MECI Detallado

Because men of the Board of Management were unable to keep their promises of financial support, the women were thrown upon their own resources. The Picayune chronicled the loud complaints male exhibitors voiced in repeated meetings; meanwhile, the women busied themselves with the tasks at hand. Cole put it plainly: “The men went to begging and the women went to work.” To begin raising funds so the Woman‟s Department would “reflect nothing but credit upon her sex,” Lady Commissioners from various states gathered in Howe‟s office to

settle plans for her lecture.54 Given and Auzé had secured Werlein‟s Music Hall, and Mrs. King had convinced Joaquin Miller, the “Poet of the West,” to read some of his poems. In her journal, Howe expressed some annoyance with Mrs. Auzé. She wrote that she volunteered to give a lecture and “suggested two or three subsequent occasions” to raise funds, and then Auzé “immediately rushed off to make capital for herself, pretending that the whole plan originated

53

Picayune, January 9, 1885.

54

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with her, which was flatly untrue.” Howe was gracious to a point, but she expected credit when it was due. Nevertheless, Auzé was zealous about selling tickets, and she and Mrs. Given looked forward to having offices in the department for their invaluable work. Mrs. Jennie Nixon of the

Times-Democrat attended the planning meeting in her official capacity as State Lady

Commissioner of Louisiana, Governor McEnery having appointed her in December, after which the male Commissioner pressured her to place most exhibits downstairs with the state exhibits, which she did. Women from Texas, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio also showed with their states on the ground floor. Some of these states displayed items in both spaces, which further diluted the power of complete women‟s exhibits.55

Local women nevertheless rallied support for Howe‟s lecture. “Responding with their usual public spirit,” the Picayune wrote, thirty-three active women of the city met in the Ordinary of the St. Charles Hotel. They formed “a temporary association „for the purpose of

giving entertainments and devising methods of raising money to assist the Woman‟s

Department,‟ thus enabling it to be properly installed.” Given and Auze figured $2000 to $3000 would prepare spaces for exhibits presently “lying boxed up.” The Picayune reported that male management had conceded that whatever was needed “must be raised by the ladies,” and the

paper complained that male management “ought to have been able to have squeezed out a poor little $3000” out of their million and a half dollars. This was a lesser sum than ladies paid in at

the Exposition gates in one day, the newspaper chided. “But the ladies of New Orleans . . . will not let the department languish, and will accomplish what they are asked to do.”56

As most

55

Howe Journal, January 8, 1885; Picayune, February 1, 6, January 8, 1885.

56

“The Woman‟s Exposition Aid Association,” Picayune, February 15, 1885. By January 7, 1885, there were sixty members; by the time it disbanded in mid-February, eighty-five women had enrolled at $1 each. In the end, the organization presented Howe with $576.50 as the result

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women assumed agency to run their homes, they would employ those transferable skills to create this public department.

Women would assert their “reputation for pluck, energy and ambition,” the Picayune

declared, to help those from the North and West who found themselves in a “forlorn condition” without money for expenses. Those participants had come “honorably and laboriously” and had done their share of the work and were now “tapping on our Southern door” for help, the

Picayune declared.As Cole asserted, “New Orleans women—who for all their reputed „Southern languor‟ were never known to sit with folded hands when they could do a helping work—have already organized into a practical working association.” She called upon the women of the city, “whatever their race, nationality or sect,” not to be found “lacking.” The Exposition promised to have inestimable value to “the women of the South,” as it would show “the many ways a woman may earn money: new plans, new hopes, new energies.” Women would see what other women had done “and will learn what they may do themselves,” the Picayune reminded its readers. 57

This was the repeated message that journalists at the Picayune conveyed: look to see what among the exhibits you can do and begin to do it. There are new fields to explore. Work has nobility and dignity in it and is not to be eschewed, as do those who are too busy chasing gentility to pursue a day‟s work for a day‟s pay.

of the first entertainment and $1979 from the other two events and from membership fees and contributions. See also, Picayune, January 16, 1885.

57

For the forlorn condition of participants, see the Picayune, January 16, 1885; for needing help, see “The Woman‟s Exposition Aid Association,” Picayune, February 15, 1885; for calling on the women of the city, see “WWW,” Picayune, January 25, 1885; for what women would learn, see the Picayune, January 16, 1885.

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Several women of the newly formed Woman‟s Exposition Aid Association stepped up immediately; women of New Orleans were no strangers to benevolence.58 One member

contributed the services of a skilled carpenter for ten days; Mrs. Ava Hildenbrand, “the plucky little editor of the Gretna Courier,” offered to do all the “job work” of the association, including

the printing of tickets. One woman said that ladies only should manage the series of

entertainments; another urged none to say “excuse me” when asked to use her talents. In their

experienced manner, the women devised dues and promised to solicit more members. They elected officers; Mrs. R. M. Walmsley of the CWE was chosen as president pro tem. They formed ongoing executive and decorating committees and a temporary one to invite the Mexican Band to play at Howe‟s lecture. The women assessed the immediate needs of the Woman‟s

Department: they needed money enough to purchase show cases, hire custodians, and even to “provide the necessary toilette rooms so badly needed for the ladies, and to pay for policing the

department,” the Picayune reported. The women of the new Association sold 1000 tickets for Howe‟s lecture.59

Cole congratulated them for their selfless support and would later berate the President for forgetting their generosity. But for now, the evening was set.

58

Picayune, January 10, 1885. In addition to CWE, WCTU, and the Art Union, women initiated many asylums for widows and orphans, including the Relief of Jewish Widows and Orphans, St. Anna‟s Asylum (Merrick‟s favorite charity), and others.

59

For the band at Howe‟s lecture, see the Picayune February 3, 1885. The Picayune

credited Maud Howe with engaging the band through her “personal solicitation.” For the women selling tickets and a complete list of Lady Commissioners, see the Picayune, January 11, 1885.

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Julia Ward Howe, Frontispiece, Richards and Elliott, Julia Ward Howe