Home∣Articles by: JChurch

Author: JChurch

WHRC: From the Archives

Pioneer Workers of the General Federation

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

March 6, 2025

Generally speaking, the Women’s History and Resource Center does not collect records from our member clubs — minutes, treasurer reports, programs, the day-to-day files and the like (although we’ll help you find the right home for them). There are a few exceptions to this rule, however; one of my favorites is the Pioneer Workers collection.

Invitation to the Pioneer Workers’ luncheon, held during the GFWC Biennial meeting in Chautauqua, New York,1922. From the Pioneer Workers collection

The Pioneer Workers were a “national club,” aka a club made up of members from across the country united by a shared history or experience — in this case, “those who helped to organize the General Federation [in 1889-1890] and who had contributed to its success in the early days of its existence.” This organization was founded at the 1908 GFWC Biennial (what we now call convention), held in Boston, and was the brainchild of Sarah S. Barnes of Kentucky, who had “the happy thought” to convene GFWC members from the 19^th century. The group of anywhere between 40 and 160 members held “reunions” at each Biennial until at least 1926.

Though not an active club in the usual sense, these ladies were well-trained in the procedures and rules of women’s clubs. Thus, the Pioneer Workers had officers (including two successive “Presidents for Life”), committees, a constitution, an emblem, a motto (“Auld Lang Syne”), and annual dues (one dollar). Over the next two decades the treasurers and secretaries made faithful reports, and the historians had the unhappy task of recording which of their elderly members had passed on since the last reunion. The club’s goal was “the closer union of the early workers in this great movement,” and much was made of the “reminiscences” of the century before.

Pioneer Worker membership “application blank,” 1912. In 1914, club president Fannie Pritchard Helmuth noted that membership was restricted to women involved in GFWC prior to December 31, 1900. By the 1920s some members suggested moving that to 1905, but that proposal seems to have been voted down. From the Pioneer Workers collection

The idea of honoring the early members of GFWC was a popular one. The club’s luncheons were featured in news coverage of each Biennial; membership grew each year, despite the strict limitation on admission; and some state federations started their own version of a Pioneer club. As noted by a journalist covering the 1926 reunion, these women made up “a distinguished conclave [from] a century when to be a clubwoman was unusual, sometimes even courageous.” Many of the members held their dignity close, and made sure to remind the younger clubwomen that it was their work and dedication that were foundational to the organization as a whole.

Excerpt from the “Journal and Tribune” of Knoxville, Tennessee, April 12, 1914, calling the biennial Pioneer Worker event “a charming feature” and a sought-after invitation.

And indeed, what seems inevitable today from our modern vantage point – of course GFWC survived and prospered! – was far from settled at the time; how many national groups from the turn of the last century made it to their ten year anniversary, let alone 28, 50, 75, or 135? It was only by powering through early debates about how and why the organization would operate that the disparate clubs and state federations were able to hold together in a single Federation. No wonder the Pioneer Workers were so cognizant of their legacy, and wore their “Follow the Light” badges with pride.

According to the 1912 Pioneer Workers yearbook, the club badge, bearing the “Follow the Light” emblem on a light blue ribbon, was available to members for $2.75 (around $90 today). From the Pioneer Workers collection

The WHRC Pioneer Workers collection consists of several club yearbooks, a small file of correspondence, a binder of “reunion” reports, and miscellaneous invitations and programs. It’s likely that these were all contributed to the GFWC Archives at one time, perhaps as early as the 1930s. In the files, we have a 1934 letter to GFWC Headquarters Research and Club Services Director Josephine Junkin Doggett from Lucretia L. Blankenburg, one of the last surviving Pioneer Workers, who – concerned with the Pioneers’ legacy – was visiting past Pioneer treasurers and “going through” their papers; my guess is that the bulk of the Pioneer Workers collection arrived around this point. Though mostly archival, the collection does include several artifacts, namely thirteen club badges along with a metal document box, pasted with now-illegible shipping labels, emblazoned “Pioneer Workers of G.F.W.C.” The Pioneers can also be found in our magazine and convention records, and in newspaper reports from around the country.

The Pioneer Workers document box, which held their reports and correspondence and was shipped between the officers as their terms expired. From the Pioneer Workers collection

The club reports cease after the 1926 reunion, which may mean it was the final meeting; yet that year there were 160 living members, the membership application was still in distribution, and they had decided not to broaden the requirements for admission. Despite ever-more apologetic letters from elderly members no longer able to travel, and the ever-lengthening “In Memoriam” list for each reunion, the club evidently hoped it would continue on into the future. We’ll need to do a little more research to identify when the group officially discontinued their service. But in the meantime, we remember them and their service through the collection here at the WHRC. I hope Lucretia Blankenburg would be pleased.

Three of the Pioneer Workers who shaped both that club and GFWC: from left, Fannie Pritchard Helmuth (1839-1918) of New York, the first Pioneer “President for Life”; Lucretia L. Blankenburg (1845-1937) of Pennsylvania, who donated at least some of the club’s materials to GFWC Headquarters; and Sarah S. Barnes (1846-1919) of Kentucky, who started the club in 1908. From various sources in the WHRC archives.

“It is the privilege of the Recording Secretary in her report to tell you of the great joy which the Pioneers find in the meeting of old friends and the renewing of old ties of fellowship in the General Federation work of long ago.”
–Alice Bradford Wiles, Pioneer Workers Recording Secretary, 1922-1924

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Joanna Church is the Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian at GFWC Headquarters in Washington, DC. She oversees the WHRC collection, handles research requests, and loves sharing our unique resources with fellow fans of women’s history.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

“Where we meet at present”: The GFWC Clubhouse Photo Collection

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

February 6, 2025

Although most of the GFWC Women’s History and Resource Center collections focus on the work of the national organization, we do have materials that represent individual federated clubs. Often this is a result of deliberate collecting efforts, in which Headquarters staff (even before there was a WHRC) set out to gather specific information from our members. A prime example of this is the Clubhouse Photograph collection, over 400 images strong, which owes its existence to a repeated request in the 1920s-1930s for images of clubhouses, libraries, and meeting places. We used these photographs and postcards to illustrate the progress of the Federation, as clubs settled into their communities and made tangible, lasting contributions. Long before the days of digital technology for easy distribution, researchers and publishers could reach out to “Research Services” at GFWC Headquarters and request a physical photograph for up to two weeks.

The back of this postcard (don’t worry, the front can be seen later in this post) shows that both the card itself and an 8×10 copy were sent out at various times to folks who wanted a photo of the Calistoga Civic Club’s efforts. The “Loaned for Two Weeks – Please return PROMPTLY” stamp is a common sight in our early “Research Services”-created collections.

Image: WHRC Clubhouse Photo collection, CP CA 011

Thankfully, many of these once-loaned images remain on hand today to provide us with a snapshot (pun intended) of women’s club history, showing what our clubhouses — some still in use by the same club, some repurposed, some gone — looked like around a hundred years ago. Like many historic photographs, these images may strike us as a bit quaint and old-fashioned today, even if the scene is familiar. It’s important to remember, though, that at the time they were collected these were vital, timely images, representative of our active membership and of buildings in which they, and their communities, took pride.

Many of the early photograph submissions came to us as postcards, a format that made it easy to share and submit multiple copies. As postcards became a popular form of communication in the early 20^th century, images of streetscapes and important buildings were reproduced for sale, allowing residents and tourists alike to share a bit of the local environment with friends and family across the country. The fact that those clubhouse postcards were chosen for commemoration tells us how integral these buildings were to the community. Let’s take a look at just a few examples from the collection:

Here is the Norwood Federation of Women’s Clubs, Norwood, Ohio. Built around 1927, the house can be found listed in a mid-1930s city directory as the meeting place of numerous women’s organizations (members, presumably, of this city federation), at 4336 Ashland Avenue; the Federation itself met there on Wednesdays. A recent search of the address on Google Maps shows that the building was at some point torn down and replaced with a small church; more research is needed to learn about the club and its house.

Image: WHRC Clubhouse Photo collection, CP OH 001

This hand colored view of the “Music Hall and Front Street, Marion, Massachusetts” has an X by the music hall itself (on the right), plus an ink notation along the bottom: “where we hold our meetings at present.” This tells us that GFWC asked its members for images of where they gathered, whether it was a dedicated clubhouse or not. In this case, “we” refers to the members of the Sippican Woman’s Club; the club was founded in 1904 and met at the Music Hall (still standing in Marion today) for a time, until they purchased an historic tavern for clubhouse use in 1923.

Image: WHRC Clubhouse Photo collection, CP MA 008

Like many of the clubhouses represented in our collection, this building’s architecture speaks to the region in which it was constructed. This offering is a real photo postcard showing the Casa Grande Woman’s Club, Casa Grande, Arizona, circa 1930. Built in 1924, it was designed by Arizona architect Henry Jaasted using “stones donated by club members, obtained from the nearby desert.” Though the club disbanded in 2006, their Pueblo Revival-style building still stands today; it was added to the National Register in 1979, and was sold by the club to the town in 1997. In recent years, it has been occupied by a theater company.

Image: WHRC Clubhouse Photo collection, CP AZ 001

Here’s another real photo postcard of a 1924 building, this time the public library in Calistoga, California, submitted by the Calistoga Civic Club. (The back of the card is shown at the top of this post.) A 1922 article in the Weekly Calistogan noted of a recent club meeting: “all were ready to build the long delayed library, furnish it and hold the next meeting therein,” though two more years were to pass before that dream became a reality. This little building still serves as the local public library for the community.

Image: WHRC Clubhouse Photo collection, CP CA 011

For this post I chose a measly four postcards from this collection, but there’s a lot more to discover. Curious if your club, or the clubhouse in your community, is represented? Check the database here with a pre-loaded Clubhouse Photo search. Have more information about one of the photos, or want to inquire about submitting a photo? Let us know by emailing whrc@gfwc.org.

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

Family Connections (Part 2)

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

January 9, 2025

As we saw in last month’s post, the theme of FAMILY runs through the materials held in the WHRC collections. Family also features strongly in the ways our collections are accessed. Some researchers seek us out because they have discovered evidence of club membership amongst a relative’s belongings, and they want to learn more about that woman’s life. For others, the memory of “Great-Aunt Somebody who I think maybe belonged to a woman’s club…?” serves as a point of connection to those who might otherwise be unfamiliar with the work of GFWC. No matter the context, we’re happy to do our best to help find those relatives and their stories—though I always caution researchers that we can’t guarantee that we’ll find who they’re looking for. For almost the entirety of our history, GFWC has left the tracking of individual membership rosters up to the clubs themselves; most Federated club members’ names and stories have not been recorded in our files.

That being said, the fact that even a small percentage of members are recorded in our archives is a large part of what makes the WHRC collections unique. The accomplishments of countless women throughout history have been lost, erased, discounted, or forgotten – which is why the practice of women’s history is so restorative! – and those who have been remembered tend to be big names. But the stories of “ordinary” women are no less important, especially on a local scale. That’s where our collections shine. The on-the-ground, everyday community work of GFWC clubwomen is remembered here at the Women’s History and Resource Center.

A research request from a relative of GFWC International Past President Louise Graham Brown (1970-1972) helped us confirm the identity of the woman with her in this photograph: Ann Blodgett Brown, Louise’s daughter-in-law, who also served as her aide during her term. Louise is shown at left, with Ann at right; taken at the 1971 GFWC Convention.

Image: from WHRC collection, PRES 1970-72.19

The Crossroads Club of Capleville, Tennessee submitted this document – written for the GFWC Centennial celebration in 1990 – to the WHRC Club History collection. It came in handy recently, when a woman who grew up in Capleville asked us to look for whatever we might have on her family. We discovered that at least two of her relatives belonged to this club, and were named in the history. The stories told here, about the club’s members and the town they worked to improve, helped our researcher connect a little more fully to her family’s life in Tennessee.

Image: WHRC Club History collection, CH TN 012

I can’t resist ending this month’s post on a personal note, even though this accidental-success story might inspire some false hope. One of the first research requests I received, after starting my job here at the WHRC, was about early clubs in the Oklahoma Federation. The best source for that info is the History of Oklahoma State Federation of Women’s Clubs (Luretta Rainey, 1939), a published volume in which the author, somewhat unusually, provided brief histories of individual clubs. While I was reading through the book, my eye was caught by a familiar name: that of my great-great-grandmother Mollie Williams (Mrs. George B.) Mahaffie, the “only surviving charter member” of the Yamprika Club, founded in 1901. Mollie rated not only a personal description, but also a photograph. This was indeed a rare find, but one that made my extended family very happy.

Image: WHRC State History collection.

I really can’t promise you that your own family search will be as successful as any of the ones described here, but we are willing to give it a try! If you have questions about former club members in your family, please reach out and we’ll see what we can come up with for you.

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

Family Connections (Part 1)

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

December 5, 2024

The theme of FAMILY runs strongly through the General Federation of Women’s Clubs collections. Our members often call each other “sisters in Federation,” but sometimes they are sisters in literal truth. Mothers and daughters (and granddaughters), sisters, cousins, in-laws… whether together in one club or members of clubs across the world, they are united by Federation, if not necessarily by geography.

GFWC has always loved to discover* and share those stories so, as the winter holidays approach and many of our members gather with their loved ones, let’s take a look at just a few of the family connections that can be made in the WHRC collections.

*Read to the end to learn about how to share your own GFWC family story with us now!

In 1928, no less than three publications were delighted to share the power of club membership as personified by the Van Riper family: four generations, from 78 year old Sarah Van Riper to her 12 year old great-granddaughter Martha Hickey, who all belonged to the Oneira Club of San Diego County. The San Francisco Examiner published the brief article shown at left in February that year, and the photograph at right appeared in both the California Clubwoman magazine and General Federation News later that spring.

Image: from WHRC collection, MAG 1928.04

Over fifty years later, Clubwoman magazine celebrated another multi-generational club tradition, this time in South Dakota. “A family heritage of GFWC South Dakota service is represented as Amy Keezer – age 5 ½ years – proudly views a picture of her great-grandmother Helen Bates, who was a charter member of the Onida, SD Study Club in 1924 and active in other South Dakota clubs for many years after. Amy’s grandmother, Betty Larrington (seated), has been a member of the Gettysburg Women’s Literary Club of South Dakota since 1947, and in 1979 was named ‘Outstanding Clubwoman of South Dakota.’ Amy’s mother, Helen Larrington Keezer (standing), is president of the GFWC Hecla Federated Study Club. No doubt Amy will carry on her foremothers’ illustrious history of volunteer service in the GFWC.”

Image: WHRC collection, MAG 1980.12

The rosters of many clubs in rural communities were (and are) filled with close-knit families. This photo from the September 1931 issue of The Clubwoman shows members of the newly-formed Chippewa Woman’s Club of Cass Lake, Minnesota, many of whom lived in or had ties to the White Earth Reservation. The meeting shown here was held at the home of Jane Whitefisher Manypenny (1856-1933), a leader in the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) community, who translated the English portions of the meeting for those members who needed it. This photo showcases an array of family connections including: Jane Manypenny, her daughter Angeline Burnett, and her daughter Anna Command; Maggie Thompson and two of her daughters, Irene Tippetts and Elizabeth Broker; and sisters Jane Broker and Nellie Fairbanks, plus Jane’s daughter Madeline Kamppi. (As a bonus, the guests from the Minnesota Federation, Mrs. and Miss Bayliss, were themselves a mother-daughter team.)

Image: WHRC collection, MAG 1931.09

Mother-daughter duos are a long tradition in GFWC, starting as early as the 1890s when both Julia Ward Howe (President of Massachusetts State Federation) and her daughter Florence Howe Hall (Vice President of the New Jersey Federation) served as Federation leaders. Examples from more recent years include Helen Ryan and her daughter Mary Ellen Brock, who both served terms as President of the Bloomfield Junior Club (NJ). In 1997, Mary Ellen – who went on to serve as GFWC International President (2018-2020) – spoke with her mother for the WHRC oral history collection, and their close relationship led to an entertaining (and informative) interview.

Image: WHRC collection, excerpt from OH 0143

We could go on and on – and in fact in 2012, many more stories of GFWC family traditions were shared in Clubwoman magazine (you can read the article here). Help us grow that collection! Do you have a story to tell? We’d love to hear it. Share it in the comments, or reach out to us at whrc@gfwc.org! And tune back in to this blog next month for Part 2, where we’ll take a look at finding family history in the WHRC collections.

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

Cooking for the Community

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

November 7, 2024

Welcome back to the GFWC Women’s History and Resource Center blog! This month, as we get ready for the holiday season, the spotlight falls on our collection of club-produced cookbooks.

American “community cookbooks” trace their history back to the Civil War, when Maria J. Moss compiled A Poetical Cook-book as a fundraiser for the US Sanitary Commission in 1864. Since then, women’s organizations from all walks of life have created their own cookbooks to raise money, preserve favorite recipes, and make their mark on their communities.

Women’s clubs have happily participated in this endeavor, and the WHRC holds a sampling of club cookbooks from the 1920s through today. Let’s take a quick tour through this delightful collection!

“Mrs. Thomas Gillice, President, 3rd District, Illinois Federation, prepares a cake from a recipe in the GFWC Cookbook, ‘America Cooks,’ published by Putnam and Sons,” from the October 1968 issue of “Clubwoman.” America Cooks (1968) is just one of several cookbooks GFWC has compiled to represent our many members, in the US and across the globe; others include A Cook’s Tour (1957), International Potpourri (1977), The Centennial Cookbook (1988), and American Buffet (1993).

Because we are an international organization, the GFWC cookbook collection has a broad scope. There is a lot of overlap, of course; just about every book includes recipes for standard fare like turkey, green beans, biscuits, and fruit pies. But there are regional specialties galore; “Crab Soup, Eastern Shore Style” (Mrs. Flo Berton of Maryland) and “Alaska King Crab Meat Souffle” (Mildred Hamill of Alaska) can be found in their clubs’ respective books, for example. The GFWC-produced A Cook’s Tour (1957) features delicacies from across the US and beyond, with recipes for “Bizcocho de Batata ‘Borinquen’” (Mrs. Carmen Aboy Valldejulli, Club Civico de Damas de Puerto Rico), “Ozark pudding” (Mrs. Joseph W. Cushing, President, Missouri Federation of Women’s Clubs) and “Latvian Stroganoff” (Mrs. Ellija Druva, President, Representatives of Latvians’ Baltic Women’s Council).

Recipe for Sweet Potato Cake (Bizcocho de Batata “Borinquen”), submitted by Mrs. Carmen Aboy Valldejulli, Club Civico de Damas de Puerto Rico. From *A Cook’s Tour With the General Federation of Women’s Clubs*, 1957.

From the *Out of This World Cook Book*, 1973. Gift of GFWC Cocoa Beach Woman’s Club, 1986.

Some local cookbooks really lean into the neighborhood theme, like the two editions of GFWC Cocoa Beach Woman’s Club’s Out of This World Cook Book (1973 and 1985) that celebrate the club’s proximity to the “space coast” of Florida. Here is a recipe submitted by Jane DuBose Conrad, wife of astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., in the “Satellite Salads” section of the 1973 edition. Like most community cookbooks, this was a fundraiser; proceeds went “towards the building, the furnishing, and the maintenance of the Space Coast Community Center at Cocoa Beach.”

A glance through any given cookbook will tell us a lot about the era in which it was written: what ingredients were available, what cultures were represented in the community, what kinds of events were being held, and more. Just a few of the recipes that provide a window to the time in which they were written include “hogs’ head cheese,” from a late 19th century Texas cookbook; “Mah Jong Mix” for the snacking needs of 12 -14 of your club friends, from the 1930 Ames Woman’s Club Cook Book; and many dishes that make good use of the latest development in food technology, from refrigerators and electric ovens to pressure cookers and microwaves.

A recipe from the “Microwave Oven” section of the *Ladies’ Literary Club Centennial Cookbook* (Grand Rapids, Michigan), 1988. Gift of John Clasby on behalf of the Ladies Literary Club of Grand Rapids, 1990.

“Burnt Caramel Cake,” contributed to *The Club Woman’s Cook Book*, 1928, by future GFWC President Roberta Campbell Lawson (1935-1938). This cookbook was compiled by Mary Davenport Bonner, a member of clubs in both Tyler, Texas and Chautauqua, New York, and it includes a wide variety of GFWC leaders from across the country as well as members of her clubs (and at least one “Hollywood actress”). Gift of Sallie Holder.

When you look at the cookbooks with an eye toward the contributors themselves, you gain even more insight into time, place, and club culture. Recipes submitted by GFWC Presidents – past, present, and future – are often featured, even if they’re not from the state or region represented. Local and national elected officials (and their wives) can be found in books from every era. My favorite discoveries come from two ends of the “famous contributor” spectrum: “Catherine Mallon, Actress, Hollywood, California” submitted a recipe for chess cake to The Club Woman’s Cook Book (1928), and “Nora Roberts, Author for Silhouette Romances” provided a bread pudding recipe for The Chesapeake Collection (1983). While Roberts went on to be a household name, Mallon’s Hollywood career was not so successful; it doesn’t appear that she ever achieved a credited film role.

A page of pies from the Pawhuska Woman’s Club cookbook, first printed in 1925. Gift of Dori Kelsey, 2023.

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, this blog post would not be complete without at least one example of my favorite holiday dish: apple pie. I make an apple pie every year, using a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens red gingham cookbook circa 1998 (because my mom had the BH&G red gingham cookbook from the 1970s, and probably her mother had the previous generation as well)… but maybe I’ll try something new this year, from something in the Archives.

Have you made anything from a GFWC-related cookbook? Have you contributed one of your favorites to a club’s cookbook project? (And does your club have a cookbook, whether vintage or recent, that we should add to the WHRC collection?) Let us know in the comments!

Read more about the history of community cookbooks here:

Community Cookbooks and the Women Who Wrote Them (JSTOR)

Community Cookbook Collections to Inspire Your Next Meal (Boston Public Library)

Before Food Blogs: the Community Cookbooks (Denver Public Library)

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

Freddie Hilp and the GFWC Overseas Unit

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

October 3, 2024

Welcome back to our new monthly blog series, direct from the GFWC Women’s History and Resource Center! Here, we’ll highlight stories of General Federation history, pulled from our unique archival, photograph, and artifact collections. Check back on the first Thursday of each month for a new post.

During World War I, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs formed a War Victory Commission to identify projects and raise funds to support the war effort. One major area of concern was the need for wholesome recreation opportunities for U.S. servicemen, especially after the November 1918 Armistice when troops waited many months for transportation home. Organizations like the American Red Cross, the YMCA and YWCA, the American Library Association, and the Jewish Welfare Board worked together to supply refreshment, recreation, and entertainment to the American Expeditionary Forces; GFWC joined in by recruiting several dozen women from across the country for a new “GFWC Unit for Overseas Service.” These women were assigned canteen duty in France, Belgium, and Germany: serving refreshments, hosting dances, and boosting morale.

GFWC Overseas Unit members, 1920. Their YMCA uniforms are embellished with “General Federation of Women’s Clubs” armbands. (See full photograph at bottom of this post.)

The GFWC Overseas Unit members were not necessarily clubwomen themselves, but we expected these “Daughters of the Federation” to represent our organization while in Europe. GFWC President Ione Cowles entreated them “to exemplify for us the fine spirit of consecrated American womanhood,” helping to remind the troops of what they had fought for and who was waiting for them (mothers, wives, sweethearts) at home.

In a report to the Federation in 1920, Unit member Hallie Jamieson described the “love and ideals of the womanhood of America” that GFWC sent abroad with the Unit. She also claimed to have heard soldiers respond positively (if, at first, with confusion) upon reading her GFWC armband. Click here to read the full Overseas Unit Report from the 1920 Biennial Convention.

After the war, we invited members of the Unit to attend the 1920 GFWC Biennial convention in Des Moines, in order to give them a specially-designed “decoration”: an ornate gold pin, engraved with each woman’s name. (We also very much wanted to bring these women into the GFWC fold and encourage them to join their local women’s clubs, but it’s unclear if that effort was particularly successful.) Unfortunately, GFWC’s record-keeping in this era trended toward finished reports rather than working papers; thus, we didn’t have many details about the Unit other than what was recorded in convention records and the GFWC magazine.

In the 2000s this lack of detail was greatly improved, thanks to the donation of 263 photographs taken by Unit member Freddie Hilp.

29 year old Blanche Frederika “Freddie” Hilp was working for
the Nevada State Council of Defense when she learned of the GFWC Overseas Unit opportunity. She applied through the Nevada Federation of Women’s Clubs, was accepted, and ended up assigned to one of the YMCA’s “rolling canteens.” From March to July 1919, she drove around the French countryside with chocolate, lemonade, and other goodies, delivering comfort to troops who couldn’t travel to a stationary canteen.

Freddie Hilp, in uniform and holding her camera, on a beach in France, 1919.

Snapshots of Freddie Hilp's vehicles, 1919

During her trip, Freddie drove or rode in at least two different canteen vehicles, probably decommissioned ambulances, which she nicknamed Daisy and Faith. Left: “Daisy, myself & Paul April 14-1919” Right: “‘Faith’ – in Albert. June 20 1919″

Fortunately for us, Freddie brought along her camera. She snapped photos of new friends; of the servicemen she and her colleagues encountered; of historic sites and French residents; of working days, and time off for fun.

Top left: “Entraining 77th Division” Top right: “Forwarding Camp – 21st Eng” Bottom left: Parame – France. Miss Carlson [?], me, [unnamed], Luckie” Bottom right: General Pershing visited the camp on “June 2 1919”

Freddie also documented the devastation wrought by the war. Amidst her cheerful snapshots are poignant photos of ruined towns, blighted landscapes, barbed wire, and newly-dug cemeteries.

Top left: “Barbed wire – no man’s land. June 25 1919″ Bottom left: “Belleau Woods – 500 crosses. June 27 1919″ Right: “Montfaucon. June 29 1919″

Freddie Hilp’s tour of duty lasted only a few months, but the experience was a life-changing one. In Europe she met a serviceman from Illinois named William F. Gliessman. They married in 1920, and moved to her native state of Nevada; their only surviving child, Lester Hilp Gliessman, was born in 1921. Sadly, Freddie died of ovarian cancer in 1929, just a few weeks short of her 40th birthday.

In 2004, Lester Gliessman’s daughter, Leslie Holt, offered the WHRC her grandmother’s photo collection, opening up for us an amazing window into GFWC’s wartime work. A few years later a collector donated an Overseas Service pin owned by Martelle Thomas of Florda, adding another piece to the puzzle; up to that point we knew there had been a pin, but we didn’t know what it looked like. And just a few months ago, our own GFWC President-Elect Wendy Carriker won an eBay auction for another Overseas Pin.

Front and back of Freddie Hilp's Overseas Unit pin

I am not embarrassed to admit that when Wendy described her successful bid and said “I think the name on the back was something like Freddie…?” I literally jumped up and down with excitement. It turns out that Leslie Holt died in 2017; her widower, not aware of the connection to Leslie’s earlier donation, put this piece from her collection up for sale. The muse of history was looking out for us, and Wendy spotted the auction. When she told Mr. Holt she would be donating the pin to the WHRC to join Leslie’s earlier donation, he said she would have been so glad to know that her grandmother’s story was of such importance to us.

Group photo of the Overseas Unit women who attended the General Federation of Women’s Clubs Biennial Convention in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1920. Though the women are not identified, I think that Freddie is standing in the front row, seventh from left (in the detail view used earlier, she’s third from the left).

A huge thank you to Leslie and Rick Holt for sharing Freddie’s story with us; Wendy Carriker, for keeping an eagle eye on GFWC-related auctions; and Morgan Davis, who cataloged the 263 photos shortly after their donation.

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

WHRC: From the Archives

Welcome!

By: Joanna Church, Women’s History and Resource Center Librarian

September 5, 2024

Welcome, readers, to our new monthly blog series, direct from the GFWC Women’s History and Resource Center! Here, we’ll highlight stories of General Federation history, pulled from our unique archival, photograph, and artifact collections. Check back on the first Thursday of each month for a new post.

To kick things off we’ve chosen a few images from our collections that show clubwomen, past and present, hard at work and Living the Volunteer Spirit. Let’s take a tour through our history!

The Trained Nurses’ Club and Reading Room, New York City, 1894. “A New York City club for ‘trained nurses’ was formed in 1894 in conjunction with a reading room for members who were described as ‘graduate nurses and those who stand high in the profession.’ Pictured are members in the reception area of the club rooms, which included sleeping apartments. Mrs. M.G. Willard, founder of the club, was a permanent resident.” This photo and caption appeared in Reaching Out, the definitive history of GFWC written by Mary Jean Houde and published in 1989 for our Centennial; the image was earlier used in the very first history of GFWC, Jane Cunningham Croly’s 1898 book, The History of the Woman’s Club Movement in America. Many early clubs were organized for study and relaxation, though soon we moved to community action and improvement.

GFWC staff at Headquarters, Washington, DC, 1928. “The ‘Long Office’ at Headquarters in which is rendered valuable service to thousands of clubs and individual club women scattered throughout the world.” Since the 1980s, this 60-foot-long room has served as our Archives, where much of the WHRC collections are housed. This photo and its caption can be found in the August 1928 issue of our magazine, at that time called “General Federation News.”

GFWC leaders with the New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Clubs Bookmobile, 1941. The April 1941 issue of “The Clubwoman” featured this image of GFWC President Saidie Orr Dunbar (far left) with Mrs. Frederick B. Preston (center), President of the New Hampshire Federation, and Lucy Jennings Dickinson (also of New Hampshire), GFWC 2nd Vice President and future President. They are posed with a bookmobile purchased by the New Hampshire Federation for the state public library commission. Libraries – whether stationary or mobile – have long been a major focus of American women’s clubs, and of the General Federation itself.

“Saguache, Colorado club women at work,” 1959. Since the late 1940s, GFWC has sponsored a biannual contest for club projects focused on improvements within the local community. Though the contest has gone by different names over the decades, today it is called the Community Impact Program (CIP) award. Because contest submissions include detailed text, imagery, and supporting data, the CIP collection contains a wealth of information for historians, as well as for present-day club members hoping to learn from their predecessors’ successes. (Look for a lot more from the CIP collection in future WHRC blog posts.) In this instance, four clubs in Saguache, Colorado joined forces to organize a community council, secure a town doctor, and create a museum; the project was a national finalist, netting the clubs a $1,000 prize in 1960.

Officers of the San Xavier Woman’s Club, Tucson, Arizona, 1964. GFWC has a long history of member clubs in Native American communities, particularly in western and midwestern states. The San Xavier Woman’s Club of Tucson was founded in the 1950s as a “mother’s club” by women living in the Tohono O’odham Nation (then called the Papago Reservation); in 1964 they federated with Arizona and GFWC in order to better coordinate their work with other area organizations. This photo, showing the club officers receiving their GFWC Charter, was published in “Clubwoman,” November 1964. Left to right (seated): Miss Carmelita Antone, president; Miss Mary Lucy Wilson, 1st vice president; (standing): Mrs. Albert S. Frank, treasurer; Miss Rufina Morris, 2nd vice president; and Miss Evangeline Ignacio, secretary.

Kansas clubwomen repairing windows, 1972. Here’s another photo from our CIP collection, this one showing members of the Johnson County Young Matrons, of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, rehabbing a house to hold the Temporary Lodging for Children, an emergency shelter for community kids “who are temporarily without parents of a home due to circumstances beyond their control.” The project was awarded first place in the 1972-1974 contest. In the club’s submission, this photo was captioned: “The fruits of our labor brought satisfaction to all!!” (Yes, complete with two exclamation marks!)

Members of the São Paulo Women’s Club sorting donated clothes, 1986. GFWC has welcomed international affiliates since our earliest days. Here, a member club in Brazil distributes clothing to children at the Castelinho Community Center; the clothing was donated by Health-Tex as part of the GFWC Concern for Kids International program. The São Paulo Club helped organize the community center in the 1960s, and won third place in the International CIP contest for their work; in 1986 they won first place for their continued efforts with the center. This photo was published in “Clubwoman,” September/October 1986.

Club members delivering donations, 1995 and 2007. Our magazine has gone by a variety of names over the years, but no matter the title, the hard work of our clubs has been featured since the beginning. Left: Members of the GFWC Woman’s Club of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, made a donation of paper goods to their local Ronald McDonald House; they were featured in the “Club News” section of the August/September 1995 issue of “Clubwoman.” Right: North Carolina club members made nearly 150 stuffed bears, which were then donated to the Wake County Emergency Medical Services for the benefit of young patients; this photo appeared in the August/September 2007 issue of “Clubwoman” under “Volunteers in Action.”

Atlanta Woman’s Club members preparing lunch for shelter residents, 2023. The inaugural GFWC National Day of Service, held on September 24th, 2023, brought nearly one thousand GFWC clubs together to tackle the problem of food insecurity in their communities. Participating clubs submitted reports and photographs, which are preserved in the WHRC archival collections. Here, the Atlanta Woman’s Club of Georgia is shown preparing some of the 45 lunches they contributed at a homeless shelter.

GFWC Atlanta Woman's Club food insecurity on National Day of Service 2023

Remember to check back next month for more stories from GFWC history (and present)! To learn more about the WHRC collections, visit the WHRC page or contact us at whrc@gfwc.org.

Learn More about the WHRC

The Women’s History and Resource Center

Learn More

Volunteers in Action: Glendale Woman’s Club

The GFWC Glendale Woman’s Club (Glendale, Arizona) Veterans committee hosted an educational program with guest speakers from USVETS for our February 2023 business meeting who provided updates on the new facility in Phoenix, scheduled to open in April 2023. This site will house 132 transitional beds for homeless veterans. We are also excited to join in a new journey with USVETS who unveiled Ashley’s Place. Two brand new five-bedroom homes were built through a partnership of USVETS and Habitat for Humanities. These homes will provide transitional housing for up to 30 female veterans who will receive daily meals and services such as group counselling.

GWC ladies showed their giving hearts with travel size toiletries, dental supplies, socks, and more, an in-kind donation valued at around $400.

Members of Glendale Woman’s Club took advantage of the opportunity for a free booth at the 13th Annual Dog Days of Glendale to raise awareness of our club, its mission and also to help raise funds for the Frances Willard Munds statue. Dog Days is an annual event that supports Animals & Humans in Disaster, Empty Bowls Pet Food Pantry a nonprofit organization. They provide support to individuals in Arizona who are experiencing economic challenges, health problems and natural disasters.

The Frances Willard Munds statue is a big deal, since it is the 1st statue of a woman to be built on Arizona state owned land. We celebrate Women’s History by keeping Arizona’s suffragist Frances Munds visible using the club’s #flatfrances project. We brought our 6 ft. #flatfrances to this event, and that really helped to draw attention to our booth. We encouraged visitors to be a part of history, take a picture with #flatfrances, and consider donating to the statue fund. Offering online payment options really helped with getting these donations. In a few short hours we raised $186, over 90% was an online payment. We also brought plenty of GFWC and club information so we could tell the public about our 122 year old GFWC club. We handed out GFWC brochures, postcard invites to our next meet your neighbor event, and provided literature on the club’s current programs. During the event we also took time to explore and advertise by doing a Facebook live event. This helped advertise our club’s participation and also the good news of our community coming together to help our 4 legged friends.

Below: Pictured is Club President Cheryl Kappes and local high school student, club-volunteer Idaprae Maynes with #FlatFrances

Volunteers in Action: Prestonburg Woman’s Club, Tellico Village Woman’s Club, and Woman’s Club of Bismarck

This week’s Volunteers in Action highlights just three of the many clubs using the work of their hands to benefit their local communities.

Over the 2022 Christmas holidays, the GFWC-KY Prestonburg Woman’s Club distributed toys and handmade quilts to the maternity and children’s wards at ARH Highlands hospital. As member Sabra Jacobs reports, “This is one of our favorite projects!”

The GFWC Tellico Village Woman’s Club (Tennessee) has worked for over a year on a community service project making breast cancer pillows, called “By Women – For Women.” On January 17, 2022, members gathered to make a first “test run” to see how the breast cancer pillow project would be received within our community. With a very positive response from the breast cancer centers, another event was held on September 21, 2022, this time with an invitation to all women of our community as a membership drive and an introduction to the club. At the end of the event, we had 125 completed pillows. The third event was held January 16, 2023 for the club’s MLK Community Service day, at which 200 pillows were completed. Each packaged pillow contains the verse: “A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey – but a woman of strength knows it is on the journey that she will become strong.”

The club’s membership drive was a huge success, growing from 23 to 39 members between December 2021 and February 2023. After distributing 370 pillows, Tellico Village Woman’s Club is not done; they are committed to continuing this project to help women during their difficult journeys with breast cancer.

And in honor of Valentine’s Day, the GFWC Illinois Woman’s Club of Bismarck took on two projects. Clubwomen decorated 15 small Valentine trees for the Alzheimer’s unit at the Danville VA Medical Center (part of a year-long initiative to decorate trees for various holidays and seasons, lifting the spirits of Danville veterans). The club also took 23 adult and 15 children’s Valentine treat bags to the Crosspoint at the Y Domestic Violence and Transitional Shelter. Cher Pollock, the center’s director, was very grateful to have these treat bags for Crosspoint residents.

Volunteers in Action: Frederick Woman’s Civic Club and Poplarville Woman’s Club

The Poplarville Woman’s Club (Mississippi) donated bras and other items, supplied by I Support the Girls, to nine different shelters and other organizations in recognition of Human Trafficking Month (January). The club also viewed webinars from the Blue Campaign, and at their January 2023 meeting listened to a presentation by a speaker from the The Center for Violence Prevention in Pearl, MS, the only shelter in the state dedicated to serving human trafficking victims.

Pictured: Erica, Betina, Carolyn, Shirley and Dawn of Poplarville Woman’s Club sort donations.

As part of an ongoing effort led by the Evening Group members, women of the Frederick Woman’s Civic Club Inc. (Maryland) gathered on January 19th, 2023 to sew “capes for kids” for children served by the Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership (COIPP) and the Child Advocacy Center of Frederick County, Maryland. The capes are intended to help children through times of trauma and stress and symbolize strength and bravery. Nearly 60 capes over the past several months have been made, and more sewing sessions are planned.

Pictured (l to r): Cape makers Elaine Junker, Nancy Boyd, Kari Hassler, Joanne Bee, Lisa Wolf, and Michelle Willis. Not pictured: Karen Butler and Mary Snyder