Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-05-09
CITY HON|)R[D THRU
MRS. I J.. FLETCHER
Election of Marshalltown Wo-
man as President of State
Federation
PLEAsEs LOCAL CLUB WOMEN
New President of the Iowa Federation
Of Women's Clubs Has Been in Club
Work Since 1s7e-Was Not candi.
date for the office-Prominence in
Club Work Made Her Desirable.

In the election at Des Moines yester
day of Mrs. Alice Click Fletcher a.
president of the Iowa Federation O.
Women's Clubs, Marshalltown has bee,
honored in way that causes her citi'
zens to rejoice. The prominence of the
city as club center is shown in Mrs
Fletcher's selection as president to 6
better advantage than it could possibly
have been in any other way. The exist
ence of the state federation, or rather
the organization perfected eight years
ago, was due to Marshalltown club wo.
men, who made the suggestion and in
vited other club women of the state te
meet here with them at an annual ban
quet of the Marshalltown Women's
Club.
The news of Mrs. F'letcher's selection
as president, which was made public in
the T.-R. Friday evening. caused much
happiness among the club women. No
one in the city has been more interested
In club work in general than has Mrs.
Fletcher, and few have led more active
club lives. Mrs. Fletcher's election
gives Marshalltown the honor of being
the home of two Of the six presidents
the state organization has had.
Mrs. F1etcher's club work started in
1879, when she was one of the charter
members of the Hawthorne Club. She
has been an active worker in that club
ever since, and has been Its president
for four different terms. She was also
prominent in the Women's Club for
several years, but has not been con-
nected with it for some time. Mrs.
Fletcher was also one of the prime
movers in the establishing of the City
Federation of Women's Clubs, of which
she is now president. 1t was as presi-
dent of this organization that she at
tended the convention at Des Moines.
The latest club with which she has
been identified at home is the Twentieth
Century, of which she was the first
president. She has been member of
the board of directors ever since the
organization, four years ago.
How State Federation Started.
Mrs. Fletcher was one Of the first
to make an effort to establish the or
ganization of which she has now been
fonored with its presidency. Eight
years ago members of the Marshalltown
Women's Club conceived the idea Of
state federation, and prominent club
women OF the state were invited here to
be guests at the clubs banquet. The
plans were discussed at length, and
resulted in the forming of the organic
alton at a meeting held at Des Moines
the year following. Mrs. Fletcher was
chairman OF the nominating committee
at the Des Monies convention, and was
largely instrumental in the selection of
Mrs. James G. Berryhi!l as the first
president. She was member of the
nominating committee at the next BIZ
ennial, at Cedar Rapids, when Mrs.
II. ]. Howe was elected president. AT
the next biennial, at Dubuque, she was
chairman of the nominating committee
again, when Mrs. G. F. Van Nechten, Of
Cedar Rapids, was chosen president,
and when, two years later, at Burling-
ton, Mrs. Mabel Dixon Hutchinson, of
Ottumwa, was made president, Mrs.
Fletcher was again on the nominating
committee. The only biennial she has
missed since the federation was started
was the meeting two years ago at
Council Bluffs, when Mrs. w. n. Baily.
of Des Moines, whom she now succeeds
us president. was elected.
Mrs. Fletcher was chairman of the
library committee OF the state feder-
alton that was instrumental in securing
the passage by the legislature of the
circulating library bill. The circulating
libraries. which have proved to be
highly successful, are now in use in
the smaller towns and rural districts,
where the advantages of the public IL
braries can not be had
In the General Federation.
Mrs. Fletcher has not stopped with
her club work in her home town, or
even in the state federation, but has
been prominent as an Iowa delegate
in the general federation. She has
been a delegate to each biennial ses
sion, and has attended all excepting the
one at Los Angeles last year. For the
past three years she has been state
secretary of the general federation
Mrs. Fletcher undoubtedly owes her
election to her thorough knowledge of
club work in general; to her intimacy
with the rules of parliamentary law; and
to the wide acquaintance she has
formed among the club women of the
state. She was not in any wise can
didate for the Office, and the thought
never entered her mind when she went
to Des Moines as a delegate. Mrs
Walter I. Smith, of Council Bluffs, was
an avowed candidate for the office, and
a great many Of the delegates desired
Mrs. Horace E. Deemer, of Red Oak
Others considered that Mrs. w. H. |
Baily should be reelected The stu
alton was somewhat complicated by the
fact that Mrs. Baily had gone on record
as being opposed to second terms, yet
In the matter of her position, in the
event of her election, she had not made
herself clear. In the difficulty in choos-
ing between the candidates Mrs.
Fletcher was decided upon as being the
thru her own election.
Mrs. Fletcher, in her home, Is such
a woman who makes the ideal Ameri-
can home. She is a member of one of |
the first families in the city, daughter
of DR.. George Click, now of Des
Moines, one of the early settlers here |
and prominent, for many years, in every |
good work in Marshalltown. Mrs |
Fletcher is the wife of T. J. Fletcher, |
cashier of the First National Bank |
She is the mother of three children
Her only daughter, Miss Isabelle
Fletcher, is graduate of Wellesley
and is now student at the Art Leage, !