Cook, who had been given seats at the Speaker's table, presented a petition for women's rights, becoming the first women to address the state legislature. More than one thousand individuals signed the petition, including women residents and legal male voters of Wayne County. Following Cook's brief introductions, Thomas, who noted the large, boisterous crowd, urged the assembly to take the forthcoming presentation seriously before reading the petition aloud. The petition was brief and requested simply that women be granted equal property rights and suffrage. Birdsall spoke next, addressing the session for about a half hour. Her speech was described as "a clear and logical plea in behalf of the right of suffrage in woman". Only Thomas's address and the petition were published, despite the legislative resolution that the addresses of both women would be printed. No known copy of Birdsall's address exists, but detailed information about the presentation was published in the February 1859 issue of The Lily. Birdsall avowed that no permanent improvement in women's condition could ever occur without equal rights, pointing out that "if from time to time there appears a woman rising above traditional prejudice and accumulated obstacles, she must be looked upon as an example of what might oftener have been done under justice". She also pointed out that any "inferior" female characteristics were actually caused by lack of opportunity for women in education and employment, not the reason for it, and the only way to ensure self-protection was through the right to vote. Cook concluded their remarks, describing how enfranchised women would be more effective in the cause of temperance. After Cook finished her presentation, the joint session resolved into a committee of the whole to discuss adding the petition to the legislative agenda, after which the meeting was adjourned and members of the Indiana Senate retired to their own chamber. Although there had been some measure of decorum throughout the proceedings, once concluded, the men began loudly ridiculing the entire notion of women's rights. The mockery continued in the press. The following day, the Senate committee assigned to consider the petition decided to take no further action on the matter. The House agreed. Although the legislature did not grant women their request for voting and property rights, the three suffragists' efforts paved the way for other Hoosier women to fight for the vote by addressing the legislature. Amanda Way and Emma Swank, who