General Federation of Women's Clubs of Connecticut records

In March 1889, Sorosis, a women's club in New York City, founded by journalist Jane Cunningham Croly, held a national convention of women's clubs to celebrate its twenty-first anniversary. During the convention, the delegates voted to form a General Federation of Women's Clubs. Among the attendees was the Kozy Klub of Bridgeport. The following April, Sorosis sponsored another meeting of clubs interested in joining the new federation. Delegates from three Connecticut clubs were among those representing sixty-three women's clubs: the Waterbury Woman's Club, the Willimantic Woman's Club, and the Saturday Club of New London.¹ A constitution for the federation was adopted on April 24, 1890, in which the federation's stated mission was to "…bring into communication with each other the various women's clubs throughout the world, in order that they may compare methods of work and become mutually helpful."²

From its beginnings, the General Federation of Women's Clubs displayed a wide range of interests. At its biennial convention in 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky, reports were heard from departments and committees on Literature, Education, Home, Philanthropy, Social Economics, Finance, and Sociology. Papers presented at the convention ranged in subject matter from "Household Economics and the Chemistry of Body-Building" to "Women in Trades and Professions."³

The Connecticut State Federation of Women's Clubs was organized on April 20, 1897 through the initiative of the English Literary Club of Bridgeport and the efforts of Mariana Slade Hopson, the State Chairman of Correspondence for the General Federation. One of the oldest and most distinguished associations in the state, the Bridgeport club organized a meeting with other Connecticut clubs. Representatives of forty-seven organizations, numbering around one hundred delegates, met in the parlors of the South Church of Bridgeport. After registering the member clubs and drafting a constitution, the delegates elected its first officers. Mrs. T.K. Noble⁴ of Norwalk served as the state federation's first president from 1897-1900.⁵

The Connecticut federation's objective was to "…bring the women's clubs of the state into communication for intellectual culture, mutual help and social union, and to extend their influence in such matters as may properly come before them for improvement in homes and communities."⁶ Like its national counterpart, the Connecticut federation demonstrated a breadth of interests and community involvement. The first Official Directory of the state federation, published in 1900, lists several standing committees, including Civics and Village Improvement, Industrial Conditions, and Education, including Travelling Libraries, and Art Interchange. Among the standing committees in 1900 was also one for the Investigation of Connecticut Guardianship Law. The women of the Connecticut federation were particularly interested in the aspects of the law that governed parental rights over minor children. The state federation's Committee on Equal Parental Rights reported extensively to a meeting of its Board of Directors on December 27, 1900, persuading the Board to hire a lawyer to draft a bill to be placed before the Connecticut General Assembly on equal parental guardianship.⁷

Child welfare and the rights of women continued to be important concerns of the Connecticut federation. In a 1906 presentation to the federation's council about "Vital Questions before the Biennial Convention," club member Mary Williams Phipps addressed the problem of child labor, saying that "It is being urged that the government appoint a child labor bureau…"⁸ On a national level, General Federation member and Hull House founder Jane Addams simultaneously advocated for the creation of child labor laws. At the same meeting where Mrs. Phipps gave her presentation, Mrs. Frank C. Porter of New Haven read a paper titled, "What Can We Do for Our Factory Girls." In November 1907, the efforts of the state federation to help female factory workers culminated in the appointment of the first female factory inspector in the state.⁹

The Connecticut federation has also evinced a strong interest in environmental conservation. In 1901, the federation formed a Forestry Committee which, in 1906, supported "Forestry Reservation Bills" for the purpose of planting trees "in waste places free of charge."¹⁰ Under the administrations of four different statewide presidents, the federation raised funds to purchase fifty acres of land in Barkhamsted that were donated to the State of Connecticut in 1938, as an addition to the People's Forest. Known as "Constitution Grove", the land was donated as a tribute to Connecticut as the Constitution State. In 1965, in concert with the Sears Roebuck Foundation, the Connecticut Federation of Women's Clubs established the Greenwoods Nature & Conservation Camp for Girls. Three years later, the federation's Conservation Department worked with the Connecticut Girl Scout Council to present a "Cadette Conservation Day," intended to help the state's Girl Scouts become aware of the importance of environmental conservation.

The organizational structure of the Connecticut federation has evolved and solidified, over time. Standing committees that were founded at the start of the organization were renamed as "departments" in 1923, and the federation was incorporated under Connecticut law in 1926. Within a few years of its founding, the federation renamed its board of directors as an executive board, and, in 1928, formed an executive committee to handle any emergency business between meetings. In addition, the federation created, at its inception, a council comprised of the presidents of the federation's individual clubs, whose purpose was to "consider and promote such measures as shall be for the interests of the Federation."¹¹ The communication gap left by the dissolution of this council in 1974 was filled partially by the publication, beginning in that year, of the federation's first statewide guidebook for individual club leaders, Pointers for Participation. The federation's official policy of cooperating on two-year State Projects, instituted in 1972, has also helped the organization maintain its cohesiveness and purpose. In 1984, in order to more accurately reflect its connection to the worldwide General Federation, Connecticut's organization changed its official name to the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Connecticut, Inc.

Other forces, however, have sometimes undermined the unity of the statewide organization. In the 1970's, growing tensions between the Connecticut federation's older members and its Juniors and Juniorettes (composed, respectively, of women 40 years of age, and under, and of girls between the ages of 11 and 18) led to a meeting in April of 1979, mediated by Mrs. J. Frank Bryant, the First Vice President of the national General Federation. This and other attempts at reconciliation were unsuccessful, and all of the Junior and Juniorette Clubs left the Connecticut federation during 1979. Their departure constituted a significant loss in membership for the organization: in May of 1979, total statewide membership had been 12,708, but in May of 1980, the total statewide membership was down to 8,942.¹²

Despite losing over a quarter of its members, the federation continued its involvement in a wide variety of activities. In keeping with the federation's early interest in women's and children's well-being, the organization during the 1980's raised funds for and awareness of battered women and sexually abused children. In May of 1986, at the end of a two-year statewide project, the federation donated $7,000 to Paul & Lisa, Inc., a non-profit organization for the prevention and rehabilitation of sexually abused children. From 1988 through 1990, the federation supported the work of the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, the only guide dog school in New England. During the following decade, the federation focused its efforts on supporting literacy, Alzheimer's research, and Alpha Home, a shelter for women recovering from addiction and substance abuse.

Along with its support of already established programs, the federation has also responded to events and crises, as they have occurred. In 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the United States, the federation worked with Discovery Toys to donate hundreds of copies of a book called The Next Place to schools, libraries, and to families of the victims. The Next Place uses comforting language to describe "the next place" after death. In 2011, in response to the growing problem of cyberbullying, the federation adopted an anti-cyberbullying resolution at its state convention and urged Governor Malloy to support new anti-cyberbullying legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly. The federation states on its website today that "Our goal is to be of service to others, improve our social, cultural and physical environment and promote appreciation of the arts. We strive to become responsible leaders in our communities." These comprehensive goals have not deviated far from the federation's stated purpose in 1897.