 The league seized the opportunity to generate widespread interest and support, leafleting the factory districts in the weeks leading up to the rally.Mary Beard's suggestion resulted in the 
rally not being structured as speakers delivering speeches, but rather as several prominent wage-earning women issuing a direct and formal response to the arguments presented by state senators speaking out against suffrage.On the night of April 22, 1912 Cooper Union filled with an overflowing crowd of thousands, composed almost entirely of wage-earning women.