The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-09-16
Onward and Upward

Onward and Upward
The gathering in Bismarck today Of the club women
~ North Dakota marks an event which will be long
remembered here and which is especially significant
as a sign Of the times.
Representatives Of one Of the most powerful groups
in North Dakota will transact their business here and,
If the hopes Of local club women and the citizenry gen.
orally come true, they will have such a pleasant time
that they will be loud in their praises of the capital
city when they return home. That is Bismarcks hope
and every Bismarck hand will be turned to the job Of
making the hope come true.
The broad significance of the convention, however,
lies in the fact that it demonstrates clearly the part
which women are taking in affairs outside their homes.
This is shown most clearly by the number and scope
of the departments which the state and national fed
erations Of womens clubs operate.
It is so long since the old adage "the woman's place
is in the home" has been uttered in a serious mood that
to talk about it is commonplace, for, regardless of what
some persons may think, the modern woman's place
is whatever sphere she may choose to enter.
Professional women are found practically every
where. They are doctors, dentists and, occasionally,
one even hears of a woman plumber or blacksmith.
Women work, nowadays, when and where they please
or wherever they can find profitable occupation.
With many Of the club women here today, however,
it is a different matter. Most of them have husbands
and many are the mothers of children. For the most
part, the club women of the country are those whose
primary sphere is the home.
Their minds, however, are not wholly conferred there.
They look at the activities going on about them and
have no intention Of failing to be a part of them. Home
making no longer is . mere routine of cooking and
~scrubbing and looking after children. The woman who
does her own work has the aid of modern machinery
and ingenious devices to make her tasks easier and
more quickly done. She has leisure which was denied
to the woman of q generation or two ago, regardless
of whether she depends on her husband to do the bread
winning or makes her own way.
It was not to be expected that women with active
minds and a creative urge would sit idly with time on
their hands. The modern woman's contacts are broad
and she sees scores Of instances in which she can be
of help.
In many cases, however, the things which women
believe should be done could not be carried out success
fully by one alone. Numbers and organization were
necessary, and thus the women's clubs, long regarded
as purely social affairs, found q new use for the brains
and energy OF their members. The clubs became active
in civic affairs.
To be sure, the leadership Of public enterprises still
is largely supplied by men, but in every community
women's organizations are taking an increasingly &C.
tive part and for many years they have been picking
up the loose ends in a way for which men have neither
taste nor genius. 8
Philosophers have declared women to be the balance
wheels of the social order. More and more they are
performing the functions Of . balance wheel for the
civic, political, commercial and industrial organisations
of the country. And this movement has been led and
directed largely by women's organizations, such as
those whose representatives are meeting here today.
They have opened up to women a new consciousness
OF their ability; . new realization Of their powers, both
as individual and as organized groups. In their vary
ing fields Of activity they have contributed much to the
social and economic orders. They have made construc-
tive-thinking men appreciate the important position
which intelligent womanhood holds, outside the home
as well as within it.
They have done constructive work and for that they
deserve the thanks and praise Of everyone, men as
well as women.
A program to be followed out by the North Dakota
federation during the next two years will be adopted
here. There is every reason to believe that it will be
q constructive one. That is assured by the past his
tory of the organization.
And as it greets the delegates who gather here, Bis
marck appreciates this fact. It's citizens realize that,
Tor the constructive forces represented here, there can
be only one program. And that will have as it's base
the slogan Onward and Upward" The progress of
womanhood and Of the club movement makes this
inevitable.