poor thing, she makes the rest of us tired too.

I wonder whether you know that Mrs. Shuler called Miss Sasse away from South Daktoa to go to Oklahoma? I regret this ery much and I told Mrs. Shuler had I known that Miss Sasse was not to remain until after you were through with the western part of the state, I certainly should not have placed her at Aberdeen, as I am afraid they will get this idea of ficklenes in our plans, with so many changes. However, I will see Miss Sasse to-morrow night, on her way to Sioux Falls, where she is to meet Mrs. Shuler, enroute for Oklahoma, and find out just what the situation is and what she has been able to do

I have written to all of the county chairman, making as strong an appeal as I know how, for a renewed interest and determination, to lose no more time and reminding them that there are hardly four months left before selectin, and urging them, where they have failed, to lose no more time. I have tried to awaken the county chairman to the disastrous result which will follow any further neglect on their part. I hope it will do some good I mean the county chairmen all ovver the state, not just the chairmen in your district.

Sincerely,

June 18th, 1918.

Mrs. Andreas Ueland, 403 Essex Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

My dear Mrs. Ueland: --

We are mailing you some extra copies of the Call, as they were sent out at the time we expected the conference earlier. I wonder if you realize that these are wrongly dated for use at the present time, but perhaps you are jsut going to send them out and them refer to this postponement in you letter.

We still are planning on the dates of September 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the Conference. There is just one little bit of indecision in my mind, cuased by the letters which have passed between us and Mrs. Catt, in regard to her helping in South Dakota some time during the fall. In her last letter, she speaks as though she must make her plans so they will fit into all the campaign sates and she says since we are going to have state presidents here and other women of interest and wonders whether it would not be better for her to come to us in October, as it would be very much easier for her to take her time off during the month.

Now, I think it would be very unfortunate to have the Mississippi Valley Conference, especially should the federal amendment carry in August, without Mrs. Catt being present. We have not definitely finished our correspondence in regard to this and perhaps will have more definite ideas in a short time. However, I still believe that the Conference should be held early in September, if it is to do South Dakota and South Dakota workers any special good.

I wish you could get in touch with Mrs. McClurg. I think she would be quite an attraction in this state and would be a great addition to our program. It is so unlike her not to write in response to a letter, that it seems as though she must be very busy with war work, even though she may not be in France.

Our series of suffrage schools are

just closing. The last one will be at Sioux Falls tomorrow and the next day. They have been apparently very successful and altogether very satisfactory.

Very sincerely yours,

June 18th, 1918.

Mrs. B. W. Wattles, Hot Springs, S. D.

My dear Mrs. Wattles:

From Mrs. Stevens' report this morning, we learn that you are to be Chairman of the County Committee for your County.

I hasten to acknowledge, with gratitude, your acceptance of this position and also to assure you that we stand ready, at all times, to co-operate in every possible way, to make your work both pleasant and profitable. Of course, I realise that you would not feel satisfied unless it were to be profitable and for that reason, we want to help you in every way we can and also assure you that we need your help, so you can readily see that this means co-operation. While you represent one of the counties which has turned in a favorable majority before, juat as most of the Black Hills counties have done, yet we are never assured that the future is to be builded upon the past in regard to questions of this kind, and it will require the closest and wisest of effort tc Increase the majority, materially. That is to be the aim of the counties which have always carried. In that way, we will over-come the adverse majorities in some sections of the state that are not so easily lead into progressive lines.

Mrs. Stevens will have told you about the plan of work and about the petitions, which we feel are so very important. We will send you the petitions to-day, so you will have them on hand for use at the earliest poooible moment.

Again thanking you for your assistance,

I am,

Very sincerely yours,

State President,