The Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs (KFWC) is a community and civic umbrella organization for women in Kentucky. It was founded in 1894 and is affiliated with the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC).[1] The KFWC helped bring about various reforms in Kentucky and expanded educational opportunities to citizens.
About
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The Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs (KFWC) was created in July 1894, when several women met in Lexington to form the group.[2] It was the fourth state federation of women's clubs to become affiliated with the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC).[1] The club has held annual meetings since the first one in 1985 at Richmond.[3] By 1898, the KFWC had thirty clubs it represented throughout the state.[4] In 1909, there were 85 different organizations in the KFWC.[5] By 1921, there were 150 clubs and around 16,000 individual clubwomen.[6] These women were white and were generally upper-class to middle class.[7]
KFWC has been headquartered in Louisville since 1954.[6] Prior to the creation of the club building, important papers for the KFWC had traveled with the president of the organization.[6]
The group has recently changed its name to the General Federation of Women's Clubs Kentucky.[8] The organization's current departments are education, art, conservation, home life, international affairs and public affairs.[6]
Reform efforts
editOne of the first projects the KFWC was involved with was to work on education through libraries.[4] The KFWC took over operations of the traveling library that had been started by the Louisville Monday Afternoon Club in 1887.[9][10] In 1910, after the KFWC persuaded the state to create a public organization for libraries, the traveling and public libraries in Kentucky were turned over to the new Kentucky Library Commission.[9] Later, the KFWC helped provide books for the pack horse libraries in the late 1930s.[11]
KFWC was involved in reforming the school system in Kentucky.[1] In the early 1900s, there was no compulsory education in Kentucky and a high rate of illiteracy.[12] The education committee of the KFWC created reports on the status of Kentucky's education system.[13] These reports were shared with newspapers and used to influence citizens and politicians.[14] In 1908, legislation was finally passed to support schools financially in Kentucky.[15] By 1909, KFWC was urging citizens to vote for women to serve on school boards.[16]
KFWC was involved in conservation of natural land.[7] KFWC was involved in preserving Mammoth Caves.[17] Members on the conservation committee have spoken out against strip mining in Kentucky.[18] KFWC helped to establish the Kentucky Society for the Prevention of Blindness.[19] They were also involved with backing the creation of the Frontier Nursing Service.[19] KFWC was also involved in the fight for women's suffrage.[20]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b c Forderhase, Nancy (2015). "Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs". In Kleber, John E. (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 499. ISBN 9780813159010.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 19.
- ^ "Programme of the Fifteenth Annual Meet of Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs". The Courier-Journal. 6 June 1909. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ a b Forderhase 1985, p. 20.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d Kleber, John E., ed. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. p. 473. ISBN 9780813149745.
- ^ a b Forderhase 1985, p. 21.
- ^ Brammer, Jack (28 November 2016). "Doll display of Kentucky's first ladies lacks one for Glenna Bevin". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ a b Jones, Reinette F. (2002). Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky, from the Reconstruction Era to the 1960s. McFarland. pp. 41–42. ISBN 9780786411542.
- ^ Schmitzer, Jeanne Cannella (Winter 1997). "Reaching Out to the Mountains: The Pack Horse Library of Eastern Kentucky". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 95 (1): 59–60. JSTOR 23383806.
- ^ "Woman's Club Notes". Interior Journal. 13 November 1936. Retrieved 5 September 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 24.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 25.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 26-27.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 30-31.
- ^ Forderhase 1985, p. 32.
- ^ "Opened with Historic Gavel". The Courier-Journal. 2 May 1911. Retrieved 5 September 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Montrie, Chad (2003). To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 81. ISBN 9780807862636.
- ^ a b Barney, Sandra Lee (2003). Authorized to Heal: Gender, Class, and the Transformation of Medicine in Appalachia, 1880-1930. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 9780807860540.
- ^ Hubbard, Mary (12 June 1915). "Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs". The Public Ledger. Retrieved 5 September 2017 – via Newspapers.com.