Virginia Louisa Minor was a women's suffrage activist. The following is from a report
she prepared for the National Woman Suffrage Association's convention in 1884.
from Report of the Movement for Woman Suffrage in Missouri
In making my report as Vice-President for Missouri, it can only be in the most
general manner. So far as expression of the sentiment of women has been given by
active organizations, little is to be said. The isolated condition of our population makes
it extremely difficult for women either to impart or obtain information distinctively
relating to themselves. Since my last report Suffrage meetings have been held and
fairly reported by a part of the press, and a number of organizations, both protective
and beneficiary have been formed by women: but being secret, and many of them
connected with trades, it is impossible to obtain accurate statistics. A medical college
for women, a woman's exchange, a manual training school, and a training school for
women nurses, have been organized within the year. The number and standing of
women physicians has steadily appreciated. Of the whole number twelve are
registered in St. Louis. Six newspapers, wholly or in part, are edited by women,
exclusive of those having in charge the society and fashion departments. While in art
no classification can be reported, women are surely and steadily advancing; and, as
usual, the theater has been first to recognize her ability-one of our handsomest
theaters having received its beautiful decorations, in part, from the hand of a woman.
(from "Report of the Movement for Woman Suffrage in Missouri" by Virginia L. Minor, March 1884).
What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
1. to show that it is impossible to expand women's
rights without better data
2. to emphasize that women need better ways of
communicating over long distances
3. to convey that access to health care is an
important battleground in women's rights
4. to describe the important contributions women
are making despite the lack of voting rights
Which one is it