The Washington herald., 1908-02-09
WORK OF CLUB WOMEN
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN.

By FREDERI
When the Secretary of War and the Ca
nal Zone commissioner sent Miss Helen
Yarick Boswell into Panama a short while
ago To found womuns clubs. they pat
the official seal of governmental apTroval
on wOman's influence, and openly ac-
knowledged the power Of the fair sex to
make smooth many rough places. It
was seen that the men who bad gone
down to work in their dozen different
capacities on the canal were becoming
discouraged. It was shrewdly suspected
that 1t was because their wives were dis
couraged. and when the powers Of the
zone sat down and thought 1t over. they
saw many reasons why the women
should be discouraged and homesick. II
the men were 10 be kept on the jeb they
must be made content, and that meant
that the wives must oe reached first.
The women down there had little TO in
teresL them in comparison with the life
they had left behind. There w=re few
amusemeHts, no shops 10 visit. ana Moth
ing to occupy tie hn,e while social .i.,cs
were more strictly drawn than in the
States. The Secretary Of War had sent
Miss Gertrude Beeks. secretary Of the
welfare department of the National Civic
Federation, down there to inquire into
the condition Of the women and children
and investigate the home and social con-
ditions of the working people. When she
returned Miss Beeks commented on the
discomfort of the women and on their
barren lives, and suggested the forma-
ton of clubs for them. To hear was to
heed. and Miss Boswell was sent down.
She is Il cleYer club woman, a clever
lawyer. and, above all else, woman Of
/ personal charm and magnetism. She
went 20 work with a viii and organized
q club In each of the eight principal
towns of the zone. and then federated
these under the name The Canal Zone
Federation OF Women-s Clubs. These
clubs viii have a representative at the
next biennial meeting of the General Fed
Grafton of WOmens Clubs Above ali
else these women viii have shown the
benefits that accrue 10 women when
she finds social and intellectual contact
with her fell0W-woman or becomes inter
ested in philanthropic and educational
measures in her behalf
The olden-time life Of woman was re-
stricted in its interests and her great
sympathies were confined TO home life
For countless generations she has served
men and children and made homes at
tractive for them, encouraging. helping.
inspiring, and teaching, but until the mid
die OF the niHteenth century she had
done very little. if anything. toward help
/ ing her fellow-woman. Then a few fear
( less women saw with mingled horror
and pity certain existing conditions and
set about relieving them. Step by step
! they bToadened their interests. They be
I leved in the truth of the saying that in
union there is strength. and organized a
few at a time into one club then these
clubs into state clubs. then State clubs
into national federati0ns. and, as the
movement spread throughout the world,
the national federations affiliated with
others, and there came international fed
crations
The object of womens organizations
/ according 10 one of their brainy members.
is TO introduce to women the idea OF
cOmradeship and cooperation. and 10 re-
| lease them from merely personal inter
estS.' The speed and energy with which
she has made good her release has made
w0man's influence felt IN every part OF
/ this country and in every interest and in
dustTy that ii knows. Take a glance at
/ the various comprehensive departments
/ OF the General Federation Of Women s
| Clubs, representing as it does forty-six
States, 500 clubs, and with membership
Of s0O0co
There is q department Of civIcs and
7 town improvement. and from New York
/ City 10 the most forlorn mining town in
the gold fields of Nevada her influence is
evident. for having kept house for CEN
turies, woman has proved herself well
qualified to belp with municipal house
keeping. Her eagle eye neglects little
when she sets about cleaning up, and
smoke ordinances. anti-noise laws. and
bill-pOster laws spring up in her wake
The Clean City Club, Of Trenton, No
shamed the authorities into a clean-city
policy by paying small boys TO collect all
the tin cans from the streets and alleys.
These they piled about the flagpole in
the center Of the city where all the world
could see. In humiliation and distress
the authorities had a general house-clean-
ing The health department proves her
ability TO put into practical application
on more general scale the protecting
influence she has cast about her family
/ for centuries.
Education and the establishment OF IL
| braries are also old arts extended to meet
the needs of others, for home education
has been in her hands for many years
and libraries, the Logical aid to education.
find a ready ally in her. Through her
clubs woman has stood for better school
facilities until she got them. she has had
larger funds placed a. the disposal Of
school boards. she has seen improved and
more practical curTicula. she has seen the
successful operation of manual training
schools that she had fOstered and the en-
acment of compulsory education laws
that made children take advantage Of
these blessings whether they would or
not.
The clubw0man OF Massachusetts and
the clubwoman of Tennessee have Joined
hands and gone down into the valleys of
East Tennessee where schools have not
been known and opened up a wonderland
of knowledge to the people Since libra
ries are a part of education, the club
woman has bent her energies toward
placing books in the hands of those who
need them Sometimes this work Is ex-
er,1nIifie5 ir a uauufoiT1aI building To which