The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-25

At the last election of Sorosis this moth CT of womens clubs honored itself by choosing for President one of its original charter members of the year lS6S, Mrs Charlote B. Wilbour. Mrs. Wilbour was also the first President of Sorosis elected by ballot But when she again became President this year of grace l9OS. old time Sorosis said Now we shall not get into ruts. Now we've got new, fresh blood to the fore fin our leader" That IS the kind of woman Charlotte B. Wilbour Is.
 Old Sorosians claim that their sister hood Is the first womans club ever or Ranized. The New England Woman's Club makes the same claim.
 Tt was this way" an original Soro- sian tells me: Our club Is the first one exclusively for women. The New Eng land Club was started near the same tune, possibly little before but 1t let men in as complimentary members"
 Complimentary or complementary Which way do you spell it?"
 "I mean complementary"-m as the complement of 0 nan. That was the idea. But in Sorosis women went 1t alone from the start, .,
 Mrs. Wilbour the new President, who was President more than a generation ago, Is a delightful. talker, and she told me when, why and how Sorosis was start ed. It is recorded in the archives Of wo- mems clubs that Sorosis grew out Of the slight to women at the time the news paper fraternity of New York city gave a banuuet to Charles Dickens.
 It is one of mans amiable weaknesses to think chiefly of himself where dinner Is concerned, and so not newspaper wo- man was invited to the Dickens feast though there were women journalists able and distinguished in those days. There were Fanny Fern, Jennie June Croly. Kate Field Lucia Gilbert Runkle and Jane G. Swisshelm, among others. jennie June was journalists wife as we'll Charlotte B. Wilbour. one of her tnti- mate friends. was also Journalists wife: Jennie June and Mrs. Wilbour belonged to an informal coterie of men and women friends who used to meet socially Tn delightful way They were mostly mar ried folk.
 Soon after the Dickens dinner. Mrs. Wilbour gave a valentine party to the coterie, in 1888 She said it was stupid to leave all valentine observances to mere boys and girls. So there was party, not altogether sedate and solemn, either or these married friends. At that gathering inc ladies expressed strongly their sense of the slight that had been put upon newspaper women at the Dickens ban ouet. It Is only due to man to say that several of the husbands present sympa- thized warmly with the ladies' Finally one of these mere men-Mr. Otterson- struck the keynote of much music of the future with the remark, emphatic ana strong, ''Women ought to have club Of their own.
 Was 1t thus mere man. after all' who originally suggested women's clubs?
 I Tn March the Cluh was organized. The question of name was sat up nights with and Sorosis. finally chosen, was the suggestion of Mrs. Will bour.
 'I wanted" she says in explanation ito find a name that would not suggest any particular aim or work, like tenn perance society or sewing circle or moth- CTS meeting A majority among us were young married women with little chil' dren. There were not flats to live m then as there are now, and we each had our own house and a load of family cares. We thought it would be good and restful to get together by ourselves in the middle of the day and greet one another and eat and drink what we ourselves had had no hand in preparing. We consider ed ourselves banded together for good work. but first of all to be helpful to our selves"
 The adSlCE anu to-OptldtiC Ci hNS bands were not scorned in the solemn matter of choosing q name for the club. "I would like a name from the plant Kingdom. I suppose that won | b. unwomanly," Mrs. Wilbour had said with a touch of fine feminine sarcasm when she suggested "Sorosis." MT. Croly liked the name. MT. Wilbour also approved; and Sorosis the new club finally was Preliminary meetings were held at several of the women's homes;
 then in March, 1868, these first Sorosians
 hired haT' and ate the first dinner they themselves had no hand in prepar- ine. In December of that year the organization was incorporated. The famous Sorosis membership pledge, so impressive in its promise oi tenderness, fidelity and helpfulness from
 woman to woman, was written by Char | lotte E. Wilbour.
 The pledge which every new member
 repeats on her initiation and which the | other members repeat with her is this 1 give my name to Sorosis to keep sa credy.
 l I give my interest to Sorosis to make 1 worthy of support.
 l pledge myself to sustain the member