Eva Perry Moore Federation Pin Necklace

February + March 2008

Mary Tisinger, 2006-2008 President of the Delaware Federation of Women’s Clubs has researched the history of the Delaware pin through interviews with other past state presidents and from “101 Years of Volunteerism,” a history of the Delaware Federation written by Dorothy Gardner Downs, Delaware State Federation President, 1988-1990.  According to her research,

The Delaware State Federation began with the formation of the Wilmington New Century Club, which was organized in January 1889 under the leadership of Emalea Pusey Warner.  Six weeks later the club was invited, along with representatives from other states, to attend the twenty-first anniversary of Sorosis in New York City.  The General Federation was organized on that occasion, and the Wilmington New Century Club joined immediately. 

On January 19, 1898, the Delaware State Federation of Women's Clubs was organized, and the first annual meeting was held in Dover, Delaware, in May of that year.  At the Federation's second annual meeting, held in Georgetown, Delaware, May 24-25, 1899, the clover was adopted as the Federation emblem.  The clover was selected because the three leaves on a central stem were considered representative of Delaware's three counties: Kent, New Castle, and Sussex, which work together with a central governing body.  The Delaware State Federation colors are green and white, represented in the clover's green leaves and stem and the white bow that reads "D.S.F.W.C." 

The Delaware Federation has not yet determined exactly when the clover pin was designed.  However, Eva Perry Moore collected it for her Federation necklace, so the design was in use at least as early as about 1910.  Three Delaware State Presidents served during Eva’s administration as GFWC President: Mrs. George M. Marshall, 1907-1909, Mrs. Robert Lindale, 1909-1911, and Mrs. John C. Robinson, 1911-1913.
 
At some point, the Delaware clover pin was fashioned into the State President's Pin, with the clover situated within a gold triangular frame.  This pin is passed on from president to president at the end of each two-year administration.  Each president, at the end of her administration, is presented with her own "past president's pin" which is circular with the clover at the center.