History of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs &

the California Federation of Women’s Clubs

Our history had it’s roots with the Women’s movements such as suffrage, abolition, and temperance

• In 1868, our founder Jane Cunningham Croly, whose pen name was Jennie June, a newspaper reporter was denied admittance to a men’s Press club event because she was a woman

• Mrs. Croly decided to start her own club in New York, called Sorosis

What happened next?

Mrs. Croly convened a national convention of Women’s Clubs from all over the USA in 1889 in Seneca Falls

The General Federation of Women’s Club was formed in 1890

• Jennie June started a movement of a vast, untapped and unorganized sisterhood of capable of women that would reshape American society

Phoebe Hearst from the Century Club in San

Francisco is elected from the floor as the first GFWC

Treasurer

California becomes part of the General

Federation of Women’s Clubs,

GFWC

The California Federation of Women’s Clubs is Born

January 1900 the CFWC is formed

• Becoming the 37th State to Join the GFWC• The Motto is “Strength United is

Stronger”• There are 264 Clubs in the CFWC

today

One of the first projects was to mark the El Camino Real with Mission Bells

• The CFWC in June 1902 lead by Mrs. Forbes & Mrs. Olney in partnership with the Native Daughters of the Golden West implemented the Mission Bell project

• The road was not paved at this time

• 158 bells were installed by 1915

The GFWC & CFWC fight for the passage of The Pure Food & Drug Act

Members of the GFWC & the CFWC ”spearhead a letter and telegram writing campaign” to which historians attribute the passing of the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906

The CFWC helps to establish The Juvenile Court System

• The Friday Morning Women’s Club with 1,000 members, largest club on the west coast, politically supported a new court system

• Miriam Van Waters chaired the Juvenile Court division of the CFWC

• Caroline Severance and the Los Angles Women’s Club campaigned for the California Court System

The CFWC & the white line on our roads

• June McCarroll is run off the road by a truck while driving near Indio

• She paints a white line down the road by herself when no one will listen to her idea

• The Indio Women’s Club & the CFWC wage a letter writing campaign

• In 1924 the California Highway Commission paints white lines on 3,500 miles of road at a cost of $163,000

What have we done Since 9-

11?

• By 2004 we, the members of GFWC all over the country had raised $180,000

• We sent this money to New York City’s Fire Department to purchase one fully equipped ambulance with our GFWC logo on the side

• Judy Lutz, the GFWC International President dedicates this ambulance from all the members of the GFWC in honor of all the men & women who lost their lives on September 11, 2001

We have worked to fill our libraries with books

The GFWC started about 75% of the nation’s libraries

Our clubs started the first mobile & small libraries

We have raised and donated 13.5 million dollars worth of books to libraries from 1997 to about 2003 with our libraries 2000 project

The CFWC & other state federations are continuing to donate books to public and school libraries everywhere

Come be a part of something very

special, The California Federation of

Women’s Clubs

Contact us at

www.cfwc.org

Find us on face book at: GFWC California Federation of Women’s Clubs

email us at: membership@cfwc.org