Evening star., 1936-10-18

KANSAS CITY'S BUSY WOMEN
They Have Gone "Ary Their Husbands Say But Wives Init
mate That Cultural Responsibility, With Cash to Meet
It, Is Conferred Upon Them Alone.

out the city. They we're also success
full in having courses in musical APP
probation placed on the public school
program.
WHEN the late publisher OF the
Kansas City Star gave to the city
a great art institute he opened up for
the women another field in education
and culture. They have become very
| interested in the fine arts and thou-
sands of them attend the museum lee.
| lures and exhibitions. This, too, they
have insisted in furthering among the
| children, in spite of the fact that many
rugged Midwesterner thinks it
( slightly high toned. And they are
pleased to see that their persistence is
already bringing results, for, with q
mischievous twinkle, they tell me that
! only recently the Chamber Of Com.
! merce published publicity sheet STAT
! ing that the marring of statues and
other works of art in public places
| has almost ceased in Kansas City.
That the younger boys and girls
have not only deSisted from the prac.
tice OF scratching initials in bronze
or stone, but have the courage to tel
their older brothers and sisters TO
stop"
Every woman in town seems to be.
long either to a club or church So
ciety. Most of these are devoted TO
study, others. feeling that there is
little they may do in a civic way IN
Kansas City, are sending out a great
deal of money for work in foreign
missions I find, however, that the
/ Kansas City Athenaeum is the most
popular of the organizations and
among the people is sometimes called
the married women's college. For
! here great numbers of women gather
| from October to May to seriously
study the American home, art, Bible.
current events, history. travel, litera.
/ ture, music, American speech, inter-
national relation and languages.
The business and few professional
+ women also keep busy clubbing 1t.
| And while many young women here
are employed. careers for women are
not the vogue. Once young woman
marries she generally gives up her job.
This probably is one of the reasons
why the early law Of a husband being
able to collect his wife's pay is still on
the statute books.
Madame Kansas Citian has no flare
for excessive domesticity. She is
lively persons, does her duties effl-
GENTLY. and then wants to get out
for a good time. Daily you see crowds
of women wandering through Petit
coat lane, center of the shopping dis.
trict, doing window shopping or rush.
ing to the movies. On bargain days
it is almost impossible to make your
way through the narrow streets. When
the weather is nice she and her hus-
band, when not out riding or particl-
pating in the flourishing night life OF
the city, may come downtown again
to see what is doing.
THE women here call all their little
= habits, likes and dislikes the West
ern privilege" 1t just means that you
can do as you please, go as you please
and wear what you please. And SO
you are invited to fashionable break
fast COR it may be a party and you
find your neighbor on the right in a
tailored business suit and the one on
the left showing the girls her new
velvet gown. For there is supposed TO
be no bath tub aristocracy" in the
Middle West The women tell me 1t
all goes back to the days when you
were Just as friendly with the Satur-
day night bathers, for here they take
pride in their mems personal achieve.
ment rather than in the family tree.
1t was not so long ago dear old lady
wrote: Then We ate with the hired
girl and hob-nobbed with the hired
man: but then they we're often the
son and daughter Of our neighbor or
cousin" 1t is the pioneer feeling Of
a common experience of poverty, hard
work. danger and success which the
women feel gives them this Kansas
City spirit" and the Western spirit,
emitting them to the name Of the
Queen of the Southwest"
Out of this feeling has grown 8
strong desire for personal aggrandize-
ment and beautiful personal possess
sions. The city itself displays this by
having tremendous modernistic yet
elaborate public buildings. a magnifl-
cent war memorial, ornately land
scaped parks and feeling for extern
sive city planning in the better neigh
borhoods and in the commercial Sec
tions only. Kansas City has one of the
most beautiful wealthy residential Sec
tions for a city Its size in the country
The women are particularly proud OF
their homes, many of which were built
as part of the city planning as q unit
for Identification. Most Of 1t was
done under the private direction oi
]. c. Nichols, who, they say proudly
was selected by the President as a
member of the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission, which i
directing the Identification Of Wash
ington. Only Mr.. Nichols, they add
could have conceived the wonderful
idea of bringing touch Of Old Spain
into q Middle West prairie when HI
built up new neighborhood aI1t
shopping center In the country clus
district.