History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

be scrubbed, for there were no carpets; the fruit must be dried, for there
were no fruit cans; the candles must be dipped; the geese must be picked;
the children must be helped with their lessons-and with all this she
found time to read the news of the day and to keep up with the times in
which she lived.
From that early day to this, she has led in all the reforms; she has
kept up the interest in the church, taught in the Sabbath school and led
in the social life of the community. How has she done it all? The
lips are hushed now, and the hands are at rest; hands that toiled for us;
lips that prayed for us; souls that struggled on patient to the end.
This interest in her home and in her country has come down from
mother to daughter till today we see her through many different activities
still doing her best. Through the W. C. T. U. she is striving to guard
the young and uplift the fallen.
She is smoothing the pillow of the sick and suffering, for it is the
noble effort of a courageous band of women that has placed the Oakland
County Hospital in our midst. It is the women of our county that have
carried words of cheer to our County Home, looking after the needs of
their less fortunate sisters.
It is the women of Oakland county who have united in one the fifteen
women's clubs from east to west and from north to south, and these
gaining strength by union are working for better schools, for forestry,
for the neatness of our highways, of our towns and villages, for civil
service reform, for pure food, for better things in the home and for better
state laws.
It was the women's clubs that worked for the rest rooms in our
county court house. In this, as in all these works, they have been most
generously aided by the splendid manhood of the county, without whose
help they could not have succeeded. Take the work of the women out
of our churches and how many would exist? Yet they question if
women should vote on church government.
Girls are leading in our schools and universities and Oakland has
her share in the great work, thanks to the mothers who have trained these
women in the home. Conditions have changed, surroundings have
changed, but not the workers. The loom and the knitting needles have
gone' from the home to the factory, the fruit is at the cannery, the clothing comes to the home ready made, but she is not idle. If she has not
been forced to follow these industries she is still working.
Today politics come into the home with the water, with the milk,
with the meat and with the impure food, and if she would keep her home
pure, her loving ones well, she must have a voice in these things that the
politicians control. It is for this that she is asking for the ballot, for today all these things are settled by the voter.
Look back at her splendid record as pioneer, ever foremost in good
works, as the home maker ever guarding all within that home, and ask
yourselves if every weapon of defense should not be placed in her
hands.
If Oakland county stands among the first counties of our state, thanks
must be given to her women, as well as to her sturdy loyal men. She is