New Britain herald., 1916-05-15
10000 WOMEN TO
 GATHER IN GOTHAM
General Federation Of Women'S
 Clubs to Hold Convention

] New York, May 15.-The club wom- en of the country, two and a half mill 1 lion of whom are represented in the l General Federation of Women's 1 clubs have perfected a plan for the 1 greatest convention in the history of 1 the federation in New York. The 1 dates are May 22 to June 8. During ] those seventeen days it is expected that l fully 10000 women, representing clubs l in every state in the union, as we'll as l some from Alaska, Japan, England, 1 Hawaii and South America will at l tend many of the innum erable meet
 ings and social functions that have l been arranged.
 1 New York city this year is said to have more than 500 different conven- 1 tiOns on it's calendar but from all in- l dications none will equal in attendance 1 the gathering of women. Special sen- 1 timen is attached to the Women's con- ! vention by the fact that although the ] federation was founded here twentv- l six years ago, it is the first time since 1 then that the women have met in New 1 York It was Jennie June" CrOlv. | one of the founders of the Sorosis, the l pioneer woman's club in this country. 1 who initiated the idea of a general I convention of women's clubs in 1889, ] and the outcome of this was the hold l ing of the first convention of the gen. l eral federation in New York in the 1 following year when sixty three clubs l were represented by 126 delegates and 1 the SOrOsis was hostess.
 l Chicago, Philadelphia, Louisville Denver, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, St. 1 l Francisco and Chicago again. have
 been the convention cities in the or
 der named. The forthcoming conven- ton, the thirteenth, will have Sorosis again as it's hostess, in conjunction l with the New York state and city fed eration which are working their l hardest to make the gathering not l able one in every direction.
 The main drill hall of the arnory of
 the Seventh Regiment of the New
 York National Guard, which will ac- 1 commodate upwards of 5000 women l will be the principal meeting place. l The ColoneIs room and other officers 1 quarters will be turned over to the women for headquarters. The armory i is located at 66th street, occupying an entire block between Lexington and Park avenues.
 Will Elect New President. The chief executive is Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, the president of the fed
 eratiOn whose home is in Austin, Tex,
 but who for the past two years has
 been travelling throughout the country
 keeping in personal contact with the
 activities of WOmens clubs. She will
 not be candidate for reelection this
 a of
 successor will be one of the most inn
 Dortant items of business during the
 convention. The two candidates for
 the office are Mrs. Samuel B. Sheath,
 of Tiffin, O., and Mrs. Josiah Evans
 CoWles, of Los Angeles. The Ohio can
 didate is at present first vice presi-
 dent of the federation, and is a club
 woman of wide experience. Mrs.
 Cowles, whose name has been put for
 ward by the Californian Women has
 also been prominently identified with
 the federation several years as dlrec- tor, treasurer, and charmain of varl- ous committees.
 Tn the words of Miss l.. E. Stearns, one of the directors of the federation, the business of being club woman is a biz business and is getting to be 1 a bigger business every day. This is l apparent from the elaborate program l that has been arranged for the cOnVen- l ton The topics indicate an increas> 1 ingly wide range of affairs in which l the club women are taking not only 1 an interest but an active part There l was a time, for instance, when the l New York City Federation Of " WOmen'S 1 clubs could report on all of It's acu-
 vities at each convention, but now, | oyot he
 dent of the city federation, it takes l the six conventions of an administra- 1 ton to get through the reports of the l thirty-eight committees which have 1 developed.
 l The general federation has as it's
 broad object the furtherance of every
 movement in the interest of women, l children and mankind in general, 1 and the program calls for reforms, home economies conversation, indus 1 trial and social questions, legislation, 1 education, literature, music, public 1 health,-and under these headings 1 come subjects ranging all the way 1 from moving pictures to international | relationships. One important an- ! nouncement that will be made at the l convention is the fact that the feder-
 ation has raised an endowment of ] $100,0 900. The plan to raise such l sum was voted at the Cincinnati con- Nention in 1910, and now that the 1 sum has been realized it will be in l vested by trustees, the interest being l used to help carry on the work of the l general federation.
 ] Many women prominent in New l York club li1e will take their turns as | hcstesses to various sections of the l great gathering. Mrs. Thomas A. Ed