This is copied here with permission
from The Weatherford
Democrat, July 20, 1950 issue.
Twentieth Century Club Celebrates
Fiftieth Year of Organization
"In 1900, Mrs. H. L. Moseley, realizing the mental and moral stimulus
to be derived from a good literary club, invited a number of women
to meet in the home of Mrs. A.N. Grant for the purpose of discussing
plans for such an organization," Mrs. W.T. Ivy wrote in a history
of the Twentieth Century Club.
"Mrs. W.H. Eddleman was elected temoprary chairman
and conittees were appointed to draw up a constitution and by-laws.
February 8, 1900, the XXth Century Club, of 20 members was duly
organized with Mrs. Mosely as the first president."
Charter members of the organization were Mmes. Moseley,
Grant, Eddleman, Ivy, C.C. Barhold, Oscar Barthold, R.E. Bell, R.F.
Bell, B.G. Bidwell, Mattie Blair, Wylie Blair, Henry Brevard, Will
Brevard, J.N. Chandler, J.T. Cotten, Dora Eddleman, J.C. Finnie.
Mmes. J.A. Fain, Alfred Irby, R.S. Lowe, Ed Lysaght, George M. McCall,
Boyd Porter, E.P. Sawtell, W.D. Taylor, J.O. Tucker, G.S. White
and Misses Lula Hines and Lena Taylor
The Club's first year book was "The year following",
she continues, "We established a Rest Room where our sisters from
the country could find comfort and relief from the tiresome exactions
of a day's shopping and enjoy themselves in the elevating exercise
of reading the literature supplied by us. In this enterprise we
invested $200. For several years, the Rest Room was maintained by
the generosity of our business men, though still under the supervision
and management of our club."
Up until 1902, the Club had met in the Foresters reading
room, but the building burned and the ladies met in the Knights
of Pythias Hall until the Foresters building was reconstructed.
"In order to provide for the various tastes and need
of our members and with the hope of securing additional ones, we
added two other departments in 1903, one for those who wished to
study 'Current Literature' and another for the study of 'Music and
Art," Mrs. Ivy's article continues.
Printed in 1901, Mrs. Ivy says, "Included in the early
benelovent projects of the Club were a supper given for the benefit
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Seminary and donations to the Knights
of Pythias Widows' and Orphans' Home, to the Citizen's Band and
to the firemen, in addition to $75 given for the furnishing of a
reading room in the new Forester building.
Another of the early projects of the Twentieth Century
Club was their fight to have passed an ordinance forbidding the
free grazing of cattle on public thoroughfares. Until the time the
ladies began their fight, cows ran loose and one "pursued one of
our good ladies until she fell flat upon her face from exhaustion."
Minutes of the organization of the Music and Art Depoartment
of the club have been preserved and read: "The Music and Art Department
of the XXth Century Club was organized Thursday afternoon, March
12, 1903, at the home of Mrs. W.P. Anderson, Mrs. G. S. White acting
as chairman. The following officers were elected: Mrs. W.P. Anderson,
chairman, Mrs. R.S. Lowe, vice chairman, Miss Myra Donovan, recording
secretary. The chairman appointed Mrs. Walter Tucker and Miss Dollye
Starr to serve on the art committee and Miss Gertrude Burnes and
Mrs. Jim L. McCall on the music committee.
"There being no program arranged, the Department adjouned
to meet the floooling Wednesday at Mrs. Grant's."
This page was added on July 1, 2000
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