DeLand news. [volume] (DeLand, Volusia County, Fla.) 190?-1921, 1909-05-21
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
TO WOMAN'S CLUB.

term as president.
Friends, am not going to in1ict a
long set address upon you. but want to
call your attention in a very few words
to the real meaning of the "Woman's
Club" movement, what brought it into
being and its trend today.
We all know that the position of
Woman today is infinitely higher than
it was fifty years ago higher than it has
ever been in the worlds history This
is not a passing condition. 1t has come
to stay, for it is the natural result of
evolution.
Women, as q mass, are ready for 1t.
The movement for the higher educa
ton, which commenced about seventy
five years ago, has grown in a healthy
and rational way, and here, since Sun
day was Mothers Day" it may not be
out of place to mention, feeling that
owe my education to my mother, who
was a pupil of Mrs Emma Willard, that
Mrs Wizards Female Seminary" at
Troy, New York, was the first school in
the country to offer in its curriculum
some of the same studies for girls that
boys had at Harvard and Yale, and she
was regarded as almost too strong
minded. But at this time women began
to feel in themselves that they were
something better than a plaything, or a
1,n,,snh,lI I,,,J al n.E ,1,. 4
gropingly, then more and more firmly,
eagerly and intelligently, they have
sought to educate and elevate them
selves as the realization dawncI upon
them of the tremendous possibilities
open to woman when she should be rec
ognized not only as the intellectual
equal of man, but also as an economic
factor in the worlds work
The first womans clubs We're the
natural result Of this development
The pioneer women found it most help
full to get together for mutual study and
discussion. They were often misunder-
stood and laughed at, but il these small
clubs they found companionship, SYM
pathy and inspiration
At first nearly all these clubs were
literary, and only for self-improvement,
but gradually as the tremendous posi-
bilities of power and influence for good
which could come from organization,
. has grown in the minds Of the club
women, the nature Of the club has
changed, No longer content with mere
ly improving and cultivating themselves
they have reached out to right wrongs
all around them. especially those affect
ing their homes, the children OF the land,
and the industrial condition Of women
Carefully avoiding ,.yuticS not de-
manding anything in the way of suffrage
the woman'S club movement has grown
steadily in power and the respect OF the
nation until now it is fully recognized as
a factor to be reckoncd with 1t isl
universally conceded that what the
Federated Women" want, they get
And it would be very brave politician
who would dare defy the 500 1000
of the General Federation. Of this |
great movement the Deland Club is an
integarl part, 1t means Very much
more than building a handsome club |
house, helpful as that would be, or Civ
ing pleasant teas and receptions 1t
means raising the standard Of woman
hood in all the section around about us
and making ourselves felt as power for
good in the State We cannot afford to
~dyop one of our activities, We need our
literary, science and art and music de-
partments to keep us in touch with the
best culture Of the age, Merel y reading
of the things will never enable It's to
grasp and assimilate them making them
Our very own, as does the free discussion,
the friendly friction Of mind and mind
in Our department meetings Then we
need our civic and social departments to
faniliarize us with the great civic and
economic questions of the day, The
awakened civic conscience. the conser-
walton Of our national resources, the
great movements for the betterment of
the health of the nation. the more econ
omic, hygienic and scientific manage
ment of woman's chief businesS-home-
making--and embarrassing. And to
4 impress the club ideal--an ideal that is
growing every day-namely that it is
not social position or wealth that counts
in the true democracy Of club life, but
the woman herself