Arkansas women in the 1930’s continued the work of their predecessors in clubs and organizations that were started towards the end of the nineteenth century and have done so with great enthusiasm through the decades up to the present time. Many of the community, civic, and cultural services that we enjoy today are due the collective efforts of Arkansas women during this time period.

Demonstration agent visiting with another woman
Courtesy of UALR Special Collections and Archives

In the beginning, the purpose of the women’s groups may have been supportive or for self-improvement, such as the Aesthetic Club of Little Rock, but it was not long before the purpose for many was community betterment. The Arkansas Federation of Women’s Clubs was formed in 1897 and issues that concerned turn of the century women were suffrage, temperance and education.

During the twentieth century Arkansas women’s clubs have addressed many community needs. The organizations have followed a pattern of identifying a problem, rallying volunteers in their clubs to address it, establishing the service to correct the problem by organizing and fund raising, and eventually making the solution permanent by governmental action.

Methodist women's group posed with their bazaar crafts
Courtesy of the First United Methodist Church of Little Rock Archives

Arkansas women’s literary clubs have been instrumental in establishing libraries across the state. Other clubs have helped start and maintain our cultural institutions such as the Arkansas Arts Center, and have worked in historic preservation. Arkansas’ hospitals and educational institutions such as UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Colony have benefited from the work of these clubs. Clubs, such as the Arkansas League of Women Voters, are involved politically in striving for better government and a more informed voting public. Organizations, such as the American Business Women’s Association and Beta Sigma Phi, also offer educational opportunities for members and non-members through scholarship programs.

Delta Sigma Theta sorority members, late 1990's.
Courtesy of a private collection

At the beginning of the century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted money for home demonstration work for the rural women of Arkansas. Agents taught the proper preservation methods for fruits and vegetables and thus improved the diets of the people. “Girls Canning Clubs” were formed at first and these came to be home demonstration clubs. The Arkansas Council of Home Demonstration Clubs was organized in 1929 and these clubs were instrumental over the next few decades in educating women in agriculture, home economics, and family life.

In addition to improving communities through good works, Arkansas women tackled tough social and political issues, such as birth control, labor unions, and public school desegregation. Throughout the past seven decades, Arkansas women’s clubs have continued to address community needs. In the process of doing this, women have learned many skills that have changed their lives. Organizing, fundraising, public speaking, lobbying, and many other leadership skills prepared these clubwomen for future jobs and careers.

Arkansas Business Women's Association at a luau party
Courtesy of a private collection

For More Information:

Arkansas Federation of Women’s Clubs History. Little Rock, AR: Davis Printing Co., 1986.

Bashaw, Carolyn Terry. “One Kind of Pioneer Project: Julia F. Allen and the Southern Tenant Farmer’s Union College Student Project, 1938,” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 50 (1996).

Barnes, Paula C. “The Junior League Eleven: Elite Women of Little Rock Struggle for Social Justice,” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 52 (1998).

Blair, Diane D. "Good Works By Arkansas Women," in Sentinels of History, edited by Mark K. Christ and Cathryn H. Slater. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000.

Cope, Graeme. “A Thorn in the Side? The Mother’s League of Central High School and the Little Rock Desegregation Crisis of 1957,” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 52 (1998).

Cullom, Katherine. "A History of the Wilson Club House and Cooperative Club," Delta Historical Review Summer (1993).

Eno, Miss Clara B. and Mrs. Frederick Hanger. History of the Arkansas Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1897-1934. Argus Printers, 1935.

Gates, Lorraine. "Power from the Pedestal: The Women's Emergency Committee and the Little Rock School Crisis," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 50 (1996).

Leung, Marianne. "Making the Radical Respectable: Little Rock Clubwomen and the Cause of Birth Control in the 1930's," Arkansas Historical Quarterly 52 (1998).

Martin, Marilyn J. From Altruism to Activism: The Contributions of Women's Organizations to Arkansas Public Libraries. Texas Women's University, 1993

Ross, Frances Mitchell. “The New Woman and Social Activist in Turn of the Century Arkansas,” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 50 (1991):317-351.

Utterback,Mrs. William Grandison. Aesthetic Club of Little Rock, a Centennial History, 1883-1983. Little Rock, AR: Rose Publishing Co., 1983.