Evening star., 1922-10-22
VEKONA SHERMAN.
RESERVES GROWING.
Work of Miss Goein, Head
of ORGANIZATION.

.
Miss GERTRUDE GOGIN. execu-
lNl tive head of all the Girl Reserve
! units Of the Y. W. c. A. was ir
| town yesterday and had considerable
to tell that was interesting about
| what the girls of fiapper age are
doing that is worth while. AS
member of the national board of the
! association, Miss Gogin has Travelled
! all over the country and observed
| the progress of girls in all states OF
| the Union. There are more than
l5S.O00 girl reserves in the United
States and her possessions. includ-
| ing the Canal Zone and the Philip.
| pine Islands. These units include
only girls between twelve and
! eighteen years OF age.
"The newest part of the Girl Re-
serve work which has recently been
| taken up and is already proving
great success is the extending OF
! the girl reserve organizations into
small communities which do not have
branches of the association proper.
| said Miss Gogin. ALREADY. within
! a period of three weeks. at least
tnree-QudrteTs oi tHe sHaAt ~" .'
! the country which have population
of less than 1900 or 1000 people
have requested Girl Reserve units
Why. there are some places from
which we have received sucn re-
quests which do not have popula-
! .sfhts movement and the immediate
response to II indicates not only the
| restlessnesS and ambition OF the girl
Of adolescent age in Main street all
over the country. but also the iact
| that girls are realizing that they
must get together they must CO.
operate-if they would achieve any
thing. Moreover, one of the most
| interesting phases of this wide
spread response to our suggestion
is that which concerns the older
women of the communities and their
attitude toward the Girl Reserves.
! Many of the letters that are received
, in my Office are from mothers in small
clubs. principals and teachers In the
high schools. and individual women
who realize. that something must be
done to make a remunerative use OF
all the energy the young girls have
| that. IL not directed into channels
| Of service, will be wasted upon pas
| times that result only in harmful
conditions"
he attitude of members of the Girl Re-
serves toward the term aapper as ap-
piled to themselves by older genera
ions. This was one Of the topics Of
greatest discussion at the camp con-
ferences this summer, when more than
meetings. Few Of them cared for the
.itle, yet their final decision in this
matter is uniquely American in its con-
.eption. Those girls decided that II the
public insisted upon calling them hap-
pers they would. as individuals. SO con-
hot hn
which has been given SO many rather
1erogatory meanings, would necessarily
achieve still another and better mean
ing. 1t seemed rather like the we'll
lnown case Of Mahomet and the noun
ain. AS the average girl OF today does
the term fapper. yet the name seems to
stick, she will give 1t a new meaning
md make the public accept 1t:
Miss Cogin says that the Girl Reserves
nf the far west seem to be really ac-
complishing more in their organizations
han the girls Of the east. This she be-
,ieves to be largely due to the fact that
girls are brought up out there on a
really different basis. They are rarely
wrapped in the scented COTTONWOOD OF
landmarks. as is the case in so many
families OF the east. Not but what
many Of them had just as many ana
notable ancestors Of that period and
lust as interesting BeneaioBIC&i tIeco
The girls and boys of the west are
brought up in the bracing atmosphere
cf pioneer traditions and they are
taught early. as also are easterners
who 70 to the coast. that 1t doesn't
natter a solitary cent who or what
your ancestors were or are-that Is.
Il doesn't matter to any one but
yourself. It Is purely a personal
affair-ancestors. But the thing is
What are you doing yourself? Not
even what have you done. but what
of the west. and it was in the west
that Miss Gogin found the girl who
TO her mind represented the ideal Girl
Reserve.
This idea and the western girls
attitude toward man and many other
things is gradually seeping back
through to the east and breaking
progress here. Miss Goein found this
especially true in Chicago. the hub
Of the middle west. where east and
west do meet in spite Of Kipling.
She says that probably the most in
terestinE work being done anywhere
in the country by Girl Reserves IL
that done in Chicago by the men,
bers of the society there who are
girls in the business world-that IL.
in chices or department. stores.
"The girls all over the country are
waking up to the possibilities along
so many lines offered to them in life"
said Miss Gogin. land am eagerly
looking forward to the international
conference Of Girl Reserves from all
over the world, which will be held
in Geneva, Switzerland. next summer.
to discuss what the girls are doing
in other countries and compare