Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, Jenny June | Page 8

first
president, Jane Cunningham Croly.

Address by Orlena A. Zabriskie, President of the New York Federation

That the New York State Federation should be called upon to attest its
love, devotion, and admiration for Mrs. Croly and her wonderful work
among women, is a privilege we appreciate, and I shall try in a few
simple, honest words, to explain a little of what her influence has been
to the New York State Federation. We all know she was an organizer
and founder, but it is well to repeat those words, although I think there
is little danger that we shall ever forget them. From all over the State
have come messages to me from different members of the federation,
expressing their love and obligation to Mrs. Croly for what she has
done for them individually, and for the State. One letter said:
"I shall think of her always as that lovely, sweet-tempered woman who,
under the most trying circumstances, never lost her temper, or felt she
was at all aggrieved. She took it in the right way, and was just as lovely
and kind at the close as at the beginning."
I saw her at Friendship, a little town in the northwestern part of the
State, before the meeting at Buffalo, and there we had a long talk about
matters of Federation interest. She gave me some good advice in her
own gentle way, that I shall never forget, and I am only too glad to
have this opportunity of saying it helped me to carry through that
convention as I could not have done otherwise.
What was the secret of her power as an organizer? I think this--she saw
the little spark of good in each woman, every woman she came in
contact with, and even in those she did not come in personal contact
with. She knew it was there and she had the ability to call it forth, and
that magnetic influence drew them together, so that they realized that
they could do more in large numbers than they could as individuals.
Knowing our power, she urged and encouraged us to do our best. When
with her we did not feel as though we had a "specked" side. I think it
was just that that gave her power and influence in the clubs she founded,
to make them live and be a greater power than ever they could have
been without her memory and example set before them.
She has done good work, and started us on a task that she saw had
practical possibilities, and now we can carry out those ideas of hers,
and give them force in years to come. It may take a long time, but we
will keep on being patient, cheerful, kind-hearted, and considerate, as
she was. Let us therefore be grateful we had her as long as we did. She
was for us a grand inheritance, and let us appreciate it.

Address by Carrie Louise Griffin, President of the Society of American
Women in London
If I could only command that physical self as I would like to, I would
tell you how grateful I am to be privileged to speak, and how much I
think we have to be thankful for to-day, in the life of our dear one,
which was given us.
I am new in this club, and, as most of you know, my friendship with
Mrs. Croly is not yet three years old, but I have been singularly
privileged and honored in loving her, and in the love which she gave
me.
She came into my life (I must be just a little personal for a moment) as
our first luncheon, in our little Society of American Women in London,
was about to be given. The president of Sorosis had written to London
saying: "Do you know that Mrs. Croly and Mrs. Glynes are to be in
London, and I think they would help you?" Bless her, and Mrs. Croly:
she came as a benediction to the few of us who were then novices in
what we were doing. I can never tell you what a benefit she was to us in
the difficult work we had undertaken. You have given me exceptional
privileges in coming among you, and I am grateful for the help you
have been to me, but I would say to you--and you have given me this
privilege--I have never met a woman who seemed to have recognized
the birthright in women as the birthright in men, to create that link
which binds our powers to our intellect. It seems to me that it was with
Mrs. Croly as it was with our late Majesty, Queen Victoria, that she
was an influence, perhaps, rather than a power. She conceived great
ideas and passed