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CHAPTER XXI
What Clubs Are Studying

II

From many club year books that have been examined the following programs are selected:

Here is the program of a Louisiana club which has studied the history of its own State – a very good thing to do: The Early Settlers in Louisiana; Founding of New Orleans; Spanish Dominion; Jackson Square and the Cabildo; Louisiana's Part in the Revolution; The Great Purchase; The Battle of New Orleans; The Carnival and Mardi Gras; The French Quarter; Louisiana Folk Tales; The Evangeline Country; The State's Resources; Forestry; Mines and Minerals; Products; The History of the Levees; Bird Life in Louisiana; Louisiana Law; The Code; Laws of the Home; Legal Status of Women, and Their Influence in Municipalities. It is hoped that this program was illustrated with the many delightful stories of life in New Orleans which have been written.

A club in Idaho has an interesting connection with the Commercial Club of the city made up of business men, and works with them by having occasional meetings together. Some of the topics studied this year are these:

Aids to the Public School System; Social Centers and Open Air Schools; Parent and Teacher Associations; Encouraging Home Industry; The Idaho Health Bill; What the Government Is Doing for Women and Children; City Sanitation; Market Inspection; Uniform Marriage and Divorce Laws; The Proposed Compensation Act for Criminals; Interstate Commerce; Property Rights of Women; Juvenile Courts; Conservation of Natural Resources; Civic Improvements; Pure Food.

A Vermont club which has existed for many years has in its year book a list of all the subjects studied for the past ten. Some of these are: Colonial America, Later American History, Short Studies on Great Subjects, Russia and Japan.

In addition to these studies the club has had lectures on American Indians, The Moving Picture Show, Forestry, Humane Education, Travels in the Penal Settlements of Siberia, and The Land of Evangeline; most of these have been illustrated. This club numbers a hundred members.

A Western club has taken up Shakespeare in a remarkably thorough way. It has had five plays for the year's work, and one act of each play has been read at each meeting, followed by a paper relating to it, and a discussion. One part of their work is this: Antony and Cleopatra – Act I, The History of the Play and Its Setting; Act II, Paper on Egyptology; Act III, Paper on Cleopatra and Her Influence. Other plays are studied in the same way.

A Georgia club gave the first half of the year to the study of Shakespeare's women, and the latter half to this program on American Painters: The Early Painters, to 1865; Whistler and LaFarge; Landscape and Marines; Figures; Miniature Painters; American Illustrators; Stained Glass Designers. A noticeable feature of the year book is the printing at the back of an excellent bibliography, giving a list of all the books needed in the work.

From Ohio comes a program on Welfare Study and Vocations for Trained Women; The Boy Problem; The Girl Problem; Local Civics; Foods; Women in Business (three meetings); Women in Arts and Professions (three meetings), and Handicraft (three meetings).

An Alabama club has a year book on Spain of more than usual attractiveness. Each topic is unusually well developed: The Land of Spain; The Dawn of History in Spain; The Moors; The Age of Adventure; Kings; Spain in Its Glory; The Church; Cities; Social Life; Industries and Occupations; Spanish Women; Art and Literature; Spain To-day.

A New York club has this study in Conservation: Water Power, the History of Its Development; State Laws; Reclamation of Arid Lands; Government Dams; The Laws of Water Rights; Our Fisheries; Our Forests; Forestry Service; Our Mineral Wealth; Conditions in Mining Districts; Laws of Mining; Conservation of Human Energy; Labor Laws; Protection of Workers; Compensation; Abandoned Farms; Scientific Farming; Life Saving Service; Government Lands; Homestead Claims.

A delightful year book has the title "Studies in English History," with this program: Life Among the Early Saxons; Alfred the Great; The Norman Conquest and Its Influences; Edward the Third and Chivalry; Chaucer and His Tales; The Wars of the Roses; Henry the Eighth and the Reformation; The Glory of Elizabeth's Reign; Puritans and Cavaliers; Oliver Cromwell and His Times; The Romance of the Stuarts; William of Orange, Queen Anne, and the Literature of the Times; Art of Reynolds and Gainsborough; The Romantic Movement in Literature; The Reform Bill of 1832 and the Rise of Democracy; The Age of Victoria; Life and Society; English Essayists and Novelists.

The charm of this study lay not only in the subjects given, but in the readings which illuminated each monthly program, chosen from the best literature bearing on the general subject.

A teachers' club has a program with no definite title, but with a certain geographical and historic value, and at the same time deals with subjects in which the members take a professional interest. Each meeting begins with a roll call answered sometimes by description of unique customs in different countries, and sometimes by anecdotes of famous people, and often by epigrams, or selections from poems of the season. Some of the subjects studied are: Changing China; The Possibilities of Labrador; Persia; The Passing of Korea; Tripoli the Mysterious; Abyssinia of To-day, and The Balkan States. The topics of special interest to the teacher: The Montessori Method; The Binet Tests for the Feeble-Minded; The Status of the Teacher; Systematic Study in the Elementary Schools; The Teaching of Arithmetic.

One excellent program sent by an Ohio club is on a unique plan. There are seventeen members, and to each was given one current topic, on which she reported each month. Municipal Affairs, Magazines, Our State, Literature, Hygienics, Suffrage, Art, Domestic Science, Politics, Foreign News, Science, Agriculture, Education, Religion and Philanthropy, the Drama, and Famous Men were those selected. The year's program was wholly upon social and economic questions: The Dawning of Economic Consciousness; Economics in Relation to Citizenship; New Methods in Public Schools; Organized Charities; Cost of Living in Relation to Criminology; Prison Reform; The Tramp Question; United States Courts; History of Money; Panics; Municipal Ownership. There were several papers under each of these heads, and the whole seems most practical and interesting.

In contrast with this well-constructed program comes one from an Illinois club which shows a certain confusion. There are committees on Parliamentary Law, Domestic Science, Dramatic Art, Travel, Music and Physical Culture. Meetings are held weekly and, among others, these subjects have been presented: Our Local Pioneers; Mexico; Home Environment; Mother and Child; The American Colonies; Domestic Science with Demonstration; American Art; and Travel in Japan. This is by far too varied a program, and if only one main subject had been taken, say The American Colonies, members of the club would have found at the end of the year that they had gained more than they possibly could have from the casual treatment of so many.

A New York State club offers this unusual Musical Program. (The study meetings are illustrated by musical numbers, and between such meetings are others on the latest events in the musical world. A large chorus is also sustained by the club, which gives concerts at intervals.)

American Music. Our Favorites; Folk Songs and Indian Music; Women Musicians; Nevins and MacDowell; Operas; Ballads.

Foreign Music. German and Austrian Music; Great Britain's Music; Russian Music; Polish and Hungarian Music; Italian Music; French Music; Comparison of Foreign and American Music.

An Ohio club has an unusually good set of Current Topics, for study in connection with a year's program on Nature:

Women's Clubs; Inventions; Education; War; Music and Musicians; Famous Personalities; Our Cabinet; France; Commerce; Agriculture; The Religious World; Our Foreign Affairs; Germany; Mexico; South America; China; Canada; Immigration; Philanthropy; Municipal Affairs; Art and Artists; Panama Exposition; Aviation; Panama Canal; Russia; Turkey and Italy; Scientific News; British Affairs; Current Literature.

One of these topics is taken up at the close of the study program at each meeting.

A club in Pennsylvania has this somewhat unusual program:

The American Government.

Colonial Times. Reading, Colonial Heroes.

Territory Gained by the Revolution. Reading, "Paul Revere's Ride."

The Constitution. Reading, The Amendments.

The Louisiana Purchase and the Acquisition of Florida. Reading, The Department of Agriculture.

The Monroe Doctrine. Reading, The Pan-American Union.

The Annexation of Texas; the Mexican Cession. Reading, The Weather Bureau.

Settlement of the Oregon Boundary; The Gladsden Purchase. Reading, The Post Office Department.

The Alaska Purchase: Alaska of To-day. Reading, from Beach's Silver Horde.

Hawaii. Reading, The Smithsonian Institution.

Porto Rico. Reading, The Patent Office.

Cuba. Reading, The Interstate Commerce Commission.

The Philippines. Reading, Our Insular Possessions.

The Panama Canal. Reading, The Public Health.

Expansion. Reading, The White Man's Burden.

The Executive Department. Reading, The State Department.

The Judicial Department. Reading, The Civil Service Department.

The Legislative Department. Reading, Library of Congress.

The United States Army. Reading, The Treasury Department.

The United States Navy. Reading, The National Capital.

Discussion: Woman Suffrage.

PLEDGE OF TENNESSEE FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS

"WE PLEDGE OURSELVES to use our united strength to make better homes, better schools, better surroundings, better scholarship, and better lives; to work together for civic health and civic righteousness; to preserve our heritage – the forests, and the natural beauties of the land; to procure for our children an education which fits them for life – the training of the hand and the heart as well as the head; to protect the children not our own, who are deprived of the birthright of natural childhood; to obtain right conditions and proper safeguards for the women who toil."

CHAPTER XXII
Brief One Day Programs

I – SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS

Their Beginning and Growth; The Story of Toynbee Hall.

The Work for Women; Cooking and Sewing Classes.

The Work for Girls; Dancing Classes.

The Work for Men; Coffee and Reading Rooms; Men's Clubs for Discussion.

The Work for Children; Free Kindergartens; Fresh Air Work.

The Work for Babies; The Crèche; Good Milk; Ice.

Playgrounds in Cities.

Jane Addams and Hull House.

These topics will all promote discussion, and it is possible that personal experiences may be brought out which will be exceedingly interesting. Plenty of good material for papers will be found in magazine articles.

II – THE HIGH COST OF LIVING

I. The Problem Presented: Papers or talks on

(1) The increase in the price of food-stuffs.

(2) The increase in rents.

(3) Higher wages of servants.

(4) The more complex social life and greater demand for luxuries. Music.

II. The Problem Discussed:

(1) Possible reduction in the expense of food by simple living.

(2) The movement of city people to the country.

(3) Is the elimination of the servant possible?

(4) How far is woman responsible for the state of things, and what can she do to reduce social expenditure?

III – IRELAND

The beautiful country; the Lakes of Killarney; the northern coast; pictures. A brief résumé of Ireland's history; St. Columba; St. Patrick. Historic features; cathedrals and churches; the Round Towers. The Irish poet, Moore. Music: "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls;" "Those Evening Bells;" "The Last Rose of Summer;" "Oft in the Stilly Night." Brief sketches of some of Ireland's great men – Burke, Sheridan, O'Connell, Swift, Goldsmith, etc. Music: Moore's "Canadian Boat Song."

IV – ROBERT BURNS

Description and pictures of the village of Ayr; the House Where Burns Was Born; the Brig o' Doon.

Sketch of Burns's life.

Songs: "The Banks and Braes of Bonny Doon;" "My Heart's in the Highlands;" "Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad."

Reading from "Tam o' Shanter."

Reading of four short poems: "Highland Mary"; the "Mountain Daisy"; "Mary Morison," etc.

Reading from "The Cotter's Saturday Night."

Songs: "Comin' Through the Rye;" "John Anderson, My Jo, John;" "Auld Lang Syne."

V – WOMEN AND SOCIAL RELATIONS

Papers and talks on: Our Grandmothers' Ideas of Woman's Place and Our Own; Woman as a Wage-Earner; The Mother as a Business Woman; Music; The Conscience of the Woman Purchaser; Would Woman's Social Usefulness Be Increased by the Ballot? Music.

VI – THE MADONNA IN ART

Paper or talk on the earliest painters; crude representations on walls and canvas. Botticelli and his pictures; illustrate with photographs. Raphael; sketch of his life; his pictures; illustrate with well-known examples, such as the "Sistine Madonna" and the "Madonna of the Chair." The Madonnas of Murillo; "The Immaculate Conception." The modern Madonnas; pictures by Gabriel Max and others. The Madonnas of Burne-Jones and his school. Intersperse with suitable Christmas music.

VII – THE CITY OF LONDON

Papers: Its Early History. Remains of Oldest Buildings: Bits of the Roman Wall, St. Bartholomew's Church, St. Stephen's Hall, The Jerusalem Chamber, The Tower, with William the Conqueror's Church. Literary London: The City in Shakespeare; Johnston and the Clubs; Milton and Addison; Dickens's London. Famous Landmarks: Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey, The Churches, St. Paul's, The Tower, Grey Friars, The Royal Palaces, The Museums, The Art-Galleries, The Parks.

VIII – BIRDS

Song: "Hark, Hark, the Lark!"

Reading: From "Our Neighbors, the Birds," by Mabel Osgood Wright.

Reading or recitation: Shelley's "To a Sky-Lark."

Paper: "The Birds and the Milliner."

Reading: From "The Tragedies of the Nests," by John Burroughs.

Song: "Spring Hath Waked the Song-Bird," by Mendelssohn.

Reading: From "Bird Courtship," by John Burroughs.

Recitation: "The Robin Singing in the Rain," by Kate Upson Clark.

Song: "Swing, Robin, Swing."

For some of these readings others may be substituted if preferred. Here are a few suggestions, which can readily be amplified: "Baby Days" and "The Tricks and Manners of a Cat-Bird," by Olive Thorne Miller; "Bird Life and Its Romance," by John Lea, and numerous magazine articles which may be found in an "Index to Periodical Literature," contained in all public libraries.

Among the many poems appropriate to the occasion are: "O, Swallow, Swallow, Flying, Flying South," from Tennyson's "Princess" and Wordsworth's "To a Sky-Lark."

Some lovely songs are: "From Twig to Twig," by Rubinstein; "The Passage Birds' Farewell," by Mendelssohn, and "The Nightingale," by Schumann. Liza Lehman has also written some fascinating bird songs, including "The Wood Pigeon," "The Yellowhammer" and "The Owl."

A really valuable paper on "Bird Music" might be written; material for this will be found in any good reference library, for it is a subject which has interested several musicians. A delightful discussion could easily be arranged by the chairman of the day on "Personal Experiences with Birds," with brief talks by members on what they have actually observed in the way of nest building or feeding of young birds, or how they have tamed some bird.

IX – THE MODERN SCIENCE OF HOUSEHOLD SANITATION AND HYGIENE

Paper on Our Grandmothers' Ways (disregard of what is to-day considered as essential).

The Sanitary Nursery; carpets or rugs; cribs; ventilation; the preparation of foods for children; the care of milk; the baby's bottle; disinfection.

The Sanitary Kitchen; sinks and floor corners; mops and dish-cloths; refrigerators.

The Butcher and Grocer; pure food.

The Family Table; discussion on new ideas; vegetarianism; the use and abuse of cereals; how to meet the high cost of living sensibly.

X – THE PHYSICAL SIDE OF THE CHILD

Paper: A Child's Right to a Perfect Body.

Paper: The Child's Sleep. Arrangements for Perfect Sleep; Hours for Sleep.

Discussion: Shall the Baby Sleep Out of Doors?

Paper: The Child's Dress; Healthfulness; Simplicity; the Plague of Clothes.

Paper: The Child's Food. The Education of Mothers on This Line; the Milk-Supply in Town and Country.

Discussion: A Child's Health as Affected by Its Surroundings.

Paper or Talk: The City Child and the Country Child.

Should music be made a feature of these meetings, there are settings of Stevenson's, Eugene Field's and Riley's child verses which would be especially appropriate.

XI – AN AMERICAN POET AND HIS FRIENDS

Paper on Longfellow's Early Home and Life.

Talk: His Married Life; His Children.

Reading: The Children's Hour.

Paper on Longfellow as Harvard Professor.

Readings from His American Poems: "Hiawatha," "Evangeline," "Courtship of Miles Standish."

Paper: Foreign Honors; Westminster Abbey.

His Translations: Norwegian, "The Saga of King Olaf"; Swedish, "King Christian"; German, "The Happiest Land"; French, "A Quiet Life"; Spanish, "Coplas de Marigue."

Talk: At Mount Auburn.

XII – AN EDUCATIONAL MEETING

Paper or talk on Froebel and the Kindergarten. The Kindergarten in the Public School. The Sanitation of Our Public Schools. Discipline in the School. The Relations of Teacher and Parent. Beautifying the School-Building and Grounds.

The discussion might also be on such topics as Social Life Versus School Life; The Health of High-School Girls; Athletics and Study, etc.

The topic in the program of "Froebel and His Work" might be taken up by a trained kindergartner; perhaps the head of a high school might come in and speak on the Health of the High-School Girl, and some teacher interested in art might tell what could be done to beautify the school-building with pictures, plaster casts and growing plants, the grounds outside with trees and vines. By dividing the subject into Primary Schools and High Schools, and arranging the topics under each and adding to them, two programs could easily be made out of this one. Or, a meeting could be held, following this one, on college life, in its various aspects; college for girls; athletics; training for life in college and outside, and the relation of college boys and girls to their homes.

XIII – A MAGAZINE MEETING

Give to six members the names of four or five good magazines, and ask one to speak of some of the essays in them; another to take up the travel articles; a third the poetry; a fourth the popular science, and a fifth the short stories. Let each give a brief résumé of the one which seems best of all to the speaker, and have a sixth read some of the lighter and more humorous bits of prose and verse from the various magazines.

The chairman of the day might also prepare a short discussion by four of the members, each one speaking for two minutes at the close of the program on such subjects as "Do We Read Too Many Magazines?" "Do They Affect Our More Serious Reading?" "The Growth of the Short Story" and "Which Magazine Seems on the Whole the One Best Worth Taking in a Family, and Why?"

Some one might also speak on the subject of "What Each Magazine Seems to Stand For"; one perhaps has most literary quality, one bright fiction, and so on. A very clever talk might be given also, comparing the magazines now with those published thirty years and more ago, with some idea of the writers of that time and the general character of the articles.

XIV – PROGRAM FOR A THANKSGIVING MEETING

Business; reports of secretary and treasurer.

Paper or talk on The First Thanksgiving Day.

Reading from "Old Town Folks," by Harriet Beecher Stowe; Getting Ready for Thanksgiving.

Reading or recitation from "Miles Standish."

Paper or talk on The New England Meeting-House.

Personal reminiscences of childhood Thanksgiving Days.

Recitation from Whittier's "Thanksgiving Day."

If possible hang up a large picture of the "Return of the Mayflower," or other appropriate picture in the room.

XV – AN AFTERNOON WITH OUR SOUTHERN WRITERS

Thomas Nelson Page: Readings from "The Old South," Chapter I; "An Old Virginia Sunday;" "The Old Gentleman of the Black Stock," Chapter V.

James Lane Allen: Readings from "A Home of the Silent Brotherhood," "Two Gentlemen of Kentucky."

Richard Malcolm Johnston: Readings from "Dukesborough Tales."

The Poet of the South, Sidney Lanier: Selections from his biography, by his wife. Short poems: "Life and Song," "The Stirrup Cup," "A Song of the Future," "A Ballad of the Trees and the Master."

George W. Cable: Reading from "'Sieur George."

Ruth McEnery Stuart: Readings from "Sonny," "The Second Wooing of Salina Sue," "Thanksgiving on Crawfish Bayou."

The program may be interspersed by plantation songs: "Old Black Joe," "The Suwanee River," "My Old Kentucky Home," "Camptown Races" and others.

XVI – THE CHILD IN THE HOME

I. Music: Ballad.

II. Talk or paper: The child's right to a welcome.

III. Discussion by three members:

(1) Squabbling and how to deal with it.

(2) Unselfishness.

(3) Equal rights for boys and girls.

IV. Music: Child songs.

V. Paper: The family evenings: Parents and children.

VI. Discussion:

(1) Reading aloud.

(2) Games and music.

VII. Paper: Parents as friends.

VIII. Talk, followed by general experiences.

XVII – MOTHER AND DAUGHTER

Commencement and Afterward.

The Relation of Parents to the Grown Daughter.

The Training for Housekeeping.

Friends and Entertaining.

Preparations for a Life-Work Away from Home.

The Married Daughter.

The Unmarried Middle-Aged Daughter.

A general discussion.

XVIII – CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Song: "Noël," by Gounod.

Reading from Dickens: the story of Scrooge's Christmas.

Paper or talk on Curious Christmas Customs (in England, Germany, Sweden, etc.).

Song: "When from the East the Wise Men Came," by Bullard.

Reading from "Sonny," by Ruth McEnery Stuart.

Reading from Howells's "Christmas Every Day."

Song: "The Virgin's Lullaby," by Dudley Buck.

Reading: "George Washington Jones, A Christmas Gift That Went a-Begging," by Ruth McEnery Stuart.

Song: "Over the Hills of Bethlehem," by Neidlinger.

Interest will be added to this meeting, of course, by decorating the club rooms with Christmas greens and lighting with candles.

XIX – PROGRAM FOR A COLONIAL MEETING

Home Life in Virginia (paper or talk). Reading from "The Virginians," by Thackeray.

The Love Story of Washington.

Mt. Vernon; Martha Washington's Housekeeping. (Illustrated with pictures of Mt. Vernon.)

The First Inaugural Ball.

Lafayette's Return to America.

Brief items of interest given by members, of family traditions of these and other events.

Close with two patriotic songs: "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" or "America."

XX – KING ARTHUR AND THE ROUND TABLE

Paper or talk on The Origin of the Arthurian Legend.

Brief outline of the story of the Round Table.

Reading from Lowell's "Vision of Sir Launfal."

Reading from Sir Thomas Malory's "Morte d'Arthur."

The story of Glastonbury and Avalon; description of the abbey.

The legend of the Holy Thorn.

Readings from Howard Pyle's "Story of King Arthur and His Knights."

Reading from the "Idylls of the King;" "The Passing of Arthur."

The chairman in charge of the meeting may procure from her picture-dealer or from the nearest large city inexpensive prints of the Abbey paintings of the Holy Grail in the Boston Public Library, and these, mounted on large sheets of white paper, may be hung about the room.