Did
you know
that the offical song of GFWC is "America, The
Beautiful" written by Katherine Lee Bates. GFWC selected the song in
1922, as it "…is a song of dignity and beauty, easily sung,
and reflecting the true spirit of America and the ideals of this
Federation."
Do
you use the
"A Collect for Clubwomen" at your club meetings? What
is "A Collect for Clubwomen"?
Mary
Stewart, a Colorado
school principal, wrote the words to the Collect in 1904 as a personal
daily prayer. Mary titled her poem "A Collect for Club Women"
when it was first published because she felt it might have special
appeal to clubwomen. According to Mary, "The first women's
organization to hear or use the Collect or to print it in its year
books and biennial reports was the General Federation of Women's
Clubs." Prior to her death in 1943, Mary Stewart's own
account of the history of the Collect was recorded. During GFWC
President Dorothy Houghton's administration (1950-1952), the American
Home Department published Mary's history along with an interpretation
of the text and suggestions for using it in GFWC programs.
The words
for the Collect are as follows:
A
COLLECT FOR CLUBWOMEN
Keep us,
oh God, from pettiness; let us be large in
thought, in word, in deed.
Let
us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking.
May
we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without
self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in
judgment and always generous.
Let us take time for all things;
make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into
action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid.
Grant
that we may realize it is the little things that create differences,
that in the big things of life we are at one.
And may we
strive to touch and to know the great, common human heart of us all,
and oh Lord God, let us forget not to be kind!
A
little GFWC history ....the "Unity in Diversity" Motto
Ella
Dietz
Clymer gained a particular place of honor in Federation history as the
author of the GFWC motto, " Unity in Diversity." Speaking to
the delegates at the first conference in 1889 she said, "We look for
unity, but unity in diversity. We hope that you will enrich
us by your varied experiences...." The aptness of the motto is evident
in the diverse interests and methods of GFWC members, who have
implemented a broad range of programs and projects tailored to meet the
needs of their communties Adopted as the official
motto in 1957, it set the tone for the flexibility that has allowed
GFWC to grow and adapt to the changing and diverse lifestyles and
concerns of women throughout moret han a century of volunteer work. (GFWC
Club Manual)
Did you Know
… Many modern safety measures were early GFWC
programs. The
Women’s
Crusade for Seatbelts program, sponsored by GFWC in 1960, helped to
advocate automobile safety and resulted in more than one million car
seat belts installed in the course of one year.
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