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VOLUME ONE.
NO. TWENTY-TWO .
THE WORK OT WOMAN’S CiMS
HE tendency of the times being to co
operative work and toward the combined
organization of individual effort it is
but the natural outcome of existing con
ditions that women in all walks of life
should be inspired to unite together in
order to accomplish results. The need
for the proper direction of the influence
and the force which is generated by
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every right thinking, right feeling woman, has long
been recognized by the leaders and thinkers of the
sex, and it is to these leaders and thinkers that the
club movement owes its origin and its present es-
fective existence. Perhaps, too,
one of the chief benefits to the
individual woman is the contact
with others of her sex who have
lived different lives from her own
and who have broadened and
strengthened her own sphere of
usefulness. Many women have
been opposed to the club move
ment; more men are still opposed
to it, and various arguments are
used as to the effect of Women’s
clubs on the home life and its
proper development. But the close
observer who takes into consid
eration all phases of a given ques
tion has yet to prove conclusively
and practically that a woman who
is sanely and moderately interest
ed in the affairs of the nation,
and who has a strong, steady and
unfailing love for humanity and
for the human race of which she
is a part has ever yet experienced
anything but good from contact
with other representative women,
and a thorough knowledge of the
great economic and social ques
tions of the hour. The Woman’s
Club is rapidly passing out of the
realm of the purely literary or
purely social organization and is becoming, with
equal rapidity, a force to be considered in all cases
of civic reform and in every movement for the ad
vancement and improvement of a community. One
strong evidence of this is to be found in the fact
that whenever some new enterprise of a highly re
formatory character is being considered. The
South has been somewhat slow in adopting the sys
tem of women’s clubs, and for many years the
movement was confined to social or patriotic organ
izations. Gradually, however, there has arisen the
woman’s club in the South which is conducted on
much the same line as those in northern cities, and
with the formation of a General Federation of
Woman’s Clubs the clubs of the South have in
creased in usefulness as well as in membership and
SJNO THEI'R RECENT BIENNIAL MEETING-
THE.“LOG CABIN," CALHOUN WOMAN’S CLUB.
ATLANTA, GA., JULY 19, 1906.
numbers. But perhaps the best viewpoint for gen
eral work as done by the women of the country can
be had by a glance at the reports of the recent
Biennial of the General Federation of Woman’s
Clubs which was held in St. Paul, Minn. In that
representative American city were gathered togeth
es delegates from every part of the country, each
individual impressed with the importance of her
mission as a delegate from her own particular club
and each one endeavoring at the same time to gath
er as much information and inspiration as the oc
casion permitted. To quote from the sentiments of
a southern delegate in reference to the conditions
at the General Federation, there was “ displayed a
zeal accompanied by calm judgment and wisdom
avoiding extremes, much more efficacious than an
impatient, impetuous zeal. Those evils which could
not be rectified were passed over for a more con
venient season, but there was patience and con
stancy which forbade forgetfulness and those things
that needed righting are to be brought about in good
season.” There were 71G voting delegates at this
Eighth Biennial, while credentials were granted to
1057 delegates, alternates and members of standing
committees present at the convention. The follow
ing is a list of the Southern delegates present at
the Biennial and it is to be regretted that it is not
a larger list: Florida, 5; South Carolina, 5; Geor
gia, 2; Louisiana, 2; Kentucky, 12; Arkansas, 3;
Tennessee, 5; Maryland, 4; Texas, 13. Os this
number, only three state presidents were present,
those three being from South Carolina, Kentucky
and Texas. The last Biennial meeting was held at
St. Louis during the Exposition there, and naturally
that meeting was a larger one than the one just
over. The length of the session was seven days,
lienee it was possible to accomplish some most ef
fective work. Each morning session was charac
terized by a prepared report and an address from
some expert speaker or worker, this to be follow
ed by an afternoon session devoted to a discussion
of the subjects handled in the morning. All ex
offieers of the Federation as well
informal talks, thus giving the per
sonal touch even from the most distant organiza
tions. At the present time the G. F. W. C. in
cludes forty-six State Federations, 846 individual
clubs, 1 national society, 2 District Federations, and
6 City Federations with an approximate member
ship in all of five hundred thousand women! Is
it possible, therefore, to overestimate the force for
good which this enormous number of women, all
of whom are pledged to concentrated and effective
work, can exert on the agairs of the country? A
brief glance at the work of the Federation and of
the individual state organizations allied with it
cannot fail to be of interest. Separate morning
sessions were devoted to the various branches of
work undertaken by Women’s Clubs, and among
these special fields may be mentioned, those of
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as the speakers and members of
standing committees were given
seats in the platform and this en
abled the most distinguished mem
bers of the Federation to come
into closer touch, not only with
each other, but with the assem
bled delegates as well. Dr. Cyrus
Northrup, President of the Min
nesota State University, delivered
a charming and cordial address of
welcome, while Miss Breckenridge
of Kentucky brought greetings
from the Association of College
Alumnae. The American Con
gress of Mothers was represented
by Mrs. Schoff; the American Civ
ic League by Mrs. Upton and
greetings were brought by Mrs.
Ann Warner French, who repre
sented the Club Women of Can
ada, the Lyceum Club of London
and the National Woman’s Suf
frage Association. The Musical
Clubs of America were represented
by Mrs. Russell Dorr and the Ly
ceum Club of Germany by Miss
Mueller, each one of these distin
guished women making delightful
