What is the WHRC?

On December 10th, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee that drafted the Declaration, and the news of its passage was conveyed to the women of America by six General Federation of Women`s Clubs members who, though not part of the official American Delegation to the UN, were allowed to observe many discussions and debates. Catherine Amberg Sporborg, one of the GFWC attendees, sent her reports to Frances White Diehl, Chairman of the GFWC International Relations Department (1947-1950), to be shared with GFWC members through the departmental Bulletin.

Decades later, human rights came again to the forefront of GFWC reporting during the administration of Mary Elizabeth Sowards Quint (1978-1980), who created a Human Rights Committee chaired by Mrs. Charles G. Wood Jr. In a special human rights-focused issue of "Clubwoman," Quint assured her readers that "YES–both joined in Federation and individually as clubwomen–we can do our share for the cause of human rights."

📙Cover of the Human Rights issue of "Clubwoman" magazine, October 1979.

#HumanRightsDay #ClubwomenInAction #ClubwomenInHistory …

Since 1992, the United Nations has declared December 3rd as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For the 2024 celebration, the theme is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future” – so let’s take a look at a leader from GFWC history!

Blanche Guggenheimer Eddy (1887-1964) of California is believed to have been the first American women to partner with a guide dog. She received training at Nashville’s “The Seeing Eye” school in 1929, and with her dog, Bada (or Beta), she helped pioneer the use of guide dogs for the blind in the western United States. She was also the first President of the East Bay Club of Blind Women, organized in late 1929, whose officers (with the exception of the Recording Secretary) were all sight-impaired. The club was an active member of the Alameda County Federation of Women’s Clubs, and existed at least until the late 1930s.

Some sources say this was the first club for blind women in the United States, but after we featured it the December 1929 issue of the GFWC magazine, another club was quick to point out that it had been in existence for over a decade: The Monday Guild, a “section” of the Women’s Department of Indianapolis, was organized in 1919 for the blind women of that city. If you know of similar clubs in your state’s history, please let us know!

📷 Black and white photo of Blanche Eddy and Beta at work, 1933: a smiling woman in a fur-collared coat, holding a cane and the harness of a German Shepherd dog, descending an outdoor staircase. From the “San Francisco Examiner,” February 12, 1933. Superimposed in the top corner is the headline from the December 1929 “General Federation News” story about the East Bay Club: “Club For Blind Women Officered By Blind Women”

#DisabilityDay #IDPD #EveryoneIncluded #clubwomeninhistory …

The 15th coin in the American Women Quarters Program (issued 2024) honors Zitkala-Ša, a Yankton Dakota author, musician, and activist who also went by her Americanized name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. Although not necessarily a GFWC clubwoman herself (though she belonged to many like-minded groups), Zitkala-Ša had a major impact on the work of the Federation!

In 1921, she was invited to speak on citizenship rights for Native Americans at the General Federation of Women`s Clubs` Council meeting in Salt Lake City. Her presentation led directly – at that meeting, in fact – to the formation of the GFWC "Indian Welfare" committee, which worked for many decades – often under the leadership, at both state and national levels, of Native American women – to advocate for Native American communities across the United States.

📷 Author photo from "American Indian Stories" by Zitkala-Ša, 1921, overlaid with quotation from the 1946 GFWC brochure "Twenty-Five Years: Indian Welfare": "If any one person can be credited with the creation of Indian Welfare in the General Federation of Women`s Clubs, that person is Gertrude Bonnin, a Sioux Indian. Her plea, her cause, aroused two million women."

#nativeamericanheritagemonth #clubwomeninhistory …

Enjoying the General Federation of Women`s Clubs history you can find here, but wish you could read more (and see even more photos)? Me too! Happily, the GFWC Women`s History and Resource Center has a new monthly blog, where yours truly can expand on the many stories that can be found amongst our resources. Head to the link in our bio (and scroll down to "Latest News") to read "WHRC: From the Archives," published on the first Thursday of every month.

Just in time for your Thanksgiving menu planning, the November post focuses on our cookbook collection, including this gem – submitted by future GFWC President Roberta Campbell Lawson – from the 1928 "Club Woman`s Cook Book." Get out your double boilers!

#clubwomeninhistory #blogsareback …

Happy Veterans Day! Today we honor GFWC members who have served in the military, such as Lt. Lee Crippen (1912-2003). Before her many years of GFWC leadership as President of the Woman`s Club of Bethesda (MD), President of the Maryland Federation of Women`s Clubs, and on staff as Executive Secretary at GFWC Headquarters, she served in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Service), the Women`s branch of the US Naval Reserve, during World War II. She is buried at Arlington Cemetery, with her gravestone proudly noting, "Lt. US Navy."

📷Left: In 1946, Caroline Lee McNeill married John T. Crippen; the photo in the Washington Evening Star wedding announcement showed her in uniform.
📷Right: Lee was hired as GFWC Executive Secretary in 1974; this headshot accompanied her many columns and articles in "Clubwoman" magazine.

We are always looking for more stories of GFWC clubwomen who served, or are serving, in the military. Leave a comment, or send an email to whrc@gfwc.org!

#clubwomeninaction @womansclubofbethesda …

It`s Election Day, and it`s time to vote! Vote! VOTE! (If you haven`t already!)

📃"Our Responsibility, Our Privilege, Our Duty" brochure, urging our club members to ensure that all eligible voters (especially women) are educated and engaged voters. Published by the GFWC Citizenship Division, Department of Public Affairs, during the administration of GFWC President Helen Busch Chapman, 1954. Programs collection: PRO 1954-1956, folder 37 …

The November #archiveshashtagparty focuses on veterans, so let`s give a hearty #archivessalute to the women of World War II with the February 1943 issue of "General Federation Clubwoman." Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee, Director of the WAVES, featured on the cover of this "Women at War" edition, which included articles such as the Women`s Army Auxiliary Corps, "by a WAAC;" the Women`s Reserve of the United States Naval Reserve, "by a WAVE;" Women with the US Army Air Forces, by Hazel Taylor; Women of the Coast Guard, by Lieutenant Commander Dorothy C. Stratton; the American Women`s Voluntary Services, by Pan Levin; and National Nursing Council for War Service, by Florence M. Seder.

As our President, Sara A. Whitehurst, noted in her introduction to this special issue, "we cannot win this war without the cooperation of women"–and we didn`t mean only on the home front. …

We can`t let #StampCollectingMonth go by without a nod to the GFWC Diamond Jubilee Commemorative postage stamp, designed by New York artist Charles Henry Carter and issued by the United States Post Office in honor of our 75th anniversary in 1966.

The WHRC stamp collection might be hyper-focused on just the one design, but we have a lot of them: loose stamps, full sheets, and first day covers, not to mention plenty of planning correspondence, event programs, magazine articles, and even two of the rejected designs. (Sounds like this topic needs a blog post…)

💌Diamond Jubilee 5 cent stamp first day cover, addressed to the GFWC Archives (before we had a WHRC) under the care of Mildred White Wells. Donated by the family of International Past President Margaret Hasebroock (1964-1966), who presided over the Diamond Jubilee. Memorabilia collection, 1998.009

#clubwomeninhistory …

Just dropping in this October to remind you and your loved ones to go ahead and schedule that mammogram, if applicable! Early detection saves lives!

GFWC was on the forefront of this recommendation, urging our members in early 1975 to learn about breast cancer, make self-examinations a regular part of their lives, and participate in the American Cancer Society-National Cancer Institute "demonstration program" studying the efficacy of mammography and thermography. (According to their website, the American Cancer Society officially recommended mammography in 1976.)

GFWC`s resolution no. 170-020, in favor of breast cancer education, diagnosis, and treatment was first approved at the 1986 convention. It has been updated as needed and reaffirmed many times since then, including at this past summer`s convention.

📷"GFWC Clubwoman`s Complete Program of the Month: Lifesaving Facts About Breast Cancer," from the January 1975 issue of "Clubwoman" Magazine

#ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀᴀᴡᴀʀᴇɴᴇss #earlydetectionsaveslives …