In group 58, Department of Manufactures, the proportional number of exhibits by women contained in these classes was small—­I would think about 10 per cent.  Groups 58 and 59 exhibited laces, embroideries, trimmings, decorations for gowns, costumes, and wraps, drawn work and Tenneriffe.  Art needlework was the most striking exhibit by women in that department.  Women showed great advancement in each industry, without question.  Very few exhibits were installed by foreign women; the foreign costumes were largely from the man tailor.  The needlework in the Visayan Village of the Philippine exhibit was of a very high order, but no provision was made to grant awards upon this—­the Philippine exhibit—­and Miss Anna Woolf, of St. Louis, and I called the attention of the authorities to the deserving character of the exhibit and made a plea for awards to be made by the higher jurors, and they promised to do so.  I do not know whether it was done or not, however, but there was no woman’s work in the whole Louisiana Purchase Exposition more deserving or of higher grade than the needlework in that village exhibit.  Enough can not be said of these little workers.  The present age is one of superiority, in which women not only show their ability, but each year they are granted more, and more widespread becomes their ability to grasp all vocations and fill them most creditably.

I am confident there was no question of the interest shown by men in woman’s work; in fact, I think it attracted more visitors, and the results would not have been better if their work had been separately exhibited.

The work shown at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was on a much greater and higher plane than ever has been exhibited before.  Where women exhibited they received a greater number of awards in proportion.  Miss Mary Williamson was an original designer of artistic needlework, showing exceptional talent, and was awarded a grand prix for her designs.

I attended the Paris Exposition of 1878, also the Centennial at Philadelphia, 1876; spent much time at the Columbian World’s Fair in Chicago, and possess a diploma and gold medal for my artistic needlework exhibited at the Columbian Exposition.

Miss Margaret Summers, of Louisville, Ky., was also a juror in the above-combined groups 58 and 59, and writes: 

    In group 59 the costumes made by men were about twice as many as
    those made by women, though the handsomest of the exhibits was
    the work of a woman, Caroline, of Chicago.

All the work done by women showed a great improvement over that exhibited at the Chicago Exposition, not only in the cut and design, but in the artistic finish and the care given to every detail.

    The hand work was a special feature of all the garments for
    women in the lingerie, gowns, and manteaux.