political organization in the state of Virginia. Virginia Suffrage News In October 1914, the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia published its first issue of Virginia Suffrage News, a monthly newspaper intended to open communication among the suffrage leagues and their supporters across the state of Virginia. As league president, Valentine wrote the foreword to the first issue, in which she articulated her desire for cooperation and harmony within Virginia's suffrage movement: Marginalizing African American women Valentine and members of the Equal Suffrage League privately supported women's suffrage for all, regardless of race. Publicly, however, they marginalized black women, knowing that most Virginian's would be against giving African American women the vote, thereby jeopardizing any chance of achieving women's suffrage. In 1916 the league issued a flier arguing that giving white women the right to vote would preserve white supremacy and that the literacy test and poll tax would deter blacks from voting. Valentine argued that refraining from supporting African American women's suffrage was a matter of common sense. In a letter to a friend she wrote: "I believe that all women, white or black, who meet the qualifications for suffrage in any State should have that right, but in working to secure that right, we should exercise common sense, and not complicate our efforts and add difficulties of the task by injecting elements of discord. As you know, the negro is the one remaining argument against suffrage in the Southern States . . . This is not a matter of principle but of expediency." Life as a public suffragist Valentine preferred a "quiet, educational propaganda" approach to organizing support for the suffrage movement; militant and extremist strategies were said to anger her. Public speaking did not come naturally to Valentine, but she understood its importance to the cause. She developed a style that combined a dramatic flair with a fluency with language and a command of facts, winning many over to the cause through her tact and charm. Valentine quickly earned a reputation for being an engaging speaker, addressing crowds on the topic of women's suffrage whenever the opportunity presented itself and usually without prepared remarks—just minimal notes. From 1912 to 1913, she gave more than a hundred speeches in support of women's suffrage across the state, including one to the Virginia House of Delegates. The National Woman Suffrage Association soon called on her to deliver speeches in New Jersey,