Pacific Coast Women's Press Association
Abbreviation | PCWPA |
---|---|
Formation | September 27, 1890 |
Founder | Emelie Tracy Y. Swett |
Founded at | 1941 |
Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
Main organ | The Impress |
Pacific Coast Women's Press Association (PCWPA; September 27, 1890 - 1941) was a press organization for women located on the West Coast of the United States. Discussions were not permitted regarding politics, religion, or reform. The members of the association took on causes related to certain public improvements in the way of roads, streets, parks, libraries, village improvement societies, free exhibits of county resources, the suppression of criminal details of sensational cases in newspapers, the suppression of criminal advertising, and school development. To facilitate the work, the association issued printed monographs.
Establishment
Until 1890, working newspaper women and women authors located along the U.S. Pacific coast lacked protection, benefit and advantages associated with unity. In other parts of the United States, these associations had been established since 1880, most of the earlier ones being organized for purely social purposes.[1]
After nearly three years of planning, 150 invitations were sent out to newspaper women and authors in good standing on the Pacific coast, asking them to meet in San Francisco, California on September 27, 1890 at the home of Emelie Tracy Y. Swett. Fifty women came to the meeting, but everyone invited sent letters of encouragement and pledged herself to support the movement.[1]
History
A Constitution and By-Laws of the New England Woman's Press Association were adopted.[2] The primary purpose of the PCWPA was to improve the women's relationships through the frequent interchange of ideas and methods.[3]
The first year was spent in active organization. A library of several hundred books was accumulated and catalogued, and at the close of the year, the Association numbered 125 active members.[4]
The members took on causes related to public improvements in the way of roads, streets, parks, libraries, village improvement societies, free exhibits of county resources, the suppression of criminal details of sensational cases in newspapers, the suppression of criminal advertising, and the development of kindergartens. To facilitate their work, the Association issued printed monographs. The first monograph issued was on the topic of "Country Roads and City Streets", written by Mary Lynde Hoffman, a large property owner. More than 500 notices were sent to the Association concerning this essay alone.[3]
In its first three years, the only source of income of the Association was through membership and initiation fees and from contributions. In time, the association hoped to erect a building in San Francisco, the rentals of which would suffice to pay the running expenses of the Association, as well as sick benefits, when required.[5]
More than 500 volumes were contributed to the Association's library, besides files of many of the leading dailies, weeklies, monthlies. The Association wanted first to accumulate complete sets of the published works of members, then works by Pacific coast writers, then reference books, and finally, rare and standard books. The organization's librarian was a member of the American Library Association.[5]
The writing of the general newspaper worker was for the most part anonymous in that era. Therefore, the Association did not feel that its ranks were at a disadvantage when compared with those of other press associations. the PCWPA's members was so scattered over a large territory, that it was unable to show many influential Western newspaper connections. On the other hand, the Western style of reporting had become popular, with nearly all of the writers retaining from one to six connections with influential Eastern and British periodicals.[6] As a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the International League of Press Clubs and the Woman's National Press Association, the PCWPA was abreast with the spirit of organization, at the same time confident that responsible individualism was its strength.[7]
The organization was discontinued after 1941.[8]
Executive Boards
Emelie Swett Parkhurst founded the Association in 1890.
In 1893, Emily Browne Powell was elected president.[9] The Executive Officers for that year, in addition to Powell, included Cooper, First Vice-President; Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman, Second Vice-President; Mrs. James Neall, Third Vice-President; Minna V. Gaden, Corresponding Secretary; Mary Lambert, Recording Secretary; Ella M. Sexton, Assistant Recording Secretary; Florence Percy Matheson, Treasurer; Adeline Knapp, Chairman of Program Committee additional; members, Agnes Manning and Lillian Plunkett.[9]
Notable people
Active members in the first year included
There was also Isabel Raymond of the Santa Cruz Surf. Of literary distinction was Josephine White Bates (d. 1934). Among the members of the Association engaged in editorial work were Genevieve Lucile Browne of the Californian, Louise E. Francis, editor of the Castroville Enterprise, Maggie Downing Brainard of the Pacific Tree and Vine, San Jose, California and Mrs. L. C. P. Haskins of Washington.[10] Among those members who were regular contributors to Eastern and local journals, writing upon California subjects, were a number of Pacific Coast writers by adoption. Helen Gregory-Flesher, a regular contributor to the American Press Association, to the local press, to New York magazines and an occasional contributor to the Arena, was a Canadian by birth and education. Mary F. McRoberts, an Englishwoman, well known in political and educational circles in England, and a contributor to its press from California, was another newcomer to the Pacific Coast, though a resident of California in earlier times.[10] Emma Russell Endres, another English woman, and correspondent to the London Times, was a Californian by her adoption of the State as her home, and a busy contributor to the English and American press. Other members whose largest contribution to the press was for Eastern publications were Carrie Wake Morgan, Alice Cary Waterman, Clara Spalding Brown, and Dorothea Lummis.[7]
Among those of national prominence were
Kate Douglas Wiggin was well known as a kindergarten worker and author. Virna Woods gained her first literary reputation in the field of descriptive verse. Jeanne Caroline Smith Carr (past member of the PCWPA Executive Board), was a constant writer for the general press, well-known in Southern California. Mary Catherine McIntire Pacheco, a Kentucky playwright, was one of California's first published women authors.[11]
Others included the author,
Other women who were doing important literary work included: Madge Morris Wagner, Mrs. S. L. Darling, Emily S. Loud, Mary V. T. Lawrence, Florence Hardeman Miller, Laura Young Pinney, Mrs. Ella M. Sexton, Mrs. Emma Seckle Marshall, Mrs. Virginia S. Hilliard, Rose L. Bushnell Donnelly, Amelia Truesdell, Willina Knight Stringer, Dr. Minora Kibbe, Ruth Comfort Mitchell, Lydia H. Morrow, Mrs. James Neall, Elizabeth Murray Newman, Laura Lyon White, S. M. Farnham, Mary Fairbrother, Julia P. Foster, Sophie Gardiner, Augusta Friedrich Von Eichen, E. Or. Lightner, De Neal Morgan, artist and illustrator, Mary Tracy Mott, Emeline M. North Whitcomb, Laura Bride Powers, of the San Francisco Call; Kate Elliott, Mrs. N. H. Martin, and Miss Martin McKim.[11]
Mrs. I. Lowenberg, novelist and clubwoman, was a past President PCWPA.[12] Mrs. P. T. Dickinson (Hester A. Benedict) was a poet and past President PCWPA.[13] Abbie E. Krebs (past President PCWPA) had been a newspaper writer, and for some years edited the column of the San Francisco Chronicle. As President of the Caspar Lumber Co. and its allied interests, she was the selected representative at the St. Louis Exposition of the Forestry Department, and was prominent in the leading social, fraternal and patriotic organizations of the State. Sara E. Reamer was the first librarian and historian of the Association. Her early life in California was spent among the mines, during which she was a frequent contributor to the press on subjects of general interest.[14]
The Impress
"The Impress," originally The Bulletin,[15] was a monthly paper and the organ of the PCWPA, was founded October 6, 1893 and published weekly. Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was the editor, Helen Stuart Campbell was the associate. [16] Paul Tyner was the publisher. It was designed to present, from week to week, in crisp, critical paragraphs, the world's news from the Pacific coast standpoint. Questions of the day were discussed occasionally. Reviews of current literature, dramatic, artistic and musical criticism, and articles on art and education, with poetry, fiction, and humor, were among the features of the journal. While not exclusively a woman's paper, The Impress fully recognized the importance of the great movement of the century, and gave it space and attention. The PCWPA retained a page. The Women's Congress Association was also represented, as well as the Parliament of Women of Southern California, and other similar organizations. The Impress was valued as a home paper. "The Art of Living" was an important department of the journal conducted by Campbell.[17]
Gallery
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Lindon W. Bates
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Mary Lambert
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Mrs. A. H. Van Pelt
References
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 526.
- ^ a b c Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 527.
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 528.
- ^ Pinney, Eichen & Mitchell 1905, p. 113.
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 529.
- ^ Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 531.
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 534.
- ^ Yamane 2000, p. 196.
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 532.
- ^ a b Californian Publishing Company 1893, p. 533.
- ^ a b c d Pinney, Eichen & Mitchell 1905, p. 114-18.
- .
- ^ Croly, Jane Cunningham (1898). The History of the Woman's Club Movement in America. H. G. Allen & Company. p. 255. Retrieved 24 August 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Pinney, Eichen & Mitchell 1905, p. 118.
- ^ Kessler 1993, p. 102.
- ^ Pacific Unitarian Conference 1893, p. 260.
- ^ Everyday Housekeeping 1894, p. 307.
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Californian Publishing Company (1893). The Californian. Vol. 4 (Public domain ed.). San Francisco: Californian Publishing Company.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Everyday Housekeeping (1894). Everyday Housekeeping. Vol. 1, Issues 3-5 (Public domain ed.). Salem, Massachusetts: Everyday Housekeeping Co.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Pacific Unitarian Conference (1893). The Pacific Unitarian (Public domain ed.). Pacific Unitarian Conference.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Pinney, Laura Young; Eichen, Augusta Friedrich Van; Mitchell, Ruth Comfort (1905). Pacific Coast Women's Press Association (ed.). La copa de oro (Public domain ed.). Press of George Spaulding & Company. p. 113.
Bibliography
- Kessler, Carol Farley (1993). "Charlotte Perkins Gilman". In ISBN 978-0-02-082025-3.
- Yamane, Nan Towle (2000). "Pacific Coast Women's Press Association, 19(41)". In Burt, Elizabeth V. (ed.). Women's Press Organizations, 1881-1999. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 189–198. ISBN 978-0-313-30661-7.