Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-12
The FRIENDS In COUNCIL.
THE LIFE STORY OF A PIONEER
LAWRENCE CLUB
One of the Many of the
Quincy, ILL.,, Club-PrOminent
Kansas Women Who Have
Been Identified With 1t.

10000
on "Woman's Clubs" in the November
Scribner's, aIludes to lunching clubs and
non-lunching clubs. The Friends in Coun-
ell, older by two years than any other
literary society in Lawrence, belongs to
the latter class.
Yes, l suppose / can tell you as much
about the Friends in Council as any one"
said the president of the club. Mrs. W. III.
CaIruth. You know, of course. that it is
the club Miss Leonard started when she
first came to Lawrence? Miss Leonard is
largely unknown to the students of to-day.
but as its first woman Instructor she
played an important part in the early days
OF the university. In cooperation with the
women of Lawrence she organized the
Friends in Council, some time during the
winter of 1872.
Why was the club called the Friends in
Ccuncil?'
Because Miss Leonard had belonged to
a Friends in Council Club at Quincy, ILL.,.
and wished this club to be named TOR that"
can YOU recall the charter members"
Yes. there was Miss Leonard. OF course,
who is still an active member: Mrs. Il. d..
Thacher, now of Philadelphia; Mrs. S. y.
Simpson. now of Kansas City: kas:; Mrs.
Mary l.. Simpson, city librarian OF Law
renee; Mrs. i. III. Snow, the chancellor'S
wife: Mrs. Q. +. Gum, now of Kansas
City; Mrs: Allen. nov Of Iowa; and her
siptN ~aii-S GIN , -'iisS saw iSliii anu
Miss Sarah Brown. now a teacher in Has
kell institute. Lawrence"
At the clubs 18th anniversary last De-
jcemDer, Miss Brown gave some very pleas
ant "reminiscences of those early days.
There was little precedent for us to go
by. The day of women's clubs had hardly
dawned, but there was one society, the
Friends in Council, in Quincy, ILL.,, which
was our inspiration, as it has been that OF
many other clubs since then.
What a bonanza Miss Leonard's copy of
the Britannica was! l think it was almost
the only one in the city and we went to
it freely and from it We read such articles
of Metaphysical and Ethical Philos-
6ophy.' We studied-or more correct
ly. perhaps, listened to Miss Leon
ard as she read to us of Bacon. Aristotle.
Montaigne. SpinoZa, Des Cartes. Feneion
and Pascal. We dipped into Playfair's No
deferential remarks could be called dis
cusSion-the Philosophy of History read
ing learned essays upon it by Freeman and
others: We tried to find out whether the
spiritual body was identical with the nat
ural or co-eXistent, or only took form after
the dissolution of the latter. find accounts
of our questioning what are the highest
motives of action. Also in those days we
theoriZed about innate ideas. The second
year we broke away from metaphysics
then. l think, Just out. and came
years tIlled with history, literature and
art Since 1891 the programmes have
been printed and show that the club has
spent two years on German history and
literature, two on Shakespeare and two
on Dante. The subject under study this
winter is Holland. The programme is an
adaptation of one used by the Friends in
Council Of Kansas City. and Miss Allen,
lend her notes on Holland taken while
abroad.
1t is the plan of the Friends in Council
Club to take up one line of study and in
vestigate it thoroughly. Two years is US
ually spent on one subject. The work for
the entire year is divided into topics upon
at a time, at the weekly meetings. In or
der to keep abreast of current events the
club has introduced a fifteen minutes ex-
temporaneous talk into its regular pro-
gramme. This with the reading and dis
cussion of the paper occupies about two
hours of every Tuesday afternoon.
Council neil at nay Kan msa', GitS, There 14s ff are eth en-
branches of the club. them was a ques-
ton put to Mrs. Carruth during the course
Yes. there are fourteen. Four of them
have sprung from the Lawrence club. and
the others from the one at Quincy. 1 sup
At Topeka. Kansas City. Mo. Canon
City. Col. and at Cresco, Ia. Friends in
Council clubs haye been organized by Mrs.
Lewis and Mrs. Otis H. Holmes. all of
whom were at some time members of the
club at LAWRENCE. Some of the others are
at Springfield. Mo, at Beloit. Wis, and in
Vermont. This perpetuating of itself is a
result of one of the clubs principles-that
VI lhciuulnS tne daughters OF members as
soon as there is a vacant membership. The
club has a number limit of twenty-four
a friendly intercourse is kept up with the
parent club at Quincy and with the other
branches. a list of the members since the
clubs organization is as follows: Miss Eliz-
abeth T. Leonard. Mrs. o. r. Gum, Mrs.
T. d. Thatcher. Mrs. S. o. Thacher, Mrs.
F. II. Snow. Mrs. NJ. L.. Simpson, Miss
Sarah A. Brown, Mrs. S. n. Simpson. Mrs.
Allen. Miss Stanley, Miss Isabel Tenny,
Mrs. Professor Williams. Mrs. S. NJ. Gard
ner. Miss Vara Gum Whitehead, Mrs. J.
l.. Barnes, Mrs. j. II. Garfield, Mrs. f, W,
Wood. Mrs. +. l.. Nichols, Miss Whitcomb,
Mrs: Mary Woodward Doran. Miss Emma
Hadley. Mrs. Professor j. w. Green, Mrs.
4. knittle. Mrs. GifLen, Mrs. F. Simpson,
nelia GIeed Miss Kate stephens. Miss
Williams. Miss Patten. Mrs. Nellie Thatcher,
Henry. Miss Campbell. Mrs. Borgholthaus.
Mrs. McE,wen, Mrs. Whitcomb. Mrs. Lew
IS, Mrs. NJ. j.. Wilder. Mrs. Professor E..
II. S. Bailey. Mrs. Professor F. w. Black
mar. Mrs. Professor A. NJ. Wilcox. Mrs.
Professor d. II. Robinson. Mrs. Professor
l.. z. Sayre. Mrs. Professor w. H. Car
ruth. Mrs. Professor s. W. Williston. Mrs.
| Professor +. D. Adams, Mrs. George
Banks. Mrs. p. r.. Brooks. Mrs. H.. Beatty,
Mrs. J. q. Haskell, Mrs. H.. NJ. Haskell,
Mrs. C. f. Meserve. Mrs. C. G. Rowland,
Mrs. w. Metcalf. Mrs. J. Marvin. Mrs.
Stafford Thacher. Mrs. r. W. Woodward,
Mrs. .. d. Walker. Mrs. A. O.. Grubb.
Mrs. Peter Emery. Mrs. Waterman Stone.