The World's Congress of Representative Women was a week-long convention for the voicing of women's concerns, held within the World's Congress Auxiliary Building in conjunction with the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States in May 1893.Maddux 2019, p.58. At 81 meetings, organized by women from each of the United States, 150,000 people came to the World's Congress Auxiliary Building and listened to speeches given by almost 500 women from 27 countries.Smith 2000, p. 354. The World's Congress of Representative Women was arranged, sponsored and promoted by the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Congress Auxiliary, under the guidance of President

Bertha Palmer Bertha Matilde Palmer (; May 22, 1849 – May 5, 1918) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. She was the wife of millionaire Potter Palmer and early member of the Chicago Woman's Club, as well as president of the Board of ...

, the wife of prominent Chicagoan

Potter Palmer Potter Palmer (May 20, 1826 – May 4, 1902) was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street (Chicago), State Street in Chicago. Born in Albany County, New York, The inception of the World's Congress of Representative Women may be traced back to February, 1891, when the

National Council of Women of the United States The National Council of Women of the United States (NCW/US) is the oldest nonsectarian organization of women in the United States Founded in 1888, the NCW/US is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) with the Department of Public Info ...

, then in session in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, decided to recommend to the officers of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

that the first quinquennial session of the International Council should be held in Chicago in the summer of 1893 instead of in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as originally intended. This decision was reinforced by the very cordial invitation of Mrs. Palmer, who attended the sessions of the National Council as the delegate of the Board of Lady Managers, and as president of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress Auxiliary. This invitation was supplemented by a similar one from Ellen Martin Henrotin (Mrs. Charles Henrotin), vice-president of the Woman's Branch of the World's Congress Auxiliary, who also was in attendance at the Council sessions. In pursuance of the plan thus initiated, the U.S. officers of the International Council obtained the consent of the foreign officers to the proposed change from London to Chicago. The Executive Committee of the National Council of Women of the United States pledged the National Council to entertain free of expense all foreign delegates while in attendance upon the proposed meeting of the International Council. The call for the meeting of the International Council in Chicago was promptly issued, accompanied by the pledge of entertainment above referred to, and both call and pledge were given wide publicity through the home and foreign press, and through private and official correspondence, in the early summer of 1891, the documents bearing date May 31, 1891. In due time, as the plan of the World's Congress Auxiliary developed, the officers of the National Council of Women of the United States entered into correspondence with the Hon. Charles C. Bonney, president of the World's Congress Auxiliary, requesting that the quinquennial meeting of the International Council of Women, announced for the summer of 1893, should be adopted as one of the series of congresses organized by the Auxiliary, with the understanding that its scope should be enlarged to the greatest possible extent; that it should take the name of “The World's Congress of Representative Women;" and that it should be subject to the same rules and enjoy the same privileges as the other congresses in the series.

This formal application from the officers of the National Council of Women of the United States was made by its president,

May Wright Sewall May Wright Sewall ( Mary Eliza Wright; May 27, 1844 – July 22, 1920) was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. ...

, of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, under date of May 29, 1892. The executive committee of the National Council of Women, at a meeting held in Chicago on May 9 and 10, had authorized the president of the council, Mrs. May Wright Sewall, to represent the interests of the council in Europe during the summer of 1892, with a view to increase foreign interest in the proposed meeting of the International Council of Women in Chicago in May 1893.

Preparations

After this proposed meeting of the International Council of Women had been merged into the greater project of a World's Congress of Representative Women under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary, Sewall naturally devoted herself, during the three months spent in Germany, Belgium, and France, in the ensuing summer, to awakening among the prominent women with whom she came in contact an interest in the proposed World's Congress of Representative Women. While invested with no official authority to represent the Auxiliary, Sewall was greatly aided in her efforts by her position as chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, and by her connection with the National and International Councils of Women, the essential features of which were already well known abroad, and served to divest the idea of a World's Congress of Women of much of the strangeness it would otherwise have assumed in the minds of foreign women. The main objects to be accomplished in this foreign work were as follows: First, to make clear the distinction between the World's Columbian Exposition, the Board of Lady Managers, the World's Congress Auxiliary, with its Woman's Branch, and the National and International Councils of Women, these bodies being naturally confounded continually, and almost hopelessly, by those who heard of them only through the vague paragraphs of the foreign press; second, to impart a clear understanding of the magnitude of the proposed congress, both as a whole and in its infinite details and subdivisions; third, to show the exact nature of the papers and reports desired from European delegates, and the character of the subjects to be treated; fourth, to stimulate the foreign women to appoint delegates from organizations already existing, and to form new organizations to be represented in like manner; fifth, to encourage individuals to come to Chicago whether connected with organized bodies or not; sixth, to endeavor to reach the general European public through reports, interviews, and articles published in the European press; and, seventh, to combat unceasingly not only the general apathy in regard to a project so remote in time and place, but also the specific objections everywhere encountered, based upon the date chosen for the congress, which did not fall within the foreign vacation period, upon the length, hazard, and cost of the journey, and upon the grossly exaggerated reports of the expense of living in Chicago, and the heat of Chicago summers. In Berlin, Sewall devoted a month to personal interviews with women prominent in philanthropy and education, and to informal conferences with groups of ladies representing, among other organizations, the following: the Scheppeler- Lette Verein, the Frauenwohl, the Jugendschutz, the Vaterländischer Frauenverein, the Edelweiss Verein, the Victoria Haus, the Victoria Lyceum, the Pestalossi Froebel-Verein, the Künstlerinnen- und Schriftstellerinnen-Verein, the Mädchen Realschule-Verein, and the Volksküchen. Many of these enjoy the protection of the Empress Frederick. Among the women who were most responsive to her appeals and most influential in spreading a knowledge of the movement among a wider circle were

Henriette Schrader-Breymann Henriette may refer to: People Nobles :''Ordered chronologically'' * Henriette of Cleves (1542–1601), Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel and Princess of Mantua * Henriette Marie of the Palatinate (1626–1651), daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, ...

Anna Von Helmholtz Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

Hedwig Heyl Hedwig Heyl (c. 1853 - January 23, 1934) was a German businesswoman and author, active in social welfare causes. She was born in Bremen in 1850. Her father was the industrialist Edouard Crüsemann. She married Georg Heyl at age 18, and when she ...

Elisabet Kaselowsky Elizabeth is a feminine given name, a variation of the Hebrew name (), meaning "My God is an oath" or "My God is abundance", as rendered in the Septuagint. Occurrence in the Bible "Elizabeth" appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of Aaron's ...

Lina Morgenstern Lina Morgenstern (25 November 1830 – 16 December 1909) was a German writer, educator, feminist and pacifist. Biography She was born 25 November 1830 in Wrocław (German Breslau) to a Jewish family committed to social causes. In 1854 she mar ...

Helene Lange Helene Lange was born in 1848 in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg. Through her determination, she rose above the trials of her early life, including the loss of her parents, to become a leading voice for women's access to higher education and professio ...

Lucie Crain Lucie Crain (fl. 1891), was a German women's rights activist and educator. She played a significant part in the history of women's education in Germany. She is known as the founder of the '' Crainschen Anstalten'' in Berlin, often referred to as t ...

, Dr.

Henriette Hirschfeld-Tiburtius Henriette Hirschfeld-Tiburtius (14 February 1834 – 25 August 1911) was the first female dentist in Germany. She was born at Sylt, a small island on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in Engli ...

, Frau Direktor Iessen, Claire Schubert-Feder., Ph.D.;

Ulrike Henschke Ulrike Henschke (24 November 1830 – 1 November 1897, Baden-Baden) was a German women's rights activist, advocate of secondary and vocational education for women and founder of the Victoria Continuation School, a technical college for women. S ...

, Fräulein von Hobe, and

Hanna Bieber-Böhm Hanna Bieber-Böhm (6 February 1851 – 15 April 1910) was a German feminist and pioneer of social work. She established an organization to assist young women seeking work in Berlin and help protect them from becoming prostitutes, and founded a re ...

. Sewall supplemented her work in Berlin by a visit to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, where she was granted an extended interview with the Empress Frederick, who showed herself deeply interested in the plan of the proposed congress, and declared herself ready to aid by every means in her power in securing an adequate representation of German women in its deliberations. In

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Sewall addressed the Ligue belge du droit des femmes ("Belgian Woman's Rights League"), an influential organization, whose leaders were Marie Popelin and Louis Frank. Popelin and Frank advanced the cause of women in Belgium. In

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Sewall spoke in the Hall of the Mairie St. Sulpice to a large audience, and devoted the following fourteen days to conferences with the leaders among the women of Paris, singly and in groups. In addition to the interest aroused in these influential groups of German, Belgian, and French women by the visit and personal solicitations of the chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, wide publicity was given to her addresses by the press of France, Russia, Belgium, England, and Italy, and thus the scope of the great congress was made known to many thousands of European women of influence in their respective localities. Sewall returned to the U.S. early in September. Meanwhile,

Rachel Foster Avery Rachel Foster Avery (December 30, 1858 – October 26, 1919) was active in the American women's suffrage movement during the late 19th century, working closely with Susan B. Anthony and other movement leaders. She rose to be corresponding se ...

, in her office at

Somerton, Philadelphia Somerton is a neighborhood in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The neighborhood is bounded by Red Lion Road on the south, Roosevelt Boulevard on the east, East County Line Road and Poquessing Creek on the n ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, was planning and carrying out a voluminous and searching correspondence with prominent individuals in the U.S. and other countries, and especially with the executive officers of every national body of women at home and abroad, preparing the way for the selection and appointment of prominent women from every nation on the Advisory Councils, for the selection of persons to prepare papers for the General Congress and reports for the Report Congresses, and for the formal enrollment of all national organizations of women as members of the World's Congress of Representative Women, entitled to send delegates thereto and to hold department congresses in connection therewith. The responses to the appeals thus made by the secretary were so prompt and so generally sympathetic that it became immediately evident that a wide-spread interest was aroused, and that the success of the congress was assured. Every precaution was taken to place the movement on the broadest possible plane, and thus to allay any apprehensions of unfair treatment that might arise on the part of weaker or younger organizations. After the simple facts regarding the inception of the plan had been stated, all organizations were placed upon exactly the same level, and all official documents issued reiterated in appropriate terms the assurance that all organizations, whether large or small in membership and influence, stood upon an equal footing in the opportunities granted to each by the committee charged with the preparations for the programme of the great congress. The spirit of fairness was so manifest in all the preliminary work of the committee that organization after organization gave in its formal adhesion to the congress, until scarcely a national woman's organization in the United States or in Europe stood aloof. The most important document was the Preliminary Address, issued in September, 1892. It was distributed in French and in English versions by tens of thousands—not at random, but to carefully selected addresses in every country. It was reprinted from time to time substantially without change, either alone or as a part of more comprehensive statements, as the needs of the work required, the last edition bearing date April 12, 1893, about four weeks before the convening of the congress.

Administration

The series of World's Congresses which convened in Chicago during the World's Columbian Exposition under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary were opened by a "Congress of the Representative Women of all Lands". This Congress was, without doubt, the largest and most representative gathering of women ever convened in the U.S. or any other country. It assembled in the Woman's Building on Monday morning, May 15, 1893, immediately after the general opening of the World's Congress series, and adjourned Sunday evening, May 21, 1893. There were 76 sessions and over 600 participants. The greatest interest was manifested by participants from all parts of the world, and the aggregate attendance for the week was over 150,000. While the officers of the World's Congress Auxiliary provided for the liberal participation of women in other departments of thought, like Education, Science, Music, Religion, Moral and Social Reform, Government, they also decided to give a full week to a Woman's Congress for the purpose of presenting to the people of the world the wonderful progress of women throughout the world in the many departments of intellectual activity. This Congress, which represented the "Department of Woman's Progress" in the general programme of the World's Congress Auxiliary, was under the direct supervision of the Woman's Branch of the Auxiliary, of which Bertha Palmer was president and Ellen Martin Henrotin, vice-president. The work of organization was committed, under the supervision of those officers, to a general committee composed of the following women: May Wright Sewall, chair; Rachel Foster Avery, secretary;

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 187 ...

, Dr.

Sarah Hackett Stevenson Sarah Ann Hackett Stevenson (February 2, 1841 – August 14, 1909) was an American physician in Illinois, and the first female member of the American Medical Association (AMA), as an Illinois State Medical Society delegate in ...

, Dr. Julia Holmes Smith, Lydia Avery Coonley,

Elizabeth Boynton Harbert Elizabeth Morrison Harbert ( Boynton; pen name, Lizzie M. Boynton; April 15, 1843/1845 - January 19, 1925) was a 19th-century American author, lecturer, reformer and philanthropist from Indiana. She was the first women to design a woman's Party p ...

, and Mary Spalding Brown.

Program

Education

* The Kindergarten as an Educational Agency and the Relation of the Kindergarten to Manual Training –

Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper (December 12, 1835 – December 11, 1896) was an American educator, author, evangelist, philanthropist, and civic activist. She is remembered as a religious teacher and for her efforts to increase the interest in kind ...

* The Kindergarten and the Primary School — Miss N. Cropsey * The Ethical Influence of Woman in Education -

Kate Tupper Galpin Kate Tupper Galpin (née Kate Tupper, 3 August 1855 – 1906) was an American educator and woman's club leader. For several years President of the Woman's Parliament of Southern California, Galpin was a natural teacher. Before instituting her clas ...

* The Popular Inculcation of Economy - Sara Louise Vickers Oberholtzer * Educational Training in Its Bearing Upon the Promotion of Social Purity - Dr. Jennie de la Montagnie Lozier * The Highest Education - Mary Mathews Adams * The Catholic Woman as an Educator - Mary A. B. Maher

Literature and the dramatic art

* Member of the Literary Committee - Louise E. Francis * Woman's Place in the Republic of Letters -

Annie Nathan Meyer Annie Nathan Meyer (February 19, 1867 – September 23, 1951) was an American author, anti-suffragist, and promoter of higher education for women who founded Barnard College. Her sister was activist Maud Nathan and her nephew was author and poe ...

* Woman in the Republic of Letters - Alice Wellington Rollins * Organization as a Means of Literary Culture - Charlotte Emerson Brown, * The Polish Woman in Literature - Prepared by T. E. C., M. D. * Insurance Against Piracy of Brains —

Kate Brownlee Sherwood Kate Brownlee Sherwood (, Brownlee; September 24, 1841 – February 15, 1914) was an American poet, journalist, translator and story writer of the long nineteenth century, as well as a philanthropist, and patron of the arts and literature. Sherw ...

* Woman and the Stage –

Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was success ...

* Woman in the Emotional Drama —

Clara Morris Clara Morris (1846-9 – November 20, 1925) was a Canadian/American stage actress of the Victorian Era. Early life Actress Clara Morris was born in Toronto, the eldest child of a Bigamy, bigamous marriage. Sources disagree on the year of her bi ...

* The Stage and Its Women -

Georgia Cayvan Georgie Eva Cayvan (August 22, 1857 – November 19, 1906) was a popular stage actress in the United States in the later part of the nineteenth century. Early life Georgia Cayvan was born at Bath, Maine. She attended and graduated from the ...

* Woman's Work Upon the Stage —

Julia Marlowe Julia Marlowe (born Sarah Frances Frost; August 17, 1865 – November 12, 1950) was an English-born American actress, known for her interpretations of William Shakespeare's plays. Life and career Marlowe was born as Sarah Frances Frost, on Aug ...

Science and religion

* Woman in Science - Dr.

Mary Putnam Jacobi Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi ( Putnam; August 31, 1842 – June 10, 1906) was an English-American physician, teacher, scientist, writer, and suffragist. She was the first woman admitted to study medicine at the University of Paris and the first wo ...

* The Medical Woman's Movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to January, 1893 – Dr.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She is known for being the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon and as a co-founder and dean of the London School o ...

* The Medical Education of Women in Great Britain and Ireland - Dr.

Sophia Jex-Blake Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (21 January 1840 – 7 January 1912) was an English physician, teacher, and feminism, feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a university education, when she began studying medicine at the Universit ...

* Woman in the Pulpit - Rev. Florence E. Kollock * Woman's Call to the Ministry – Rev.

Caroline Bartlett Crane Caroline Bartlett Crane (August 17, 1858 – March 24, 1935) was an American Unitarian minister, suffragist, civic reformer, educator and journalist. She was known as "America's housekeeper" for her efforts to improve urban sanitation.Renee Zimel ...

* Woman as a Minister of Religion – Rev.

Mary J. Safford Mary Jane Safford-Blake (December 31, 1834December 8, 1891) was a nurse, physician, educator, and humanitarian. As a nurse in the Union Army during the American Civil War, she worked closely with Mary Ann Bickerdyke treating the sick and injured ...

Charity, philanthropy, and religion

* The Modern Deaconess Movement – Jane Bancroft Robinson, Ph.D. * Organization among Women Considered with Respect to Philanthropy - Mary E. Richmond * The Organized Work of Catholic Women — Lily Alice Toomy * Woman's Place in Hebrew Thought - Minnie Dessau Louis * Woman as a Religious Teacher — Ursula Newell Gestefeld * The Light in the East – Eliva Anne Thayer * Organization Among Women as an Instrument in Promoting Religion -

Mary Lowe Dickinson Mary Lowe Dickinson (née Mary Caroline Underwood, January 23, 1839 – June 1914) was a 19th- and early 20th-century American fiction writer, poet, editor, and educator who also became an advocate for women's rights and anti-war activist. Asked ...

* The Elevation of Womanhood Wrought through the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin – Emma F. Cary * The Sisters of the People – Katherine Barrett Hughes

Moral and social reform

* The Moral Initiative as Related to Woman -

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

* The Civil and Social Evolution of Woman -

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...

* Woman as a Social Leader - Josefa Humpal-Zeman * The Ethics of Dress — Alice Timmons Toomy * Woman's Dress from the Standpoint of Sociology - Prof. Ellen Hayes * Dress Reform and Its Necessity – Florence Wallace Pomeroy, Viscountess Harberton * Organization as an Instrument in Promoting Moral Reform –

Maud Ballington Booth Maud Elizabeth Charlesworth (September 13, 1865 – August 26, 1948) later changed her name to Maud Ballington Booth, was a Salvation Army leader and co-founder of the Volunteers of America. Early life and education Maude Charlesworth was b ...

* The Double Moral Standard, or the Moral Responsibility of Woman in Heredity – Helen H. Gardener * The Moral Reform Union - Helen Taylor * Temperance Education - Mary H. Hunt * The Power of Womanliness in Dealing with Stern Problems -

Florence Collins Porter Florence Collins Porter (August 14, 1853 – December 31, 1930) was an American newspaper editor, clubwoman, political campaigner, and activist for Temperance movement, temperance and Women's suffrage in the United States, women's suffrage. Ear ...

* Origin and Early History of the British Women's Temperance Association –

Lady Henry Somerset Isabella Caroline Somerset, Lady Henry Somerset (née Somers-Cocks; 3 August 1851 – 12 March 1921), styled Lady Isabella Somers-Cocks from 5 October 1852 to 6 February 1872, was a British philanthropist, temperance movement, temperance leader ...

* The Origin, History, and Development of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union – Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew

The civil and political status of women

* The Origin and Objects of the Women's Franchise League of Great Britain and Ireland — Ursula Bright (Mrs. Jacob Bright) * Work of the Franchise League -

Florence Fenwick Miller Florence Fenwick Miller (sometimes Fenwick-Miller, 5 November 1854 – 24 April 1935) was an English journalist, author and social reformer of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was for four years the editor and proprietor of ''The Woman' ...

* Woman as an Actual Force in Politics -

Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair Ishbel Maria Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, (''née'' Isabel Maria Marjoribanks; 15 March 1857 – 18 April 1939) was a British writer, philanthropist, and an advocate of women's interests. As the wife of John Hamilton-Gor ...

(The Countess of Aberdeen) * Woman's Political Future –

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911) was an American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker, and writer. Beginning in 1845, she was one of the first African American women to ...

* Woman as a Political Leader - J. Ellen Foster

Civil law and government

* Women in Municipal Government - Ida A. Harper * One Phase of Woman's Work for the Municipality – Lillian Davis Duncanson * Woman's Participation in Municipal Government - Laura M. Johns * Organization Among Women as an Instrument in Promoting the Interests of Political Liberty - Susan B. Anthony * Woman's Position and Influence in the Civil Law – Martha Strickland * The Ethics of Suffrage - Elizabeth Cady Stanton * Woman as an Annex – Helen H. Gardener * The Value of the Eastern Star as a Factor in Giving Women a Better Understanding of Business Affairs, and Especially those Relating to Legislative Matters – Mary A. Flint * The Relation of Woman to Our Present Political Problems - Abbie A. C. Peaslie * Women's National Indian Association - Mrs. William E. Burke * The Women's Liberal Federation of Scotland - The Countess of Aberdeen * Finsk Qvinnoforening, the Finnish Women's Association -

Alexandra Gripenberg Alexandra Gripenberg, also known as Alexandra van Grippenberg, (1857 – 24 December 1913) was a Finnish social activist, author, editor, newspaper publisher, and elected politician, and was a leading voice within the movement for women's rights ...

, Baroness Gripenberg * The Association for Married Women's Property Rights -

Thorborg Rappe Thorborg Ragnhild Rappe (4 October 1832 – 18 September 1902), was a Swedish pedagogue and Baroness. Alongside Emanuella Carlbeck, she is counted as a pioneer in the education of students with intellectual disability in Sweden, and she represent ...

, Baroness Thorborg-Rappe

Industries and occupations

* Woman the New Factor in Economics – Augusta Cooper Bristol * A New Avenue of Employment and Investment for Business Women - Juana A. Neal * The Bohemian Woman as a Factor in Industry and Economy - Karla Máchová * The Contribution of Women to the Applied Arts – Florence Elizabeth Cory * The Influence of Women in Ceramic Art - M. B. Alling * Pottery in the Household – M. Louise McLaughlin * The Trades and Professions Underlying the Home – Alice M. Hart * The Effect of Modern Changes in Industrial and Social Life on Woman's Marriage Prospects —

Käthe Schirmacher Käthe Schirmacher (Danzig, 6 August 1865 – Meran, 18 November, 1930) was a German writer, journalist, and political activist who was considered to be one of the leading advocates for women's rights and Feminism, the international women's move ...

* Organization Among Women as an Instrument in Promoting the Interests of Industry – Kate Bond * The Women's Protective and Provident League of Glasgow – E. E. Anderson * Coöperative Housekeeping — Mary Coleman Stuckert * Domestic Service and the Family Claim -

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...

The solidarity of human interests

* The Solidarity of Human Interests –

Isabelle Bogelot Isabelle Bogelot (11 May 1838 - 14 June 1923) was a French philanthropist and feminist. Biography Born Isabelle Amélie Cottiaux in Paris, Bogelot was the daughter of Antoine André Cottiaux, a cotton trader, and Marie Anne Thérèse Cottiaux, ...

* Women in Spain for the Last Four Hundred Years - Catalina d'Alcala * Woman's Position in the South American States - Matilde G. de Miro Quesada * The Women of Brazil - Martha Sesselberg * Women in South America – Isabel King * The Progress of Women in England –

Helen Blackburn Helen Blackburn (25 May 1842 – 11 January 1903) was a feminist, writer and campaigner for women's rights, especially in the field of employment. Blackburn was an editor of the '' Englishwoman's Review'' magazine. She wrote books about women wo ...

* A Century of Progress for Women in Canada –

Mary McDonnell Mary Eileen McDonnell (born April 28, 1952) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for her roles as Stands With A Fist in ''Dances With Wolves'' and May-Alice Culhane in ''Pas ...

* The Progress of Women in New South Wales — C. C. Montefiore * Our Debt to Zurich -

Helen L. Webster Helen L. Webster (August 1, 1853 – January 4, 1928) was an American Philology, philologist and educator. She taught at Vassar College, 1889–90, at same time giving a course of lectures on Comparative linguistics, comparative philology at Barnar ...

* The Intellectual Progress of the Colored Women of the United States Since the Emancipation Proclamation –

Fannie Barrier Williams Frances Barrier Williams (February 12, 1855 – March 4, 1944) was an American educator, civil rights, and women's rights activist, and the first black woman to gain membership to the Chicago Woman's Club. She became well known for her effo ...

* The Organized Efforts of the Colored Women of the South to Improve their Condition -

Sarah Jane Woodson Early Sarah Jane Woodson Early, born Sarah Jane Woodson (November 15, 1825 – August 1907), was an American educator, black nationalist, temperance activist and author. A graduate of Oberlin College, where she majored in classics, she was hired ...

* Woman's War for Peace —

Nico Beck-Meyer Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's ''La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ' ...

* Woman as an Explorer – May French-Sheldon * The Organized Development of Polish Women -

* Woman in Italy - Fanny Zampini Salazar * Women in Agriculture in Siam — Lady Linchee Suriya * The Position of Women in Iceland - Sigrid E. Magnusson * The Position of Women in Syria – Hanna K. Korany

Legacy

Women at the World's Congress achieved the goals they sought. They had come from each state in the Union to staff and run offices, gather and spend resources, pay their workers, sign contracts; all without going into debt as had many of the men's subcommittees.

Notable attendees

Hallie Quinn Brown Hallie Quinn Brown (March 15, 1845/1850 - September 16, 1949) was an African-American educator and activist. She moved with her parents (who were formerly enslaved) while relatively young to a farm near Chatham, Ontario, Canada, in 1864 and then ...

Fanny Jackson Coppin Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for Female education, female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of t ...

Barbara Galpin Barbara Galpin (, Johnson; February 6, 1855 – August 14, 1922) was an American journalist. For twenty-five years Galpin was identified with the '' Somerville Journal'', serving as compositor, proof reader, cashier, editor woman's page and assist ...

* Mary Kenney * Lorraine J. Pitkin * Mary Stuart Smith *

Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...

Germany *

Auguste Förster Auguste Förster (7 December 1848, Warburg – 3 October 1926, Brunswick) was a German educationalist and activist in the bourgeois women's movement. She was founder of the Kassel Organization of Women's Groups (Gründerin des Verbandes Kassl ...

Anna Simson Anna Simson, née Haberkern (20 August 1835, Werder – 14 March 1916, Lubiąż Abbey, Silesia) was a German women's rights activist. In 1893 she attended the founding of the World's Congress of Representative Women meeting on the occasion of the ...

References

Citations

Attribution

* Anthony, Susan B.; Harper, Ida Husted, editors
''History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV''
(1883–1900), published 1902, at Internet Archive *

Bibliography

* Blackwell, Alice Stone
''Lucy Stone: Pioneer of Woman's Rights.''
Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2001. * Kerr, Andrea Moore
''Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality.''
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1995. *Maddux, Kristy, author. ''Practicing Citizenship: Women’s Rhetoric at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.'' University Park: Penn State University Press, 2019. * Smith, Karen Manners, author; Cott, Nancy F., editor
''New Paths to Power'', 1890–1920
Chapter 7 of ''No Small Courage'', Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 353–357.

External links

digital transcript at University of Pennsylvania
The World's Congress of Representative Women
digital transcript at Google Book Search

Photographs and commentary about the architecture, statuary and murals

{{Authority control 1893 in Illinois 1893 conferences History of Chicago History of women's rights in the United States Feminism and history World's Columbian Exposition Women's conferences History of women in Illinois First-wave feminism in the United States