The Washington herald., 1912-01-21
Miss Janet E. Richards
TraveIs with Three
Thousand Wo m en-
Over History-making
Epents Epery Week.
By JULIA CHANDLER srANz.

Nobody in Washington has any need
To look in the book Of Who's Who TO
ind the name Of Miss Janet E. Richards,
for both the name and the big. splendid
work for which It stands are familiar TO
every woman who reads and thinks, not
in washington only, but all over the
country.
Everybody knows that Miss Richards
talks to several hundred women every
Monday morning on current history in
Rauscher's big ballroom, and that this
group Of women is called Miss Richards
Class" but / doubt IL even the so termed
class itself knows that Miss Richards
began to make a facinating story OF how
the world makes history before there waR
any class TO listen to II, or before
she ever dreamed of herself becoming
human shuttle, weaving the threads OF
nations into a wonderful fabric before
the wondering eyes Of interested specta-
tors in many cities.
You see ii was bred in the bone.
The logical mind that must get down
to the causes of conditions came TO her
as a heritage from her father, and the
inimitable humor that trickles through
her stories Of the worlds events was the
gift of her mother.
Her interest in politics began when she
WAS d very lllNle ElTl bildhlilb hahNS hl
the White House, with President Grant,
since which time she has personally
known every President and every man
Of affairs in Washington.
Began Public Work Years Ago.
Until sixteen years ago the work Of
Miss Janet E. Richards was purely per-
sonaL She had not thought Of using her
genius for narration to further the public
NaI snnN gk,
talk TO a group OF women once A week
Just as she was then talking 10 ner. max
! ing a story Of current history for grown
ups as gripping as a fairy tale is TO a
child.
The suggested class was started with
seventeen Washington women. It was
held is the houses OF the members. who
paid . cents each. The following year
Baltimore friends formed a class there,
and the price was raised.
II was impossible that the project
should fail in a rapid growth, for It
served purpose uncovered by any other
woman with any other work.
Had Miss Richards INDUCED in pro-
found and perfunctOry lectures. the story
I have TO tell you of her work to-day
would have been different.
Her knowledge OF the peoples OF the
world. their place is Its history. the bear
ing upon every step in that history upon
present conditions IS thorough and pro-
found enough, but this isn't the way sne
presents IT TO the folks who listen to her
talks.
Watch World Make History.
The women VINO go every Monday
morning to Rauscher's watch the world
make history. For Miss Richards can
faik, and she can talk in such a way
that the information she gives lives in
the brains of her auditors, vivid, liv-
ing picture.
She talks of China, and you see the
country and know the people. II is
the same of Russia, England. Persia,
America. She talks of political condi-
tions in America, and they stand out be-
fore you like a picture thrown upon a
screen. not in disconnected fragments,
but as a unit She untangles political
snarl before your very eyes, and each
thread Of the tangle stands out alone.
She talks Of Roosevelt, Taft, La Toilette.
Wilson, Harmon-snd you know them.
their characteristics, their methods OF
conflict. their tools OF warfare. And
when she is through talking her class
does not go home with a vague idea of
each mans relationship TO the whole
political situation, for Miss Richards
makes her whole story a unit, fitting