St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-04-18
SPEAKS OF THE GREAT AMO,-N,r
OF GOOD ACCOMPLISHE,> .
By WOMEN's CLUBS.
FOREST CONSERVATION
NEEDS ATTENTION
Woman's Work in Outside Fields of
Labor Not Incompatible With
Usefulness i'm the Home.

, At a full meeting of the Women
Progressive Union on Monday after
noon. veritable treat was afforded
the members present by Mr.. p. ]
OKeefe, of Chicago, who gave ar
able talk on the splendid work that
has been done by the women of VIC.
mems clubs in her city. Mrs. O..
Keefe is prominent club woman
herself. and in position to know
what she says and say what she real
y knows about this work. OF
course this knowledge and ability
lent force to Mrs. O'Keefe's eloquent
words. and everything she brought
forward was inspiring to the women
who listened with close attention.
Mrs. O'Keefe's address was as
follows:
Club life is an institution which
has tlrived and waxed strong in the
present century only, where women
are concerned. Among men club or
| society life dates back to the medi-
aeval ages.
American women, breaking away
from old traditions. old family life,
comminglfng with women of other ma
lions and religions, have seen the
great necessity Of interchange of
thoughts and club life is the natural
result.
In large communities where the
variety OF people is great, more clubs
exist exist and e !. xitnin the past forty years
which interchange of ideas have sown
the seed of progress world wide and
enlarged the scope Of woman's work
Notwithstanding new fields
for educational philanthropic and re-
form work.
Woman's sphere has always been
and always will be, in the natural
order of things-the preservation
and uplifting Of the human race. To
woman has been given the greatest
gift of God-the bearing and rearing
or bringing up of children. We do
not always realize this great blessing
nor do We fully appreciate it. for we
have often failed in our duty; but
that is human; to be unerring WOULD
be living in divine state. Nor do
we realize the importance attached
to 1t. For mother love is conceded
by philosophers, scientists and schol-
ars to be the most godlike attribute
the human being posses.
Women in the early ages were not
considered fit for education. If they
were good housewives and mothers
that was all that was required. Edu-
cation was for men and boys only.
The female brain was placed on q
level with animals of lower order.
Matter has always been inferior to
mind, however, and in the course Of
events the greatest of all reformers, |
Christ, came into this world. and |
among the many reforms inst 'tuted
by Him was that of the emancipa- /
ton of womankind. She was taken |
from state of slavery and placed on
a level with men from VIII 'ch place !,
she has sometimes advanced and !
sometimes receded; but it took the !
Almighty God himself to take her !!
out of bondage and place her where |
she belonged. Women progressed !.
very slowly, however, and were con- /
stantly impeded from progress by !
that hackneyed. weakened old ex- /
preston: "A woman will lose all /
her sweetness il she goes out of the !
home sphere into other affairs" !
Great women, our ancestors were. !
They saw the necessity of education I
and banded together in groups to
discuss the prospects of Their child
ren-to study which was the best .
way to advance their interests: and !
they decided that education was all
powerful and fought hard struggle I
before they could convince the men .
that 1t would help the men them I
selves to have their daughters edu-
Gated. This was the first work of ,
women's clubs-the uplifting of the
race.
Tutors were sent from house to
house to instruct the girls and after
many and many hard fought battle
the girls were allowed to attend
schools. But the people predicted
that no good would ever come Of such
waste of time and money, and it is
only within q few generations that
boys and girls were allowed to obtain
the same educstion.
Club life then branched out into
lines. and great plaques
which visited our country were the
causes Of leaving many families ut
terly destitute. The women's clubs
formed ways and means of alleviat- {
ing these sorrows through club
strength. They found that standing
alone they were helpless. but banded
together they could help the needy