The TERA was meant to "advance the industrial, educational, and equal rights of women, and to secure suffrage to them by appropriate State and national legislation.
"[3] The Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA) had its beginnings at a meeting which took place on April 8, 1993, and included Rebecca Henry Hayes and several members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
[4] TERA formed auxiliary organizations in several other Texas cities, including Dallas, San Antonio and Beaumont.
[10] One incident that sparked division between the members of TERA was the idea to bring Susan B. Anthony to Texas in 1894 to speak about women's rights.
[16] Hayes also contended that bringing Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw to speak in Texas would be too costly for TERA.
[16] Members Elizabeth Fry and Grace Danforth asked Hayes to resign after she blocked the executive committee's vote to support Anthony's visit.
[4] When Hayes attended the NAWSA convention in November 1894, Fry, Danforth and Knowles declared the president's seat to be vacant.
[17] Hayes decried the motion, stating it was against the rules of TERA, and aired her grievances in The Galveston Daily News.