 Members preferred to be called suffragists instead of suffragettes to downplay any militant activity.Ten women dared to take a stance on the suffrage movement and establish the Equal Suffrage League.The founding members were Mrs. Robert Atkinson, Miss Marie Garesche, Mrs. E.M. Grossman, Miss Lillian Hetzell, Miss Jennie A.M. Jones, Mrs. D.W. Knefler, Miss Bertha Rombauer, Mrs. Russell, Mrs. Florence Wyman Richardson and her daughter, Mrs. Roland Usher.