1. Introduction
  2. Women’s Clubs
    1. Literary Clubs
    2. Civic Improvement Clubs
    3. Political Clubs
    4. Racial Dissension
  3. Resources at Montana Historical Society Research Center

 

Introduction

 

Women in the 19th century American West faced many challenges, not the least of which was maintaining cultural and social ties to their counterparts in the more "civilized" East. As women traveled west they left behind female family members, friends, churches, schools, and women’s organizations-all part of an intricate social support system. The popular image of women as "gentle tamers" in the West stems in part from women's efforts to maintain or rebuild those support systems. Women’s Clubs were often at the center of these efforts. Providing intellectual stimulation and social interaction Women’s Clubs quickly became commonplace throughout the West-garden clubs, library associations, and literary societies formed to meet western women’s social and intellectual needs.

 

In time these needs would change to meet the demands of growing communities and changing roles for women-literary societies often gave way to civic improvement clubs and social reform organizations. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a period of intense social reform and transformation in the United States. In response to escalating poverty, labor violence, urban slums, and spreading disease, Americans joined together to address these social "evils". The Progressive movement, as it became known, attracted mostly young, educated, white, middle- to upper-class men and women. Unlike their poorer counterparts, these women had the time and education necessary to successfully lead reform movements. Their efforts were generally carried out through well-organized and defined women’s clubs.

 

By the start of the 1890s, the women’s club movement was thriving in the United States. In 1892 the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) formed, encompassing five hundred clubs and one hundred thousand members. Although many women’s clubs initially organized to provide social interaction and self-improvement, by the early twentieth century the clubs began to focus on the betterment of society. These clubs often addressed issues such as civic improvement, libraries, and public health. They also supported more controversial issues, including child labor laws, worker compensation, pure food and drug legislation, and occupational safety. As the clubs became more and more active, they began to address more controversial and political issues, such as women’s suffrage and temperance.

 

The women’s club movement in Montana was no exception to national trends. By 1901, according to Mrs. W. F. Christie, Director of the GFWC, Montana had over 15 women’s clubs, with at least one in every major town. These clubs initially addressed self-improvement, through the formation of literary clubs, and home-improvement. With the growth of the Progressive movement, however, Montana’s women’s clubs began to address public service or civic improvement issues, generally focusing on their local areas. Women’s clubs also addressed national political causes, such as women’s suffrage, or local political issues such as the location of Montana’s capital. As women’s clubs flourished across the state in the early part of the twentieth century, they provided a previously unknown outlet for middle- and upper-class women to exercise their organizational and leadership skills.

 

Women’s Clubs

Whether providing social interaction, intellectual stimulation, or political training; women’s clubs were an important part of life for Montana’s women. A review of the documents these groups left behind reveal the integral role these clubs played in the personal development of individual members and the communities in which they lived. Records include correspondence, membership records, minutes, and newsletters. The following paragraphs provide samples from the rich documentary heritage of Montana women’s clubs held by Montana Historical Society Archives.

 

Literary Clubs

Among the earliest women’s clubs in Montana were literary clubs. The As You Like It Club of Missoula and the Fortnightly Club of Helena, were founded to promote the intellectual, cultural, and social improvement of their members. The clubs held regular meetings in which they discussed literary themes, current topics, and history. In general they would outline a topic for study and follow it for a given period of time. These clubs allowed women to act in leadership roles and encouraged them to research, write, and present papers to their peers. Literary clubs also provided civic improvement, their member often working to establish the first lending libraries in Montana.

 

The Fortnightly Club which was established in Helena in 1890, was, in many ways, a typical literary club. Mrs. Frances Webster Wickes founded the Fortnightly Club on October 11,1890, for the purpose of studying English literature. The Fortnightly Club was the first organization in the state to function as a literary circle. The group, whose membership was limited to women, was to meet "at half past two o'clock on the afternoons of the first and third Saturdays of each month." It was agreed that each member be required to spend not less than three hours a week in study for the club work; that for any failure to do so there be a fine of one cent per half hour; that for absence from meetings, except in cases of illness or absence from town, there be a fine of ten cents; and for tardiness, five cents. Membership fees were set at a dollar a year. As the club grew its membership was limited to 33, and eventually to 20.

 

Within the first few years, Club members branched out to include the study of Western literature and drama. By 1901 the focus had expanded to include the arts in general, and in 1904 the Club's name was changed to the Fortnightly Study Class. In 1919 the program began to include current events and philosophy. The Club was renamed the Fortnightly Club in 1931 and has continued its literary studies until the present.

 

Civic Improvement Clubs

As literary clubs grew and became established, a new type of women’s club emerged: the civic improvement club. Civic improvement clubs embodied the heart of the Progressive movement by addressing social concerns in their local areas. These clubs promoted such improvements as public welfare, sanitation, streetlights, sidewalks, poverty, and disease. Clubs such as the Augusta Civic Society and the Helena Improvement Society provided their members with a more active community role. Civic improvement clubs eventually began to share membership with more national reform movement such as the temperance and suffrage movements, but in their earliest years focused on local improvements.

 

The Hamilton Woman's Club, organized in September 1913, serves as an example of a civic improvement club. The club was initially organized as the Hamilton Mother’s Club in 1913 to study problems relating to homes, babies, and mothers. At the urging of club member Mrs. W. A. McKeown, the club's name was changed to the Hamilton Woman's Club in 1913, and in 1914 it became a member of the Montana Federation of Women's Clubs. The new club adopted as its purpose, "to promote the higher interests of its members and others, though Philanthropic, Civic, Literary and Educational work."

 

Early in its existence, the club began to pursue civic improvement in the areas of education and health care. In late 1914 club members pursued their first large project. With the assistance of town leaders, they petitioned Andrew Carnegie for money to build a library and in 1915 the library was completed. The club continued to support literacy and education throughout its over 60 years of service by purchasing children’s books for the library, providing educational programs at their meetings, and sending local girls to various educational programs around the state.

 

Club women also worked to improve general health conditions in their community. In addition to sponsoring county health services, they instituted hot lunch programs for under privileged children during the 1930s and provided milk in school for undernourished children. The club also organized other health related programs, such as a lazy eye program, providing eyeglasses for the needy, and assisting children with eye and ear problems. They also financially supported larger programs by donating money to state institutions for the deaf, blind, and mentally impaired and by sponsoring children to attend the Montana Special Olympics.

 

The Hamilton Women’s Club also provided organizational and financial support for general civic improvements in their town. They regularly gave money for beautification of the local library building and grounds. Club members also worked to build benches, build and improve parks, and install water fountains throughout the town. In their effort to promote civic improvement, the club joined other local organizations, including both women’s clubs and fraternal organizations such as the Grange, in joint improvement projects such as those listed above.

 

Political Clubs

As communities developed and prospered, due in part to the activities of the civic improvement clubs, women turned their club activity to concerns that were more political in nature. Building upon their already strong civic improvement, women’s clubs began to address social issues on a national level, requiring political involvement. First among these concerns was the issue of alcohol. In 1883 the women of Montana joined together to form the Montana chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and fought not only for temperance, but also for aid for destitute mothers and other social concerns. The women fighting for temperance also often joined in the fight for women’s suffrage by joining suffrage organizations. Both of these causes required women’s clubs to organize on a wider basis and to take their concerns to a political level. The success of these movements demonstrates that the women of Montana were experiencing both social and political power through their club activities.

 

The Montana Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded inAugust 1883 as a result of a visit to Montana by National WCTU organizers Frances E. Willard and Anna A. Gordon. The delegates attending the initial meeting, representing Butte, Helena, Dillon, and White Sulphur Springs, elected "Mrs. Dr. Clark" as territorial president. By 1889, under the leadership of Laura E. Howey of Helena, the WCTU had grown to thirteen local unions and ten departments including Social Purity, Presentation of our Cause before Legislature and other Influential Bodies, Unfermented Wine at Sacrament, Purity in Literature and Art, and Alms House. By 1910 the state union was growing rapidly with over 1000 members and it had diversified its concerns to include support for government aid for destitute mothers, teaching of domestic science in the schools, and opposition to the drinking of Coca-Cola which at that time contained cocaine.

 

With the national tide of enthusiasm for prohibition and other social reforms, the Montana WCTU membership grew to 4167 active members in 202 local unions by 1916. In addition the WCTU had a full-time lobbyist in the 1913 Legislative Assembly and was influential in its support of reform legislation, including placing woman's suffrage and statewide prohibition on the ballot.

 

Racial Dissension

Although the women’s club movement sought to correct social ills of the early twentieth century, they did not address all social problems, including racial discrimination. In response to this lack of integration, black women developed a separate but equally strong club movement that addressed their particular social concerns. Members of this movement were generally of the same economic and social class as the white women, but they focused specifically on improving the lives of African-Americans in the United States. As with the white women’s club movement, national federations of clubs developed in the late nineteenth century, including the National Federation of Afro-American Women and the Colored Women’s League. These organizations allowed black women equal, if segregated, opportunities to develop their leadership and organizational skills.

 

When the Montana Federation of Negro Women's Clubs first met in Butte on August 3, 1921, at least nine black women's clubs were active in communities throughout the state. Representatives from seven of the local clubs attended the meeting called by Mary B. Chappell to organize the state federation as an affiliate of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, which organized in 1896. The representatives attending the Butte meeting elected Chappell as the state federation's first president.

 

Women living in Kalispell formed Montana's first black women's group, the Mutual Improvement Club, in August 1913. Three years later in 1916 twelve Helena women met as the Pleasant Hour Club. The Pearl Club formed in Butte in 1918, and two groups, the Phyllis Wheatley Club in Billings and the Dunbar Art and Study Club in Great Falls, organized in 1920. Four local clubs that formed in 1921 prior to the state federation's first meeting were the Bozeman Sweet Pea Study Club organized on January 5, Mary B. Talbert Art Club organized in Helena on January 7, Clover Leaf Club formed in Butte on February 4, and the Anaconda Good Word Literary Club, whose first meeting was in May.

 

The Montana Federation participated in meetings and activities of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs and the National Association's Northwest Region with offices in Seattle. In addition to offering social activities for black women, the local clubs and the state federation supported the Claudia Bivens Scholarship Fund to help black high school students attend college, lobbied for civil rights legislation in the state legislature, and worked through a variety of programs to improve racial relations at the state and local level. At its annual meeting in 1948 the Montana Federation voted to change its name to the Montana State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (MSFCWC).

 

After World War II membership in the state's local clubs dwindled as the black population in the state dropped. During the 1920s and 1930s as many as fifteen local groups were active in Montana, but by the 1970s only four clubs remained active, and on June 17, 1972, the state federation's executive board voted to disband.

 

Resources at Montana Historical Society Research Center

 

The Current Topic Club was a literary club created by Helena area women in 1892. These records consist of correspondence (1976-1999) mostly relating to membership; memorials (1938-1942, undated); financial records (1981-1999) check register and receipt books; organizational records (1892-1999) including bylaws, constitutions, membership lists, and minutes; "Potpourri of the Current Topic Club, 1892-1992"; and miscellany (1951-1999) including yearbooks and place cards.

 

The Fortnightly Club was founded by Mrs. Frances W. Wickes to study English literature. It was the first organization in Montana to function as a literary circle. Collection (1890-2005) consists of incoming correspondence, financial records, minutes, organizational records, miscellany, attendence records, outlines of study, programs, histories of the club, a scrapbook, and clippings.

 

The Mothers Club of Hamilton, Montana, was organized in 1911, and renamed the Hamilton Woman's Club in 1913. The organization functions as a civic and social club that donates money and goods to the library, the needy, students, etc; improves local parks; and presents programs on travel, social, and political topics. The collection (1913-1989) includes incoming correspondence, financial records, organizational records, minutes, miscellany, and clippings.

 

  • Harrison (Mont.) Women’s Club records, 1908-1966 (A2:1-3)

This collection consists of records (1908-1966) for the Harrison, Montana, Women's Club, including correspondence, miscellaneous financial records, minutes, scrapbooks, clippings, and miscellany. Also includes a secretary's book (1951-1952) from the Home Demonstration Club which was formed from the Harrison Women's Club.

 

The Helena Business and Professional Women'S Club was formed in 1931 as a local club within District II of the Montana Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club. This collection consists of financial records (1960s-1970s), organizational records (1960s-1970s), and miscellaneous records (1960s-1970s).

 

The Helena Business Womens' Suffrage Club was a professional organization of Helena, Montana, businesswomen promoting suffrage for women. Collection consists of a minute book (June 1896-Sept. 1903)

 

Records of the Helena Garden Club consist of correspondence (1962) with the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, with other local clubs in Butte, Great Falls, and Dearborn, and with local members. Also included is a list of officers nominated for 1963 and a program for a flower show presented by the Dearborn Garden Club.

 

  • Helena Newcomer’s Club records, 1946-1986 (A1:4-3)

The Helena Newcomers Club was a women's social club located in Helena, Montana. These records (1946-1986) consist of minutes (1946-1986) and meeting notes; organizational records (1946, 1966-1985), including officer and membership lists; scrapbooks (1957-1982) of clippings and photos; and miscellany.

 

Records of the Helena Woman's Club include financial records (1969-1995); articles of incorporation (1896); minutes of board meetings (incomplete run 1901-1993), of the Arts and Crafts Dept. (incomplete run 1915-1988), of the Liberal Arts Dept. (1967-1975), of the Literary Dept. (1940-1956), of the Music Dept. (1925-1946), and of the Social and Political Science Dept. (1920-1929); and yearbooks (1900-1995).

 

These records (1972-1983) of the Hill County Garden Club of Havre, Montana, consist of yearbooks and flower show programs. Included in both the yearbooks and programs are lists of club members and officers, rules and specifications for flower show exhibits, and listings of club projects. Also included is an agenda from a meeting in Chinook of Highline District #7 of the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.

 

The Libby Woman's Club was a social club in Libby, Montana. Collection consists of a community history of Libby compiled by members of the club at the request of the Montana Federation of Woman's Clubs. Included are reminiscences and stories by early residents of the town.

 

The Madison County Federated Women's Club was formed to compile the history of Madison County, Montana. Melvina J. Lott headed up the project and did much of the writing. Other writers included Frances Albright, Eunice M. Holbert, Mrs. G.W. Rightenour, Florence E. Jeffers, Laviga Noble Scheytt, Mrs. Henry M. Rundell, Eva Moger, and Hester Carmin. Included are histories of many of the communities in the county as well as a variety of topics. Most of the writings reflect the period from 1863 to the 1920s.

 

The McAllister Community Welfare Club was a women's service organization in McAllister, Montana. Collection (1901-1967) contains minutes and financial records of the Club and its predecessor the Meadow Creek Ladies Embroidery and Reading Circle; as well as financial records (1932-1939) of the Community Card Club.

 

The Montana Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (originally the Montana Federation of Negro Women's Clubs) was a coordinating organization for local clubs of black women around Montana. Records include materials of the statewide organization and of several of the local clubs.

 

The Montana Legislative Wives Club is a social club for the wives of Montana legislators. Records (1943-1979) include financial records, minute books, constitution and bylaws, committee reports, invitation and guest lists, and clippings.

 

  • Montana State Democratic Women’s Club records, 1961-1998 (A2:1-2); (A0:13-7)

The Montana State Democratic Women's Club collection consists of correspondence (1961-1985) from key members of the Democratic Party and 1987 and 1988 Conventions; financial records (1968-1996) treasurer's reports and audits; organizational records (1961-1998) by laws, constitutions, membership records and minutes; and seven scrapbooks (1966-1984) kept by the members of the Club containing clippings and memorabilia from local, state and national political races, and club meetings and events.

 

The Montana Woman's Christian Temperance Union (Montana WCTU) was devoted to prohibition and other social reforms. The collection includes correspondence (1936-1976) of several state officials; constitution and minutes (1883-1971) of annual meetings; financial records (1883-1970s); membership books (1919-1960s); and printed material reflecting WCTU's national program and policies. Also included is a subgroup of records of the Kalispell WCTU locals, including correspondence, financial records, minutes and scrapbooks.

 

The Navy Mothers' Club #11, Helena, Montana, was a local chapter of a national organization dedicated to providing support for U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Navy Reserve, and Coast Guard personnel and their parents. Records consist of minute books (1935-1991) that include lists of members, dues and expeditures; a guest book (1971-1991); a scrap book (1935-1989); and miscellany.

 

This collection consists of a volume of minutes of the Pony Woman's Club of Pony, Montana. Also included in the collection are two resolutions (1931, 1936).

 

This collection consists of a program (1948-1949) of events for the Ronan Women's Club listing events, officers and membership.

 

The Three Mile Garden Club was organized in Stevensville, Montana, in 1939, by a group of women interested in flower growing and arrangement, home and town beautification, and protection of the environment in the Bitterroot Valley. Collection (1961-1985) includes yearbooks, flower show programs, a club history, photographs, and clippings

 

The Women's Helena for the Capital Club was a Helena, Montana, based organization promoting the establishment of Helena as the state capital of Montana. Records (1894) include incoming correspondence; county lists; a record book containing correspondence, financial reports, speeches, resolutions, clippings, and broadsides; and miscellany.

 

Records (1892-1996) of the Yellowstone Club, a Livingston, Montana, area women's study group formed in 1892. The collection consists of materials created by or received by the Yellowstone Club. The collection consists of minutes (1892-1996); organizational records (1892-1987) including consitution, bylaws and roll calls; writings (1952, 1990, 1992) including Sixty Years of The Yellowstone Club, Women's Stories of Early Trips Through Yellowstone, and Yellowstone Club History, 1892-1992; and miscellany (1892-1996) including a Yellowstone Club cook book, Yellowstone Club scrapbook, and Yellowstone Club yearbooks.


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