Founded in 1984, the GFWC Women’s History and Resource Center (WHRC) collects, preserves, interprets, and promotes the history of GFWC. The WHRC documents the social and political contributions of GFWC clubwomen from 1890 to the present through the GFWC archives and related special collections. Our holdings are available for research by clubwomen, academics, and the general public.
The WHRC collections encompass GFWC’s institutional archives, including convention records, files related to our programs and leadership, and “Clubwoman” magazine (and its predecessors). We hold a robust photograph and audio-visual collection, as well as GFWC ephemera, memorabilia, and the art and artifacts that furnish our historic Headquarters building. We also maintain a reference library collection focused on women’s history, the woman’s club movement, and the history of volunteerism.
Please note: While we do have many state- and club-level archival and photographic materials, we do not maintain official records for State Federations or local clubs, or for outside organizations.
WHRC: From the Archives
“Where we meet at present”: The GFWC Clubhouse Photo Collection Although most of the GFW…
WHRC: From the Archives
Family Connections (Part 2) As we saw in last month’s post, the theme of FAMILY runs through t…
WHRC: From the Archives
Family Connections (Part 1) The theme of FAMILY runs strongly through the General Federation of Wome…
Research at the WHRC
Learn more about the collections, request research assistance, or make an appointment to visit in person. To inquire about a potential donation, please email us with details: whrc@gfwc.org
LEARN MORE Happy Presidents` Day from the GFWC Women`s History and Resource Center!
📷 Winners of the GFWC-CITGO "Beauty for Business" contest – in which women`s clubs around the country worked with local businesses to "improve the appearance of their establishments and the environment of the nation" – visit the Lincoln Memorial, 1972.
Happy Presidents` Day from the GFWC Women`s History and Resource Center!
📷 Winners of the GFWC-CITGO "Beauty for Business" contest – in which women`s clubs around the country worked with local businesses to "improve the appearance of their establishments and the environment of the nation" – visit the Lincoln Memorial, 1972.
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! To celebrate, let`s take a look at the career of a historical scientist: Dr. Florence Bascom (1862-1945), the second American woman to earn a PhD in geology (and incidentally the first woman to earn a PhD at Johns Hopkins), and the first woman to work for the US Geological Survey. She helped pioneer fieldwork for women geologists while teaching at Bryn Mawr College; when she was appointed there in 1895, the news was reported in papers across the country.
Was she a GFWC clubwoman? Unclear at this point, though she belonged to many scientific organizations (and to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority), and her mother Emma Curtiss Bascom was an active suffragist… so it`s not out of the realm of possibility.
Your GFWC Women`s History and Resource Center Librarian (hi! 👋) is *not* a scientist, so I won`t attempt to summarize Bascom`s many achievements, discoveries, and publications – but I encourage you to take some time today to learn more about her, and/or about other women in STEM history!
📷Florence Bascom, circa 1900.
#internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience #womenshistoryisamericanhistory
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! To celebrate, let`s take a look at the career of a historical scientist: Dr. Florence Bascom (1862-1945), the second American woman to earn a PhD in geology (and incidentally the first woman to earn a PhD at Johns Hopkins), and the first woman to work for the US Geological Survey. She helped pioneer fieldwork for women geologists while teaching at Bryn Mawr College; when she was appointed there in 1895, the news was reported in papers across the country.
Was she a GFWC clubwoman? Unclear at this point, though she belonged to many scientific organizations (and to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority), and her mother Emma Curtiss Bascom was an active suffragist… so it`s not out of the realm of possibility.
Your GFWC Women`s History and Resource Center Librarian (hi! 👋) is *not* a scientist, so I won`t attempt to summarize Bascom`s many achievements, discoveries, and publications – but I encourage you to take some time today to learn more about her, and/or about other women in STEM history!
📷Florence Bascom, circa 1900.
#internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience #womenshistoryisamericanhistory
Take a trip with us to a lovely #archiveslandscape during today`s #archiveshashtagparty! Our green meadow comes from our sheet music collection: "In the Meadow" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862-1946). In the 1930s, GFWC put together a Music Loan Library for clubs looking to embrace musical programming. Many of the available songs, like this one, were by women composers.
📷 "In the Meadow," words and music by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, (c) 1925; printed by The Boston Music Co. Sheet Music collection, SM 177
Take a trip with us to a lovely #archiveslandscape during today`s #archiveshashtagparty! Our green meadow comes from our sheet music collection: "In the Meadow" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862-1946). In the 1930s, GFWC put together a Music Loan Library for clubs looking to embrace musical programming. Many of the available songs, like this one, were by women composers.
📷 "In the Meadow," words and music by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, (c) 1925; printed by The Boston Music Co. Sheet Music collection, SM 177
February 3rd is celebrated as National Women Physicians Day, in memory of the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), the first female doctor in the US. To honor the occasion, we want to share a bit about another 19th century woman of medicine: Dr. Leila G. Bedell (1838-1914) of Chicago.
GFWC members might recognize her name, since she is cited in our history as the person who first suggested we adopt a "Federation Insignia." (Swipe to see her words on the topic at our first convention in 1892.) A member of the Chicago Woman`s Club, as well as organizations dedicated to the advancement of women in medicine, she was a major figure in the early days of the General Federation. Her medical career began in Chicago in the early 1870s, and she was (per her obituary) "an authority on various medical subjects, and frequently lectured before the medical schools of homeopathy." She published "The Abdominal Brain," a study of the sympathetic nervous system, in 1885, just as she began her three-year term as President of the Chicago Woman`s Club.
📷Photo of Dr. Bedell from her obituary in the "Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1914
📄Address of Dr. Bedell, closing the Executive Session of the First Biennial Meeting of GFWC, Chicago, May 1892
#NationalWomenPhysiciansDay #ClubwomenInHistory @gfwcil
February 3rd is celebrated as National Women Physicians Day, in memory of the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), the first female doctor in the US. To honor the occasion, we want to share a bit about another 19th century woman of medicine: Dr. Leila G. Bedell (1838-1914) of Chicago.
GFWC members might recognize her name, since she is cited in our history as the person who first suggested we adopt a "Federation Insignia." (Swipe to see her words on the topic at our first convention in 1892.) A member of the Chicago Woman`s Club, as well as organizations dedicated to the advancement of women in medicine, she was a major figure in the early days of the General Federation. Her medical career began in Chicago in the early 1870s, and she was (per her obituary) "an authority on various medical subjects, and frequently lectured before the medical schools of homeopathy." She published "The Abdominal Brain," a study of the sympathetic nervous system, in 1885, just as she began her three-year term as President of the Chicago Woman`s Club.
📷Photo of Dr. Bedell from her obituary in the "Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1914
📄Address of Dr. Bedell, closing the Executive Session of the First Biennial Meeting of GFWC, Chicago, May 1892
#NationalWomenPhysiciansDay #ClubwomenInHistory @gfwcil
Welcome to the Year of the Snake! We want to wish all of our readers a happy Lunar New Year.
👉Swipe to see these two little serpentine friends in their natural habitat (aka the Drawing Room murals here at GFWC Headquarters), by Albert Herter, circa 1909.
Welcome to the Year of the Snake! We want to wish all of our readers a happy Lunar New Year.
👉Swipe to see these two little serpentine friends in their natural habitat (aka the Drawing Room murals here at GFWC Headquarters), by Albert Herter, circa 1909.
Happy #libraryshelfieday from the WHRC reference library! As much of the country struggles through extreme wintry weather, I’m hoping to hasten the arrival of the next season by posing with our copy of “The Year’s at the Spring” (collected by Anita Browne, 1940) from our poetry shelf. Stay warm, friends!
Happy #libraryshelfieday from the WHRC reference library! As much of the country struggles through extreme wintry weather, I’m hoping to hasten the arrival of the next season by posing with our copy of “The Year’s at the Spring” (collected by Anita Browne, 1940) from our poetry shelf. Stay warm, friends!
Today, January 17th, President Biden announced that the Equal Rights Amendment is now the 28th Amendment and is "the law of the land." Though this is not the end of the fight for this 102-year-old proposal, many are celebrating this announcement!
The amendment was first proposed in 1923 by suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. Ten years later, GFWC members agreed to begin studying the proposition, suggesting we allow a decade of research before we would take an official stand. True to our word, GFWC ran educational articles and programs on the topic for many years; finally, from October 1943 to June 1944, we polled our members on their thoughts. At the 1944 GFWC Convention, we reported that out of 16,500 clubs, only 88 voted against approval of the ERA.
That 1944 resolution in favor has stayed on our books, in various forms, ever since. Today it is part of 140-140, "Enhanced Opportunities for Women," in which it is resolved that GFWC "reaffirms its support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and urges its member clubs to work for its immediate ratification." Are we almost there?
📃Cover of one of the many educational booklets on the ERA that GFWC has produced over the decades, circa 1980.
Today, January 17th, President Biden announced that the Equal Rights Amendment is now the 28th Amendment and is "the law of the land." Though this is not the end of the fight for this 102-year-old proposal, many are celebrating this announcement!
The amendment was first proposed in 1923 by suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. Ten years later, GFWC members agreed to begin studying the proposition, suggesting we allow a decade of research before we would take an official stand. True to our word, GFWC ran educational articles and programs on the topic for many years; finally, from October 1943 to June 1944, we polled our members on their thoughts. At the 1944 GFWC Convention, we reported that out of 16,500 clubs, only 88 voted against approval of the ERA.
That 1944 resolution in favor has stayed on our books, in various forms, ever since. Today it is part of 140-140, "Enhanced Opportunities for Women," in which it is resolved that GFWC "reaffirms its support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and urges its member clubs to work for its immediate ratification." Are we almost there?
📃Cover of one of the many educational booklets on the ERA that GFWC has produced over the decades, circa 1980.
It`s WHRC Wednesday! Did you know that January is National Blood Donor Month? The American Red Cross Blood Services program began in March 1941, seeking blood donors in the United States to aid England in their fight during World War II. When the US itself joined the war effort, naturally GFWC was one of the organizations urging its members not only to help get the word out about the need for blood donors, but also to donate themselves.
"Clubwoman" magazine during the war years included many references to this effort: In May 1942, the New Jersey Juniors reported their activities as "donating blood, buying bonds and stamps, and holding dances for service men." In May 1943, the War Service chairman noted that "the clubs in one district [sadly unnamed] raised over $2,300 to purchase equipment for blood plasma," and the Illinois First District reported in the same issue that they "have regular blood donors from about 12 clubs." Although blood donation doesn`t appear to have been one of our major, nation-wide programs during the war, it was a constant underlying theme – all the more impressive, perhaps, since the notion of regular blood donations was something of a new concept at the time.
Has your club or federation ever hosted a blood drive (during WWII, or in the many decades afterward)? Let us know in the comments!
📷Photo of GFWC President Sara Whitehurst (1941-1944) along with an excerpt from her "Bulletin for Club Presidents" regarding blood donations "needed for wounded soldiers and sailors." Both from the September 1942 issue of "General Federation Clubwoman," Magazine collection, MAG 1942.09
#NBDM #clubwomeninhistory
It`s WHRC Wednesday! Did you know that January is National Blood Donor Month? The American Red Cross Blood Services program began in March 1941, seeking blood donors in the United States to aid England in their fight during World War II. When the US itself joined the war effort, naturally GFWC was one of the organizations urging its members not only to help get the word out about the need for blood donors, but also to donate themselves.
"Clubwoman" magazine during the war years included many references to this effort: In May 1942, the New Jersey Juniors reported their activities as "donating blood, buying bonds and stamps, and holding dances for service men." In May 1943, the War Service chairman noted that "the clubs in one district [sadly unnamed] raised over $2,300 to purchase equipment for blood plasma," and the Illinois First District reported in the same issue that they "have regular blood donors from about 12 clubs." Although blood donation doesn`t appear to have been one of our major, nation-wide programs during the war, it was a constant underlying theme – all the more impressive, perhaps, since the notion of regular blood donations was something of a new concept at the time.
Has your club or federation ever hosted a blood drive (during WWII, or in the many decades afterward)? Let us know in the comments!
📷Photo of GFWC President Sara Whitehurst (1941-1944) along with an excerpt from her "Bulletin for Club Presidents" regarding blood donations "needed for wounded soldiers and sailors." Both from the September 1942 issue of "General Federation Clubwoman," Magazine collection, MAG 1942.09
#NBDM #clubwomeninhistory
The WHRC, and all of us at GFWC Headquarters, are thinking of our members, friends, and family in southern California today. We`ve learned of at least one clubhouse that is now gone, in Pacific Palisades, and we know thousands of people have lost their homes, schools, places of worship, and hangouts, not to mention precious heirlooms, archives, photographs, and keepsakes. Our thoughts are with you, California. ❤️
🧵Embroidered square by the California Federation, maker unknown, 1976. Part of the Bicentennial Quilt on display at GFWC Headquarters. 1976.4.1
The WHRC, and all of us at GFWC Headquarters, are thinking of our members, friends, and family in southern California today. We`ve learned of at least one clubhouse that is now gone, in Pacific Palisades, and we know thousands of people have lost their homes, schools, places of worship, and hangouts, not to mention precious heirlooms, archives, photographs, and keepsakes. Our thoughts are with you, California. ❤️
🧵Embroidered square by the California Federation, maker unknown, 1976. Part of the Bicentennial Quilt on display at GFWC Headquarters. 1976.4.1
One of the recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal at yesterday`s White House ceremony was Diane Carlson Evans, Army Nurse Corps 1966-1972 and founder of the Vietnam Women`s Memorial Foundation. It took many years of work – including financial support from GFWC members – for the Foundation to achieve the goal of achieving the nation`s first (and, as of now, only) memorial to military women on the National Mall.
The path the Vietnam Women`s Memorial took to fruition is not dissimilar to the path the Women`s Suffrage National Monument is currently treading – again, with support of GFWC members! We`re glad to see the recognition of Evans` work, and look forward to more successes in honoring women`s history in the official, monumental record.
📷 Article excerpt from the August-September 1989 "Clubwoman," overlaid with a photo of Vietnam Women`s Memorial, a sculpture by Glenna Goodacre, on display in West Potomac Park, Washington, DC; photo by Carol M. Highsmith; image available from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID highsm.13253
#womenshistoryisamericanhistory
One of the recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal at yesterday`s White House ceremony was Diane Carlson Evans, Army Nurse Corps 1966-1972 and founder of the Vietnam Women`s Memorial Foundation. It took many years of work – including financial support from GFWC members – for the Foundation to achieve the goal of achieving the nation`s first (and, as of now, only) memorial to military women on the National Mall.
The path the Vietnam Women`s Memorial took to fruition is not dissimilar to the path the Women`s Suffrage National Monument is currently treading – again, with support of GFWC members! We`re glad to see the recognition of Evans` work, and look forward to more successes in honoring women`s history in the official, monumental record.
📷 Article excerpt from the August-September 1989 "Clubwoman," overlaid with a photo of Vietnam Women`s Memorial, a sculpture by Glenna Goodacre, on display in West Potomac Park, Washington, DC; photo by Carol M. Highsmith; image available from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID highsm.13253
#womenshistoryisamericanhistory
History on the go! You might not be surprised to learn that the WHRC Librarian (me!) loves to read outdoor historical signage. Today’s example is one of three signs in Lafayette Park, in Washington DC, which I walked past today. The text and photos highlight the park’s long legacy of protests and demonstrations through the example of the fight for women’s suffrage. What good stories have you learned lately from historical interpretive signs?
History on the go! You might not be surprised to learn that the WHRC Librarian (me!) loves to read outdoor historical signage. Today’s example is one of three signs in Lafayette Park, in Washington DC, which I walked past today. The text and photos highlight the park’s long legacy of protests and demonstrations through the example of the fight for women’s suffrage. What good stories have you learned lately from historical interpretive signs?
Got plans for your Friday night? How about spending a few hours doing a little volunteer labor (in 1959)? Bring your own tools!
From our Community Improvement Project collection, this handwritten sign asks for help finishing "clearing the park," one of the many components of the comprehensive community work performed by the Manvel Woman`s Club (North Dakota) during the 1958-1960 GFWC administration.
📗"Volunteers needed Thursday and Friday at 7:00 P.M. — To finish clearing the Park. Bring an axe, spade, scythe or hoe." Pasted into the club`s Community Improvement Contest submission, with caption "August 27-28-1959. Four of these signs were posted in Devines` Bar, Hoverson`s Grocery, Peterson`s Grocery, and the American Legion Club." CIP 1960-62.03
#northdakotahistory #clubwomeninaction
Got plans for your Friday night? How about spending a few hours doing a little volunteer labor (in 1959)? Bring your own tools!
From our Community Improvement Project collection, this handwritten sign asks for help finishing "clearing the park," one of the many components of the comprehensive community work performed by the Manvel Woman`s Club (North Dakota) during the 1958-1960 GFWC administration.
📗"Volunteers needed Thursday and Friday at 7:00 P.M. — To finish clearing the Park. Bring an axe, spade, scythe or hoe." Pasted into the club`s Community Improvement Contest submission, with caption "August 27-28-1959. Four of these signs were posted in Devines` Bar, Hoverson`s Grocery, Peterson`s Grocery, and the American Legion Club." CIP 1960-62.03
#northdakotahistory #clubwomeninaction