The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-11-07
GYOUe Hall Marks 3Oth Milestone
C0Ey HaUem
 To Hundreds Of WOrking Girls
ID nkETH nl.ANCnARn

n vas the year ol aeiS. America he'd enjoyed peace and prosperity kc4 many yeAtS, and wAs growing fioher each day hs vast exports oi munitions % England and France, People were buying their first auto. mobile and wiFing their homes with electricity. President Woodrow wil- son, hailed as the man who could keep che United states out os the two-year-old European conflict, was elected to the White House for the second time.
 Yot che year os ieie. not unlike the decades of lush prosperity and unprecedented poverty which fol. lowed the first World War, present. ed its problens. In Waterbury, as Id every community Of It's size in the East, there was the need of suitable homes for working women.
 Bach year since the turn Of the century, thousands of American women yearning for financial inde- pendence entered the nations fac~ tories, stores, offices, and few, the professions. Many came Co rapidly expanding cities like Waterbury from smaller towns. and since it was still virtually the day of the horse- and-buggy, few could commute. There were also many more whose home ties had been severed by death or discord.
 So iele found hundreds Of Wa terburys pioneer career girls living isolated, lonely lives in han oed- rooms or gloomy boarding houses.
 Meager salaFtes
 The average pay for women pro- vided little of the better things oS life. Factory girls and clerks aver aged from @ to el2. Charge accounts and easy-payment plans had not yet been inauenrated. Most of the work ing girls of those days who were not living at home existed only by frugal economy. The career woman with three or four dresses was con- sidercd fortunate. It was not unusual Co remodel Q dress three or four times-until c drastic change in style requiring more fabric relegat- ed the garment to the kid sister lv- ing h the provinces. Covering summer straw hat with velvet for winter wear was another frequently practice shortcut to style success. lt ls also reported that the working women of that pre-war era yeaFned not for Q trip Co Florida or a mink coat. but an ostrich feather for their hat-wfich required laying away of extra pennies for months.
 It was not an easy road for the American women who were refusing Co be relegated to the rank of domes- tic or Co enter an unsatisfactory mar riaSs for financial independence.
 But Ia ieie-as tn every stage of tlune thsre were a few who saw the needB of 9Ale many end tried to pro- vide to make ahe world just that much better. 1t vas finally the local chapter of the Kings Daughters who en November 6. 1916. opened . home fue ehe working women of Water bury en Grove Street, at minimum esas. T1s charge was e for board end room.
 Tomorrow waf mark the soth an. mfVansaxy of the opsning of Grove MaI- Open house win be held in the a&1zEnOon beginning at q o'cloek. followed hy e reception ct 2 P. M. for al girls who have been guests at
 CIlllner Sees Ned
 e wes one oe Wateroury's early career women who first recognized ele need for e home for working women. She was Miss Jane Mark ham, . South Main Street milliner, who left sSO0 to the Kings Daugh- ters to be used for this purpose. A few years later the bequest was en- ilanced by Mrs. Etta Lott Peck who left e5.000.
 On June z7, 1916, . special meet ing was called and a committee was named to purchase the three-family house of Mrs. D. E. Bradley, 38 Grove Street, comprising IS rooms and three baths. Serving on the or- iginal committee were Miss Ellen J. Whiton, then president of the local organization, Mrs. 6. R. Kelsey. and Miss Helen Chase. who has served as director of Grove Hall since its opening.
 Otis 6. Northrop, Arthur Reed Ktmball. and Albert J. Blakeslee, serving as trustees, acted in an ad- vasoEy capacity.
 In January, 1919. Mrs. Rose Lott, mother of Mrs. Peck died leaving a specific amount to be held in trust for the maintenance of Grove Hall and also . share in her residuary estate. Since the waiting list increas- aA from the very day of opening of