Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Garden Club members Carol Kennedy, Thelma Stenberg, Edythe Willyard, Ella Knudson, Martha Vick and Myrtle Georgeson display a cool confidence while they wait for roadside repairs. Records indicate they were on their way to the State Garden Club Convention in Williston on June 15-16, 1971.
In this 1942 photo, Homemaker Club members play games during a camp event at Spiritwood Lake.
"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help." – Epicurus, Greek Philosopher, 300 B.C.
If you have been following Archival Anecdotes this month, then you can now consider yourself adequately schooled on the role women's clubs had in our rural communities. You also gained an understanding of the national trends that were driving some of the club activities both at home and afar.
As you travel across the country, especially in small communities, be on the lookout for other projects that could have been the results of the Minerva Club, Homemakers Club, Garden Club or Pioneer Daughters. I have to admit, they made it look easy. I assure you, there are many other clubs who had great impacts on communities. Perhaps one day they'll each have their own spot in this feature.
After spending hours sifting through the club scrapbooks and photographs, I found myself most impressed by the confidence that each exuded in their work. Many club activities took place during the Great Depression and World War II, and carried on into the coming of the modern era. In these days, very little was certain and almost nothing was easy.
The scrapbooks included multiple travel itineraries and several events, all scheduled within one month. There are few full-time positions that would have accommodated a volunteer commitment of that scale. Most of the women featured in the recent articles were indeed married, and even carried their husbands' name, likely giving note of the status which allowed women to commit their time to activities.
While writing about these club women, this word "confidence" was often bumping around in my mind. So I did whatever any reasonable writer would do and looked the word up. The definition I found is far more than I expected, and helps me to understand these women even more.
Confidence is the state of feeling certain about the truth of something.
That truth may have very well been supplied by the club, especially considering these clubs were based on the notion that women had a moral duty and responsibility to define, shape and transform communities into public spheres of education and learning. For many during that time, I think, they would be eager to take on confidence anywhere they could find it.
