What She Said

Part II, Case 1: Civic Altruism

Many early local women’s clubs had origins in late 19th century study clubs formed by affluent women with leisure time and the ability to do unpaid labor. At first these women sought to improve themselves, but they soon turned their energies outward to improve their communities. The San Fernando Women's Club, a member of the bipartisan General Federation of Women’s Clubs, began as the Elective Study Club in May 1907, but by 1926 they were concerned about remaining relevant, and reframed their mission to also take an, "interest in the Civic, Social, and Economic conditions of the Community."

Other local organizations focused their early efforts on childhood illness and providing safe housing for women, ideas that reflected the concept of women as municipal housekeepers. The Junior League started as the Convalescent Children’s League before taking on its current name in 1926, while much of the early focus of the local YWCA centered on providing housing and support services for single young women, "whether she be a millionaire’s daughter or a domestic." Clubs also considered communities beyond their own immediate surroundings, as when the Reseda Woman's Club fundraised for the Red Cross during World War I in 1918.

Women organizing was not by default a radical act. Organizing was often motivated by the idea of philanthropic civic altruism as a noble pursuit, and the desire for good government that distanced itself from corrupt machine politics of the 19th century. Looking closer at women's organizations and the networks they operated within restores agency to the women who worked to reform their government and bring meaningful change to their communities.

Case 2, American Citizens, is to your right on the south wall of the gallery.

• 1

  Elective Study Club History, 1920San Fernando Women's Club Collection

• 2

  Pamphlet, "Young Women's Christian Association of Los Angeles, Cal., Prospectus, 1902-1903"Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Los Angeles Collection

• 3

  Pamphlet, "Ten Years of Progress, Young Women's Christian Association of Los Angeles, California, 1893-1903"Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Los Angeles Collection

• 4

  Trowel used to lay the cornerstone at the Y.W.C.A. building on 3rd and Hill Streets in downtown Los Angeles, May 5, 1907Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Los Angeles Collection

• 5

  Booklet, "Y.W.C.A.: A Greater Los Angeles Through a Greater Womanhood," circa 1920Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Los Angeles Collection

• 6

  Junior League of Los Angeles Directors Meeting Notes, October 25, 1928Junior League of Los Angeles, Inc. Collection

• 7

  Junior League News, "Los Angeles Junior League Presents Forty Winks," April 1934Junior League of Los Angeles, Inc. Collection

• 8

  Santa Fe Railway. A Book for Club Women, Los Angeles: Federation of Women's Clubs, 1902.HQ 1905.C2 B66 1902

• 9

  Tarzana Woman's Club Gavel, 1923Tarzana Woman's Club Collection

• 10

  San Fernando Women's Club By Laws, circa 1926San Fernando Women's Club Collection

• 11

  Banner, "Red Cross Outdoor Carnival," August 10, 1918Reseda Woman's Club Collection

• 12

  Poster, Hollywood Studio Club, circa 1925Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Los Angeles Collection