New-York tribune., 1907-04-15
WORK OF WOMENSCLUBS
They Hare Effected Many Reforms
an This COuntrY.

/ N'OSIOl edcn OF tneSe having Deen IOuHdeu
~ ~ IooS But it developed that the club movement.
IKE IKE young Lochinvar, came out of the West.
INC AauleS Library Society of Kalamazoo. Mich.
was founded in 1852 and the Minerva Club.
~ -'e" harmony Ind, in 1859 Close on the
heels or these four pioneers came other clubs.
though the Ladies' Physiological Institute of Bos-
Ton mas the distinction OF being the first and only
woman S club that had a man for president. Pro-
iV'S"r = T. Bronson serving in this capacity and
peIhS remembered In due season by his grateful
ACIlo"ers IN the present of suit of clothes.
ne nrst clubs were generally given to the study
.t 0I literature, but the world advanced and the
sWep1 cinges ig, of the age came on the women were
ing Ike birds of feather they began flock
stand stand things They became Interested in every
t tng under the sun from symphonies and suffrage
from these meetings. The membership increased
Wbtb VWIbi1Iy and then the af1liaton movement began
WIN Gn thls union came strength.
$50 Soross was probably the leader in the fedora
1889 for mutual Involvement l The following Year
there were several state federations formed, and
me me General Federation of Womens Clubs in Phila-
represented Maine ITtah Nfassscbnsetts New
1,3r 1Grk and kansas,the last named then including
5000 clubs. which represent forty-sx state fedora
women
The work Of the clubs included in this general
federation is as widely varied the many sections
they represent. Every possible movement that
initiates for the good of the people finds echo
IN some one perhaps all of these clubs. En-
peror William has declared that woman should be
interested only in her three Ks-Ktnder Kdche
and kirche. American also believe this.
nut they go about proving that it is a broader
thing than even his Majesty knows. for they are
using every effort to make not only their own but
all other children happy. useful element of soci-
ETY. by throwing around them better laws. better
educational possibilities and healthier environment;
they mean have only their but all
their neighbor's kitchens well kept under COM
petent hands and stocked with pure foods for they
know the health of the nation depends upon this,
church stronger. broader and more e'D powerful by
having It go hand in hand with practical charity
work and no small an66UDq ~ adiiustmapt has been
necessary. An early idea that more charity was
needed away from home than at home had to be
lived down. This sometimes brought ludcrous com
pllcauons. For example. good Boston woman went
down to southsTn state to offer several hundred
books TO start library for club only to discover
that the organization had already placed three or
Boston, asking that the charity of the South be
need OF books and something TO amuse them Tho
same error recently arose in relation 10 the child
/ in southern fcctories willie Southern women were
/ League stamp out the sweatshop evil in New York
Clubs has brought these earnest workers all to-
/ gether; through its committee II has investigated
the needs Of all sections and II Is now prepared 10
offer unprejudiced help in a systematic fashion
/ 1T has been the women's part since the begin
: ming put into the world beauty. regeneration
and uplifting" said the president Of the General
Federation Of Women's Clubs not long ago. While
/ the have been quarrelling over the money
question and the tariff the women have been safe
/ guarding humanity" said q New England man
/ This is of the General Federation. 1t has
come through a process Of evolution. but the work
/ il does is good and far-reaching and lasting. The
force Of its membership OF 10000 souls is felt
through twelve competent standing committees
each composed of women who know what they
about. and who capable OF achieving the
! things they attempt.
/ The committee on art. for example, has estab-
/ lshed travelling picture Libraries. has planned
loan exhibits. has encouraged the decoration and
/ beautfytng Of school rooms and has waged sue
cessfu war against the poster and advertisement
evil one club in the Wsst has spent $4,000 on the
/ decoration OF school rooms alone. The committee
civcs has practical results TO show in the shape
/ OF the rescued Palisades the Hudson. the pro-
/ lection OF the famous cn dwellings in the Mesa
/ Verde National Park, and IN creating a greater
| interest in hygiene throughout the country
ms ms t care a. 20 OF tie d@pendent the den9usnt
and the objective wards Of the various common
wealths II has also undertaken IA two years cam
officials and employees OF the charitable and re-
! form institutions OF the United States under the
/ merit system or appointment me educatlona
| committee is having women placed on school
closer reaton % through the educaon OF the child
/ The committee on household economies is home
]
of The rerent pure FIod law The committee on
will every effort 10 enlist the interest OF the
people in the preseTvation of the forests through,
child labor is investigating the Industrial status
OF women and children In the country and devils
ing means OF improving it. Twenty-Five states
on legislation is sti working for statutes that
will protect women and children, Through the
library extension committee three hundred thou
send good books have been sent out 10 me p9orig
/ from several small beginnings In thlS way
The influence home life that has been felt
through the state federations and the General
Federation is notable, Believing I'm the good old
household arts first Of all, they have established
| kindergartcns. industrial and manual training
schools also truant schools for the unruly and
vacation schools and night schools for workers.
Instances Of specific work OF local. state gen
| eral federatons may be Iecounted in volumes. In
California the women have preserved historic Tele-
graph Hill; have secured million names TO pc
ttion for the preservation OF the Calaveras Big
Tree Grove; have secured 5000 to make park
and plant trees AROUND old Dolores Mission; have
contributed to the fund for housing students at
the University Of California: have planned a road
to connect the old missions Of Father Junipero.
and at Vallejo the women of a club owned the
only fire engine until the town got ashamed and
established a fire department.
Illinois clubs had the first Juvenile court laws
enacted in that state; had women probation Off
GERS installed, and are attempting n solution Of
the child labor question by giving scholarships to
children whose mothers widows ard dependent
their earnings. In Chicago the vacation schools,
| established through the efforts OF the women rep
resent in their attendance twenty-eight natonali-
ties and turn away each season fifteen thousand
whom they cannot accommodate. The School OF
Domestic Arts and Science. iu Chicago. estab-
! lished and managed by club women had last year
eleven hundred pupils The Klo Club there serves
meals to one thousand working v-cmen at cost.
A New clTh " in he fob