Free Rachel's Hope by Shelly Sanders Page A

to Jewish children at Homewood Terrace orphanage. She asked for members in favor of supporting this new program to raise their hands. Almost every hand in the synagogue went up. Rachel squirmed, uncomfortable at being one of the only people without a raised hand, one of the few non-members present.
    â€œGood,” said Selena. “Please let me know after the meeting if you are interested in being on the committee for Homewood Terrace.” She cleared her throat.
    â€œNow I’d like to discuss the issue of suffrage in California. It has been five years since our chapter was formed. In that time we have not even addressed the most important issue facing Californian women today—our fundamental right to vote.”
    Selena went on to explain that men in California had voted down suffrage in 1896 because they feared that women would interfere with the booming alcohol industry. The majority of women supporting suffrage were also associated with the temperance movement. They were openly against the sale, distribution, and use of alcohol because so many men had disrupted their domestic lives by becoming hard drinkers. San Francisco had more saloons and liquor stores than any city west of the Mississippi. Alcohol-related businesses generated a lot of income.
    â€œWomen have been active in the temperance movement. And these men are afraid we will put an end to their drinking,” Solomons continued.
    The crowd of women burst out laughing at this remark. Ironic , thought Rachel. Anna believed strongly in women’s suffrage, yet her own father ran a successful liquor store, a business that hindered the suffrage movement.
    â€œWe must unite with other groups of women to support our right to vote,” Selena continued when the laughter died down. “We need to involve more working-class women and we need to venture outside of the city to small towns and farming communities to get our message out.”
    â€œEven if we have a majority of women involved, from the very poor to the very wealthy, men will still find a reason to vote us down,” said a woman in the second row.
    â€œAre you suggesting we stop trying?” said Selena. “We know that women can already vote in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.”
    â€œNo,” the woman conceded. “I’m just tired of fighting and getting nowhere.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what men are hoping.” Another woman, taller than most men Rachel had ever seen, stood. “They want to wear us down so we give up, and I, for one, intend to keep fighting until I can step into a voting booth.”
    Rachel cast a sideways glance at Anna who was writing furiously, and her own mind swelled with ideas for an article about this meeting. The thought of being able to cover events like this, events that could change the lives of women, made Rachel realize that she wouldn’t be truly content until she was a journalist in America.
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    News from Israel’s Messenger , Shanghai
    Jewish Women in San FranCisco Determined to Break Down Barriers
    By R. Paskar
    For Russian-born Anna Strunsky, rules are made to be broken. Nothing will stop her from obtaining her goals. After attending Stanford University—where she was suspended for receiving a male visitor in her room instead of the parlor—she published a novel in 1903, The Kempton-Wace Letters , along with co-author Jack London. She also founded the Friends of Russian Freedom in San Francisco, which promotes empathy and support for Russian workers through leaflets.
    A fearless, staunch socialist, she will soon be traveling back to Russia to report on the workers’ strikes in St. Petersburg and Moscow. This journey is surprising, even shocking, given that Jews have been and continue to be victims of violent massacres throughout Russia. While Jews are flocking to Shanghai and America in search of respite from virulent anti-Semitism, Anna Strunsky is returning to Russia