THE WOMEN S CLUBS OF GALESBURG

The Hawthorne Club, organized in the autumn of 1890, membership limited to twenty-five. Object of the club, the study of history and literature, not neglecting, however, social and philanthropic lines of work. The topics studied during the twenty-two years of the club's existence cover a broad range of research in the fields of history, literature, art, miscellany, sociology, civic improvement, the old testament and the drama.

The Galesburg Fortnightly Club was formally organized about one year later than the Hawthorne Club, and yet there are reasons for considering it the antecedent of all the literary clubs of the city. It was the direct outgrowth and development of a reading circle which had met regularly for a number of years previously with Mrs. J. V. N. Standish, who invited a select circle of ladies to come to her home to read and discuss literature and art, giving especial attention to the latter subject. In the study of art Mrs. Standish was exceptionally well fitted to guide them because of her rich stores of information, and the many pictures illustrative of the study which she had brought home from her frequent visits abroad.

After enjoying these entirely informal gatherings for a number of years, the ladies decided to organize themselves into a club and chose the name, ''The Galesburg Fortnightly Club," Mrs. Standish and many of those who had at some time belonged to her reading circle being among the charter members. The membership is limited to twenty and in its list college circles, from both of our colleges, are largely represented, while all of the members are women of high aims and earnest purpose.

The club was organized for purely literary purposes and it has held steadily to its original intention.

Its program is usually a heavy one and its members take pride in the fact that never since its organization has a duty been assigned to any of them that has not been performed, either by herself, or by a substitute whom she has herself secured. Its range of topics for study has almost encircled the globe, and includes the history and the intellectual and moral development, in all their varied forms of expression, of the different countries considered. Two years were spent in the study of Hebrew history and literature as found in the old testament.

A strong bond of sympathy exists among its members and they are thoroughly loyal to each other and to the interests of the club. In common with other clubs, they contribute to the special objects which appeal to the sympathies of the women of the city, such as the Visiting Nurse Association and the like.

Rotation in office is the principle on which the club's officers are chosen, and by virtue of this arrangement, each member at some time holds every office in the gift of the club.

The Mosaic Club was organized in 1893 and was in a sense the child of the Hawthorne Club. It was started for the purpose of giving the daughters and younger sisters of the members of that club the same opportunity for study and culture which they themselves enjoyed. The Mosaic Club was organized with a membership of sixteen. Its course of study is much the same as that of the Hawthorne Club. It now has a membership of twenty-four, with five associate members.

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Club had its origin in 1893 and was named in honor of the genial "autocrat of the breakfast table," who was at that time living, the last one of the famous "Cambridge group."

Of the twenty-six active members, eight are of the original charter members.

The Sorosis Club, which was organized in February, 1900, owes its foundation largely to a desire for more aggressive work than the other clubs were doing along philanthropic lines, and for a more democratic spirit in connection with the usual literary culture incident to club work.

Mrs. Dr. D. C. Coulson, now of Denver, was the moving spirit in the founding of the Galesburg Sorosis. She felt that the literary clubs in general were too exclusive in their policy, and that greater democracy of spirit should prevail in women's organizations. She made this one of the foundation principles of the new club with whose policy she had so much to do. Its aims are philanthropic, economic, benevolent and public spirited, as well as literary. It contributes to the various local causes included under these heads for which an appeal to the public is made, such as the department of domestic science in the public schools, the Visiting Nurse Association and the like.

The Sorosis and the Oliver Wendell Holmes clubs are the two federated clubs of the city which united in extending an invitation to the State Federation to meet in Galesburg in the autumn of 1911, thus giving our city the honor and the pleasure of being hostess to the women's clubs of the state.

The Sorosis has forty-six active members, five associate and eighteen honorary members.

The Round Table Club. As has been the case with a number of the other clubs of the city, the Round Table Club was inaugurated as an informal reading circle, but after a time with increase of membership and growing interest it felt the need of a more formal organization. Its first meetings were held in 1900 and some months afterward a constitution was adopted in which the objects of the club were stated to be "social, literary and civic improvement and a systematic course of study as planned for each year." Mrs. Ellen Felt Wood was the organizer and first president of the club. It has a present membership of twenty-two.

St. Joseph's Alumnae Literary Association. Some twenty years ago at the suggestion and advice of Sister Mary Matthew, the beloved and late lamented foundress of St. Joseph's Academy, the Alumnae were first organized as an informal reading circle to strengthen and preserve the bond of friendship and to promote the religious, social and intellectual culture of its members; and to foster a philanthropic spirit. Mrs. Margaret Mullen Latterner was elected president. "Ben Hur" was the first study, meeting at the homes of the members. In April, 1895, "Mikado" was successfully given by the charter members and some musical friends; with the proceeds, the Academy parlors were decorated and refurnished and the first Alumnae gold medal presented for the senior department.

This association was active also in other directions. A surprise reunion of the alumnae was quietly planned by Mrs. Madge Maley Burns and Miss Mary E. Maley for the purpose of properly celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sister Mary Matthew, the foundress of the association. An offering was made to Sister Matthew as being her silver jubilee. She graciously turned the offering into the St. Joseph's improvement fund.

Later in 1903 the society took on a somewhat broader sphere of action, the outgrowth of the thought and effort of Rev. Father Joseph Costa. Having founded St. Joseph's academy in the early years of his connections with the work of the Catholics in this city, his great desire was to enlist the interest of the graduates of that institution in the maintenance of it, and in providing a building and equipment suited not only to the present but also to future needs, as its growth and the more exacting demands of modern life might require.

Accordingly, in 1903 he called a meeting of the St. Joseph's alumnae resident in Galesburg and stated to them his plan and his desire for their hearty co­operation. They became greatly interested and at once organized under the above name. Father Doubleday of St. Patrick's church was also present and aided in their plans for work, and they started out in their undertaking with great enthusiasm. At first the word "literary" did not appear in their name, for they had not as yet planned for other work than that for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of the St. Joseph's alumnae hall of the future when Father Costa's plan should be realized. Their enthusiasm for the up­building of this fund was stimulated by a feeling of deep loyalty to the institution which had, as they believed, exerted an ennobling and transforming influence upon their own lives, and by the desire that those who come after them should enjoy the same influences and receive the same uplift as themselves.

They organized with thirty-three members and chose for their president Mrs. Lizzie Slattery Minehan (Mrs. T. C.). They were so fortunate as to remain under her wise and energetic command for three consecutive terms of the presidential office.

At the close of the first year they held a bazaar which netted the society about $800. With this fund, by the advice of Father Doubleday, they made much needed repairs on their academy building and provided some of the more modern conveniences.

In pursuance of a like policy, each year has seen not only the increase of the fund for the building of the new hall, but also some substantial contribution to the needs of the old building, beloved by them as the home of their alma mater, such as reference books and apparatus for the department of science and the like.

Four years after its organization, the society, under the administration of Mrs. Mary Norton Scott (Mrs. John), decided to become a literary, as well as a business club, and they have found the combination very delightful and helpful. This new feature of their work did not diminish their enthusiasm and energy in the pursuit of their objective, the hoped for alumnae hall. This fact was made very apparent when, not long ago, the Republican Register offered a one thousand dollar cash prize to the person or organization securing the largest number of new subscribers to that paper within a stated time. The president of the society, Mrs. Mary O'Conner Mackin (Mrs. James), ably assisted by Mrs. Louise Slattery Lalor (Mrs. Wm.), took the matter up and by their skillful management and personal efforts the prize was won and the handsome sum of one thousand dollars was added to the alumnae hall fund.

For the past two years their literary work has been the study of Ireland and the Irish people. The coming year Illinois will claim their attention. Their membership is now upwards of one hundred and fifty.

The Author Club is a society for Swedish ladies exclusively. It was organized in 1902 for the purpose of making a systematic study of American and foreign writers and other subjects of common interest. It had for its first president Miss Johannah C. Lind, a graduate of Knox college and a valued teacher in our public schools. She was retained in the office of president until her removal from the city.

This club has studied American and English writers, devoting one year to the study of Shakespeare alone. For three consecutive years Germany, Sweden and the United States were studied and papers prepared on the geographical, industrial and political conditions of these countries. Contemporary fiction has been read. The south and its problems, and also a few of the southern writers have been considered. The roll call at each meeting is also a means of becoming acquainted with authors, for the members respond to the call of their names with a quotation from some author selected for the occasion. The club, in common with other clubs in the city, contributes to worthy causes which appeal for aid. For the past three years it has contributed to the Visiting Nurse Association and other benevolences have been remembered.

At present the club has sixteen members.

The Swedish Ladies' Benevolent Society, or as it is familiarly known, the "S. L. B.," is just what its name indicates, purely a benevolent organization. But in order to enlist and retain the interest of the members, the work is combined with social features which make the meetings very enjoyable. The ladies spend a social afternoon together with their needle work, music or readings, after which light refreshments are served and each lady drops into the treasury an offering, not less than a dime and on special occasions a larger sum, the amount thus contributed being used as it accumulates, in the relief of some person or object whose need appeals to them, as in case of illness or some special emergency. They have met together in this way for twenty years. There are thirty-five members with two officers, a president and a secretary-treasurer.

The Galesburg Equal Suffrage Association was organized May 29th, 1907, at the home of Congressman and Mrs. Geo: W. Prince, under the leadership of Dr. Frances Wood of Chicago. The original officers were Mrs. Lewis B. Fisher, president; Mrs. H. V. Neal, vice-president; Mrs. Fred R. Jelliff, secretary; Mrs. Geo. C. Lescher, treasurer.

The purpose of the organization is "to work for the complete political equality of men and women." It is affiliated with the state association by paying annual dues to that treasury. It has sent delegates to the state conventions, thus keeping in touch with the national and state work.

A number of noted speakers have addressed the citizens of Galesburg under the auspices of this society, perhaps the most illustrious of whom is Miss Jane Addams, of national, or we might truly say, of world-wide fame because of her wonderful influence and success in the "settlement work" in Chicago.

The Tuscarora club dates its beginning to February, 1908, when it came into being with eleven charter members and announced its object to be "to stimulate active interest in the development of individual and home life, to promote mutual helpfulness and to maintain a program of regular and prescribed study."

The greater number of the discussions have been on literary topics although arts and crafts have claimed the attention of the club to some extent. A very important and commendable feature of all their meetings and one which clubs in general would do well to adopt, is a parliamentary law drill at the close of each meeting. This is very helpful to those who have not been so fortunate as to have had that sort of training as one of the factors of their earlier education.

The membership now numbers twenty-one and the meetings are held every two weeks from October to May.

The P. E. O. is a national organization which has the distinction of being the largest woman's secret organization in the world. It had its beginning in the thought and effort of seven girls in Wesleyan University, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1869. For some years its chapters were found only in the middle west, but now its organizations are scattered here and there, from New York and Washington in the east to Los Angeles and San Francisco in the west, and from Vancouver, B. C., to Texas.

The P. E. O. has for its object three lofty ideals and aims toward which it is striving: A high standard of womanhood; loyal friendship among its members; a helping hand in the education of young women who strive for self-support.

Chapter W of Galesburg was organized in March, 1909. Its membership is restricted to twenty-four active resident members. The regular meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from October to May. Some of the subjects taken up by Chapter W will suggest the lines of work in which our local ladies are engaged, viz.: "Hospital Day." On this day the women consider the needs of the Galesburg hospital, they sew for it, contribute delicacies such as jellies, etc., and plan for the maintenance of the room which they have furnished. "Children's Day", including a program given to the children and a donation to the Free Kindergarten. "Mother's Day." A social afternoon with needle work, music and readings. Other lines of study include the following: "What Women Can do to Improve Galesburg;" "The Founding of Galesburg;" "Our College;" "Our Public Schools;" "Our Industries;" "The Passion Play of 1910;" "Illinois, its Early History, Constitution, Public Officers, Statesmen, Educators, Reformers and Philanthropists, Newspaper Men and Women, Authors and Poets, Sculptors, Painters and Musicians."

The Wednesday club is composed of a select circle of ladies devoted to the study of music and the drama. Every alternate Wednesday they meet at the home of one of their number to engage in the study of some musical classic either of the ancient or modern school. Being ladies of a high degree of musical and dramatic talent and culture themselves, they are exceptionally well fitted to enjoy these afternoons with the great composers.

Dramatic art is given a place on their programs, for often their rendition of a musical masterpiece is made more vivid and real by "suiting the action to the word." In this particular they are especially fortunate in having of their number one who is acknowledged to be a most talented and delightful exponent and teacher of this form of expression.

They occasionally invite some one well versed in the subject which they are about to study to come in and give them a lecture, or a lecture-recital, as for example, when Prof. W. F. Bentley of the Knox Conservatory of Music gave them a lecture on "Salome" illustrated by a recital of musical passages from that opera; and when Rev. David Fales addressed them at the beginning of the present year's study on "The Making of an Opera."

The following list of subjects for the year 1911-12 will give an idea of the admirable work which these ladies are doing:

"The Music of Shakespeare and His Time." A lecture by Mr. Dyke Williams.
"Tristan and Isolde," Mrs. J. Grant Beadle.
"Madam Butterfly," Mrs. Wilfred Arnold.
"Faust," Mrs. Robert G. Chappell.
"The Jugglers of Notre Dame," Mrs. George L. Price.
"Mefistofele," Mrs. George H. Harrison.
"Cendrillon," Mrs. Wm. G. D. Orr.
"Natoma," Mrs. Charles C. Craig.
"Every Woman," Mrs. Emory S. Gunnell.
"The Faun," Mrs. Judd Seacord.
"Selections from Operas," Mrs. William E. Phillips, Airs. Dyke Williams.

"Faust" was given before an open meeting of the Galesburg Woman's Club on March 16, 1912. Selections from the text of the opera were read by Mrs. Anna Chappell Gunnell (Mrs. Emory S.) interspersed with arias and concerted numbers from the score, given by Mrs. Robert G. Chappell, soprano; Miss Alice May Carley, alto; Prof. W. F. Bentley, bass; Mr. W. B. Carlton, tenor.

The Visiting Nurse association was the latest of the purely philanthropic societies to be organized in Galesburg. It had its beginning in the spring of 1908, and its beneficent work is largely the result of the untiring efforts of Mrs. W. S. Purington, who originated the plan for such an association for Galesburg, and with the aid of a number of earnest and able women pushed it to an assured success. Mrs. Purington was its first president and continued in that office until her removal to Des Moines, in the spring of 1911. It was organized by women and its offices and management are held by women, a body of eighteen constituting the directorate. It was fortunate for the association and for our city that its first corps of directors was made up of such earnest, efficient women as were those that started the enterprise. Men may become members by paying their dues and by virtue of their membership are entitled to vote for the directors. The association sustains a visiting nurse for the city and is responsible for a nurse for the public schools, although the salary for the school nurse is now met by an appropriation from the city school fund. The salary of the city nurse is raised by contributions from the woman's clubs of the city, and by individual gifts from those citizens and business men whose sympathies go out toward this worthy object. It is a noteworthy fact that a large proportion of the contributions, aside from those of the woman's clubs, come from people of small or moderate means.

A loan closet is maintained, the supplies for which are provided by contribution.

The women of this association have been fortunate in securing the services of two very efficient trained nurses and their ministries to the sick, the suffering and the destitute have become indispensable to our city.

The Thursday club is a study club which meets on Thursday afternoon once in two weeks. Its lines of work are the same as those taken up by other purely literary clubs, although they are considering the advisability of taking up philanthropic work of some kind in addition to their literary pursuits. They have been organized for about two years and find their meetings most enjoyable and profitable.

Last year they studied Italian literature and art. The present year their attention is given to the study of Greece. They have a membership of eighteen young women, both married and unmarried, and their association together is very congenial.

The Woman's Club of Galesburg is the youngest of the clubs in date of o­ganization, having been started in the spring of 1911. It is modeled after the pattern of the Woman's club in general, having different departments through which the work is carried on. In this club there are three departments, those of civics, the home and literature and art. The members may work in one, or in all of these departments as they choose.

In charge of the civics department is Mrs. Jennie Grubb Fowler, with Mrs. Louise M. Trask and Miss Minnedelle George as associates.

The home department is in charge of Mrs. Nellie C. Chamberlain, Mrs. Clara C. Rhodes and Mrs. Frances H. Raub.

The department devoted to literature and art is under the supervision of Miss Jessie R. Holmes, Mrs. Clara G. Rhodes and Mrs. Louise L. Roberts.

The club has an advisory board which includes the mayor of the city and eleven others of the leading business and professional men of the community.

It is one of the three federated organizations in the city. Its program embraces studies in child conservation, amusements, commission form of government, sanitation, nursing, child culture and historical and literary topics.

Standing committees are maintained on house, social, calendar, auditing, press and election, with a special committee on music, and regularly appointed doorkeeper and ushers.