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What does preserving nearly 130 years of histories, stories, and accomplishments entail? Preservation efforts can take many different forms. The Women’s History and Resource Center (WHRC) strives to preserve the history of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) through maintaining and digitizing archival records and museum collections and ensuring that our information is accessible to all.

The WHRC’s newest project, an effort to digitize our Oral History Collection, is just one example of how clubs can preserve their own histories and save the voices of their past. Discover how clubs across the country have been protecting and maintaining their club’s precious histories and historic documents in the articles below.

Redwood City Woman’s Club Makes History a Priority
Submitted by Elaine Park, GFWC California

The Redwood City Woman’s Club has made preserving and honoring our clubhouse a top priority. As part of our preservation efforts, we recently embarked on a much-needed renovation of the main bathroom. The room was stripped down to the studs and then rebuilt to match the building’s 108 year-old craftsman style. Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was essential and the bathroom is now fully accessible to all.

To honor our clubhouse, we decided to nominate the building to the National Register of Historic Places. In order to conduct the necessary research, we formed a History Committee to oversee the process. Committee members spent the summer sorting, labeling, and filing 110 years of minutes, scrapbooks, committee reports, flyers, newsletters, correspondence, and financial records. Among these piles, we were excited to find a photograph of the clubhouse site before the home had been built and original club members from 1913. We also discovered the plans that were used to enlarge and modernize the clubhouse in 1939 and 1973, as well as board minutes specifying the changes.

The History Committee also decided to subscribe to Newspapers.com to enhance their research, which provided us with a wealth of information. Articles were found that detailed original club meeting reports in the home of our first President, Katherine Cumberson, and the progress of the clubhouse’s construction and grand opening. Of special interest to us were previously forgotten stories of club members, such as a duel with the Bachelors Club over a venue for a Calico Ball in 1911 and a grass fire that threatened to burn down the clubhouse in 1915.

The information enabled us to compile a comprehensive timeline for the club and clubhouse and put together a list of members who were active in Redwood City and the surrounding areas, from the club’s founding up until the present. We also created an index of our archives, inclusive of material that was found at Redwood City’s local history room and the San Mateo County Archives.

We are now planning on hanging copies of the photos we found, along with other historical photos we already had on display in our new bathroom. We have also posted the photos and some of the historical articles written about the club on our website.

The documents sorted by our History Committee have been archived and are organized and ready for the next generation of club historians.

The History of the Sioux City Woman’s Club Finds a Home
Submitted by Renee M. Beacom, GFWC Iowa

Materials chronicling the history of the Sioux City Woman’s Club languished for more than 100 years in dark closets and basements of club members’ homes. The documents amounted to thousands of pages that were handwritten and faded, unevenly printed by early manual typewriters, or crisp computer print outs. These documents were prepared over those 100 years by women of all ages and various talents with a common spirit of service. These women made a difference in the civic and personal lives of people in the Sioux City community. They created a precious history of their lives and accomplishments over the 108 years of the club’s existence.

Thanks to efforts led by long-time club member Nancy Cord, six very large boxes of club records were packed and delivered to the Public Museum in Sioux City, Iowa. Archives Manager Thomas Munson gratefully accepted the materials; which included annual year books; meeting minutes; and scrapbooks containing photos, stories, and news articles about club projects and activities. Materials will be processed and catalogued by the Public Museum and made available for research. Recent materials remain in club files for reference by current members and officers.

Our story is the story of women’s contributions to the development of arts, education, health, and culture in Sioux City, Iowa. At last, it is safely stored, preserved, and available for future research and study.

Preserving The History of the Woman’s Club of Indio 
Submitted by Mickie Reed, GFWC California

The Woman’s Club of Indio was founded in 1912. Until the early 1980’s, our club was diligent about preserving its history. All yearbooks, newspaper articles, and member information were collected and stored in the clubhouse. Like many early women’s clubs, the Woman’s Club of Indio was involved in the founding of many of the social institutions in its community. The club had a hand in establishing the local library, hospital, and even the local USO branch.

In 1980, membership began to decline and the clubhouse had to be sold. However, thanks to the efforts of a few faithful members, the Woman’s Club of Indio has increased recruitment efforts and been revitalized. Our recent spike in membership and enthusiasm has enabled us to begin to reassemble pieces of the past forty years of our history. Over the last two years, club members have begun making consistent efforts to carefully document current events and members. One particular project involved scouring the archives in order to learn the first names of our past presidents, as they had commonly used their husbands’ names.

To strengthen our recordkeeping and archival practices, we now write biographies of each member. We print the biographies, newsletters, and club Facebook posts on acid-free paper and store them all in protective archival boxes to deposit at the museum. We include copies of our general and board meeting minutes, treasurer reports, event flyers, as many pictures as we can collect, and sadly, some obituaries of our members.

We have asked members to share their histories with us and have discovered some amazing stories. Among our clubwomen are a former actress, an airline stewardess, sky-divers, and members who appeared in the Rose Parade. The stories are a testament to the strength of women and of our club members.

The Woman’s Club of Indio is now a thriving club with 121 members, and we are determined to keep our club and history alive.

Preserving the History of the GFWC West Central District
Submitted by Lorie Billehus, GFWC West Central District

Preservation of the GFWC West Central District began in 1949 when an official district historian was appointed. Over the last 70 years, we have collected scrapbooks filled with pictures, program documents, awards, attendance books, registers, and treasurer books. Thanks to the foresight of Past President Joyce Wahlquist, our District celebrated its centennial and 100 years of secretarial minutes were digitized.

Arrangements were made to have our minutes, along with scrapbooks, treasury, and secretarial books stored at the University of Minnesota Morris’ (UMM) Archives. The UMM was chosen as our primary repository; it is most central to all clubs in the District and easy accessible. Digitized disks went to GFWC Headquarters and the Minnesota Historical Society.

As each District scrapbook is filled, it is placed in the archives at the University and recorded by the District Historian. The secretarial reports are kept by the District with future plans of digitization.

Club members are aware that rapidly changing technology demands require developing future plans for digitization and storage of materials. Discussions are being held with UMM about submitting a grant to receive the necessary funding to do this work. We feel it is important to remember where we have been in order to move forward.

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The GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club of Huntsville, Alabama honored fallen veterans at the Huntsville Memory Gardens Cemetery. Members prepared and placed six hundred wreaths on the tomb stones of fallen veterans. The wreaths will later be removed to storage in January 2020. Additionally, the GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club designed and mailed post cards to honor the active and retired Veterans and spouses for Veterans Day. A GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club United States Military scrapbook is kept and updated by a club volunteer, which lists each active duty and retired military club member or spouse with a brief history of each.

GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club (Tennessee) members appeared on a local TV show to promote the placement of three flag boxes in the community. The project was shared by another club at the 2019 GFWC Annual Convention in Austin at a Lunch & Learn and brought it back to the GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club. The used flags will be given to the Boy Scout office for training purposes. The project was also highlighted in a newspaper article.

The GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club also had a baby shower for the female soldiers and wives of soldiers at Fort Campbell. Gifts bags full of goodies were brought and donations were made to purchase one big gift as a door prize. Plans are underway for the actual shower in January.

Lastly, the GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club folded patriotic napkins into lotus cups. These napkins will be delivered to the local Veterans’ Center to be filled with candy and handed out to the veterans.

This Veterans Day, November 11, the GFWC Viera Woman’s Club (Florida), and the new Viera chapter of the Guitars for Vets (G4V) non-profit, a wonderful charity supporting veterans who are ailing and injured, teamed up to host a Veterans Day benefit concert.

The concert was held at the Viera Holiday Inn. Seven local bands and artists volunteered their talents and time to be a part of the concert. This was the fourth year for Jill Hansen of the GFWC Viera Woman’s Club to chair this event, working with Brian Donnelly who founded the Viera chapter of G4Vets!

The Guitars for Vets mission is to help veterans find hope in the unlikely wood and strings of an acoustic guitar. The healing power of music helps soldiers cope. “I’m a veteran. I play the guitar and thought this would be a good idea”, says Brian, founder of the Viera chapter of G4Vets. The GFWC Viera Woman’s Club is proud to be a part of this concert fundraiser to raise money to help veterans participate in this structured non-profit program.

This year, 200 tickets were sold and the event included an auction of an acoustic guitar hand-painted by Diane Haroman, a handmade quilt created by VWC member Cheryl Snyder, and a vacation weekend at a Cocoa Beach resort, Blue Wave Cottages. Several local businesses do-nated door prizes and helped to also raise funds. This year almost $4,500 was raised.
Many thanks to Brian Donnelly and his band, Stay Tuned Acoustic Duo, Mike and Tammy Hans, FLORIDADAVE, “Sax Appeal” musician Dave Kujat (Kooj), Rich Brown, and Highway 1 Band.

The GFWC Woman’s Club of Plant City honored veterans and active military officers with a BBQ event on November 10 at the Teco Expo Hall. There were approximately three hundred veterans in attendance with their wives, husbands, or family which brought the total to nearly 500. The GFWC Woman’s Club of Plant City worked hard to provide sponsors, door prizes, and an amazing performance. There were ten World War II veterans in attendance with oldest being one hundred years old. Present at the event were veterans from the Korean War, Vietnam, Dessert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It was a day of remembering and honor.

The GFWC Junior Woman’s Club of Walpole (Massachusetts), started and closed the Veterans Day weekend with two long-standing events:

JWCW Red, White, and Brew: This is the 9th annual beer, wine and spirits-tasting fundraiser benefits the Walpole Veterans Committee. This group provides veteran assistance and community outreach to the hyper local community. For the last 9 years, funds raised have provided meals, gift cards (food, gas, etc.) set up an educational scholarships.

Veteran’s Day Coffee Reception: The town of Walpole honors its veterans with a ceremony in its town center. This beloved tradition draws a wonderful cross section of the community. Young and old gather to pay their respects. The GFWC Junior Woman’s Club of Walpole hosts a complimentary coffee reception complete with all the trimmings. Refreshments are then delivered to the Walpole VFW.

The GFWC Junior Woman’s Club of Walpole looks forward to these events every year and club members are quick to volunteer in any way they can. It’s a wonderful way to come together as a club and thank local community members!

For Veterans’ Day 2019, Marna McDermott and Marsha Travis of the GFWC Woman’s Club of Cranbury teamed up for a special project to thank Veterans currently residing in Cranbury, New Jersey. Marna searched Township records and asked countless people for help in developing a comprehensive list of veterans in Cranbury. Marsha compiled the names into a spreadsheet, got Executive Committee approval for the wording, and printed the notes and envelopes. Below is a picture of the card which features a simple silver border and the Woman’s Club Lily motif as a watermark. The cards read:

The Woman’s Club of Cranbury wants to thank
you and your family for the sacrifices you have
made as a member of our military. Your selfless
bravery protected our freedoms when we needed you most.
May we never forget that freedom isn’t free.

Above is a picture of the card which features a simple silver border and the Woman’s Club Lily motif as a watermark.

Above, we see Marna and Marsha at the Post Office, ready to mail their heartfelt thanks.

The GFWC Nampa Woman’s Century Club presented a check for $2246.00 to Kenton Lee, founder of The Shoe That Grows. He was a guest speaker at the Western States Region Conference in Boise, Idaho and shared information about this worthwhile project. The Shoe That Grows is a nonprofit organization that donates shoes that grow five sizes to kids who are in need of protective footwear. Kenton recently delivered 2,000 shoes to Nairobi, Kenya. The Shoe That Grows is the International Outreach project for GFWC Nampa Women’s Century Club.

On October 21, GFWC La Crescenta Woman’s Club (California) hosted a “Baby Shower” for the YWCA Domestic Violence Program. Sylvia Chinn, from the YWCA Domestic Violence Program in Glendale, provided the club with information on the organization and how to support a survivor. The evening consisted of some fun baby games and donations of diapers and baby food.

YWCA Glendale works every day to provide services and education to the community and works to end domestic violence.

Pictured above from left to right: Sylvia Chinn (YWCA), Cindy Charles, Catherine Sulzberger and Michele Pashayi.

On September 14, GFWC La Crescenta Woman’s Club hosted a Shoe Drive that supported the Soles4Souls as part of GFWC’s Grand Initiative. More 925+ Pairs of shoes were donated! This could not have done this without the community’s support and support from club members!

Pictured above from left to right: Stella Plunkett, Marilyn Wright, & Chairwomen Michele Pashayi & Barbara Edwards

This summer the members of the GFWC Poultney Woman’s Club (Vermont) came together to collectively create 28 child size hospital gowns for their service project. Some members donated fabric and materials to make the gowns while others sewed the gowns from a pattern provided by Operation Smile.

“This project has been a huge success. We currently have 28 members in the Poultney Woman’s Club and all members participated in one way or another to make the Smile Project great.” said Jaime Milazzo, Poultney Woman’s Club President.

On Thursday, October 17, the members of the GFWC Poultney Woman’s Club gathered the gowns and displayed them for a group photo at their monthly meeting. The gowns were delivered to the GFWC Vermont club meeting on Saturday, October 19 to be packaged up and sent to the Operation Smile project.

Forty years ago, the chairman of the Warwick Junior Women’s Club (now GFWC Warwick Women’s Club) had a vision to develop an agency to protect women and children from domestic abuse. She, along with the clubwomen, worked along with the mayor and were able to settle on a vacant school that would serve as the shelter. After much planning and hard work, the facility opened as the Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center (EBCC). Over the years, with the cooperation of several mayors, the center has housed many families. Houses acquired by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation that were scheduled for demolition were procured by another mayor and relocated to city-owned lots to provide transitional housing. EBCC is now undergoing renovations to provide nine separate permanent housing units for families in need. The creation of the shelter was a GFWC Improvement Project and won national recognition at the GFWC International Convention. At the Fortieth Anniversary celebration, bricks inscribed with names were presented to honor those involved and taken back to be placed in a peace garden to be built by EBCC.

Pictured are members of the Warwick Women’s Club, l-r Helen Polselli, Carol Zimmerman, Debra Capuano, Jane Schwab, Janet Trombetti, President; Judith Earle, Member of WWC and Executive Director of EBCC; Diane Iacono, Pat Briggs, Madeline Perreault, Roberta Bianco and Barbara Walsh.

On Saturday October 26, GFWC’s Service Guild of Covington in Georgia sponsored a booth at Covington FUMC’s Change the World event. This was a huge event covering all areas surrounding the church, with free warm clothing for the upcoming winter months and help with the ongoing food pantry. Hundreds of people came out to support and attend the various tents, ranging from free food and beverages, a petting zoo, face painting, and promoting community service organizations. At the event, GFWC Membership Tri-Fold and monogrammed pencils were given out to potential members. Displays of manuals with photos of club projects from this year and GFWC Clubwoman Magazines were shown to garner interest in GFWC Georgia’s organization.

It was a great day and everyone had lots of fun making many connections with women interested in volunteering with GFWC!

Pictured above are Service Guild members who worked the booth this year L to R: Teri Jones, Carolyn Bennett, Unice Stevens, Lynn Garrett and seated is Pam Barnes

Carina Solecki, Treasurer of the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club in Southern California, is shown (left) presenting a check to Margie Bartlett of the organization, For the Troops, an all-volunteer nonprofit which ships “We Care” boxes of goodies to our American military overseas. Each month members of the club help fill the boxes with donated items including toiletries, cards, snacks, etc.

Carina, who is also a member of Quilts of Valor, has a special interest in the Military: her son Brian is currently serving in the U.S. Army as a CH-47 Pilot in Command, with the rank of Warrant Officer 2.

On Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, members of the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club, along with the Ventura Children’s Choir, will honoring our military all day at the Ojai American Legion, and Carina, along with Teresa Perry who will be presenting Quilts of Valor to two military veterans.

On Saturday October 19, the women from GFWC North Pinellas Woman’s Club gathered at Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch in Safety Harbor, Florida to celebrate GFWC Advocates for Children Week. The Youth Ranch is home to 20 young people who live in foster care, and it is extra special because they focus on sibling groups, allowing the family unit to stay intact in what is already a difficult time for these young people. With help and support from the club women, all of the kids were able to create a beautiful “All About Me / Future Me” poster to be displayed at an upcoming banquet at their facility. The young people were encouraged to start with a visioning board where they wrote words about things they like to do now, and visualized what the future could hold for them. The club women provided help and encouragement with the visioning process. Once complete, some children scoured donated magazines for photos of their visions, while others captured their goals and dreams on paper through hand-drawn artwork. It was a powerful morning of self-exploration and visioning for everyone.

Since its inception in 2014, GFWC Woman’s League of the Lowcountry (SC) has chosen Pink Bags of Hope as its signature project each October in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Members fill the bags with items for women undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Utilitarian items such as snacks and candy, hand sanitizer, game and puzzle books, and a shawl for warmth are included along with inspirational things like small poetry books or journals to record one’s thoughts and feelings. As the club grows its membership, so does the number of filled bags to a record 80 in 2019. Distribution is through a local medical facility.

The GFWC Northwood Women’s Literary Club made an impact in their community in 2019! They donated $1,500 and solicited additional funds and support from the Northwood Economic Development Foundation and the Northwood American Legion to beautify the Main Street of Northwood, ND. Together they completed a vacant corner lot by adding two large pergolas and encouraging people to purchase stone tables, seating, and planters in memory of their loved ones.

The Club also sponsored their third Art/Wine Stroll during their city’s annual Old Fashioned celebration. Members sold approximately 275 tickets and profited more than $2,300. Six venues housed a range of art exhibits by Northwood-connected artists. Each location provided wine tasting and finger foods.

Preparations have begun to sponsor July 2020 entertainment in the newly constructed 400 seat auditorium. Expanding the arts has truly been a focus this year!

Finally, the Literary Club organized and hosted a community program on the Opioid Crisis. The guest speakers included a county coroner, a Captain in the Sheriff’s Department and a States Attorney. Each spoke from their unique perspective and answered questions from the audience. Plans are underway to host a community program in 2020 with the topic being human trafficking.

On October 10, 2019, GFWC New Hampshire was inducted into the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence’s HALL OF FAME. The Coalition recognizes an individual and an organization annually for their tireless efforts on behalf of victims of crime and support of survivors.

From Lyn Schollett, Executive Director of the Coalition:

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs NH has hundreds of committed members all across our state who have demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to community service. Many of their advocacy efforts center on preventing child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault; and connecting their fellow Granite Staters to local resources like crisis centers and mental health services. The Coalition has been fortunate to partner with this incredible organization for many years. Their members have hosted phone banks, attended legislative hearings, organized events, volunteered at a softball tournament/fundraiser, and have truly been the force of grassroots organizing that the anti-violence movement has depended on. We are inspired by their sense of community and stand in awe of their ability to drive change.

Recognition from US Senator Jeanne Shaheen:
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
October 10 at 6:32 PM ·

The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence has worked tirelessly to empower survivors of domestic and sexual violence in New Hampshire. Wishing its members a successful dinner and I thank and congratulate this year’s honorees, Tom Velardi and GFWC New Hampshire, for their continued and vital work on behalf of survivors to ensure that they are heard, helped and have the support needed to seek justice. –J.S.
In addition to the noted activities above, GFWC NH passed a resolution to support crime victim’s rights, wrote letters to the editor, served as keynote speakers, been featured in informational/promotional videos, volunteered at a softball tournament/fundraiser, and testified to their state legislators. They are also working with the Coalition to develop the Go Forth with Confidence NH Scholarship, for a male or female survivor of domestic or sexual violence.

As Tina Smith, GFWC NH Signature Program Chairman, said in her acceptance speech:
To us, this is not just an award, this is gives us motivation to continue our work with the Coalition. GFWC NH is now in their Hall of Fame, but we will always continue to stand beside them to end domestic and sexual violence.

NFWC Education Chairman Donna Lefler presented The ESO Diamond Award to Nancy Galaway of the GFWC Fairmont Woman’s Club at the NFWC District IV Convention on October 9, 2019 at Exeter, Nebraska. The Diamond Award is for reading 1,000 books in the ESO program.

The club has seven members in ESO. Lea Johnson and Pat Gage are working on the Pledge Level, which are 16 books from 4 categories. Inez Logan and Karolyn Glenn have completed the Star Level and Donna Lefler and Nancy Seward have completed the 2nd Century level, Nancy Galaway has completed the 10th Century level.

Learn more about the Epsilon Sigma Omicron (ESO) is a reading program.

Donna Lefler (left) and Nancy Galaway (right)

The theme of the Nampa Idaho Senior Faire was Super Heroes and members of GFWC Nampa Woman’s Century Club looked the part at their informational table! Many women were introduced to the club and were invited to attend our next meeting. The booth also won best booth!

On October 1, the GFWC South Baldwin Woman’s Club held its 2nd Annual Gulf Shores Goes Pink. All municipal buildings, bridges, and palm trees at Gulf Place were lit pink at dusk. This was a free community barbecue at Gulf Shores Fire & Rescue Station 1 in Gulf Shores. All donations were made to the Guardians of the Ribbon: the Pink Heals of Lower Alabama. The Pink Heals were formed to bring awareness to breast cancer—and pink was for the moms. Cancer is not age nor gender specific. All club members have been touched by cancer in some way, whether it be themselves, a family member, a neighbor, or a caregiver. The GFWC South Baldwin Woman’s Club, the Pink Heals, and Gulf Shores Fire & Rescue care! Money raised for the Pink Heals stays in the community to help those who need it the most.

On September 28, 2019, members of GFWC Colorado gathered together to participate in a special project which was organized by the staff of Mesa Verde National Park. The project took place just after members had unveiled an interpretive sign at the Park. The sign was funded by GFWC Colorado, which told the story of the part early club members had in helping to establish Mesa Verde as a National Park. The work project was folding paper sacks to be used for Luminarias at the park during their Christmas programs. Club members and their families were given instructions on how to fold the bags, which then had sand put inside and were topped with a candle. The bags will line the trails leading up to the cliff dwelling that will be decorated with the Luminarias on December 12. There were a total of 1,600 bags folded and members completed the task in less than an hour! The staff at the park was extremely grateful for this help; they stated it usually takes them, with some volunteers, more than a month to get the bags completed. Members were happy to help and enjoyed their time together, laughing and interacting with park staff. It was a great partnership! After checking out the photos below, see the article that ran in The Journal.

The GFWC Acorn Club of Seaford (Delaware) recently unveiled two historical markers in its community, which were presented by Delaware House of Representative Minority Leader Dan Short. Others in attendance were Seaford Mayor David Genshaw, State Senator Bryant Richardson, representatives from the library, and Acorn Club members.

When GFWC Northwest Suburban Woman’s Club (Illinois) petitioned Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi concerning HR 2793 as part of GFWC’s Brand Initiative for clubwomen to make a 1,000 contacts to representatives in support of Miranda’s Law, they decided to go big! Instead of sending postcards and letters, the club members put together, signed in RED and sent a 2×3-foot petition to the congressman’s Washington, DC office. It was a very satisfying project for the club to feel like their voice would be heard!

The Oregon City Woman’s Club (Oregon) was on hand helping Start Right School Supplies. In addition to donating, club members counted inventory, tracked monetary donations, and helped to pack and sort 1,600 backpacks for students from kindergarten through high school who would not have all of the necessary supplies for a successful school year otherwise.

Each year on September 11, the GFWC High Springs New Century Woman’s Club (Florida) creates baskets of goodies and fruit to honor their first responders. The baskets are presented to the High Springs Fire and Police Departments, the Fort White Sheriff’s station, the Fort White Fire Department, and the Alachua County EMT station. Members signed a thank you card to include in each basket. It’s a small gesture to show appreciation to the wonderful people that care for their community and keep it safe.