Soroptimist International
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Predecessor | Soroptimist Club, Oakland, California, US (founded 1921)[1][third-party source needed] |
---|---|
Formation | 1928[1][third-party source needed] |
Type | NGO |
Headquarters | 8A Romsey Terrace, Cambridge, CB1 3NH, United Kingdom[2][3][4] |
Website | https://www.soroptimistinternational.org |
Soroptimist International (SI) was founded in 1921 as a global volunteer service for women with almost 66,000 members in 118 countries worldwide. Soroptimist International also offers Associate Membership and E-Clubs.
Soroptimist International has special consultative status at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations which gives it a voice on important discussion papers and allows them to attend the Commission of the Status of Women in New York each year to where the Soroptimist International President leads a delegation.[5][6]
Every two years Soroptimist International launches a Soroptimist International President's Appeal.[7]
Etymology
The name "Soroptimist" was coined by combining the Latin words soror "sister" and optima "best", and can be taken to mean "best for women".[8]
Founding and history
The organization has its roots in the Soroptimist movement, started in the USA in 1921 by Stuart Morrow,[9] and in particular in the Soroptimist Club of Oakland, California, founded that same year,[10][1] with Violet Richardson as president.[10]
In parallel, in May 1920, a Venture Club was formed in
The Federation, Soroptimist International of Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI) was formed in 1934.
Sources agree that the Soroptimist movement was influenced by the existence of
The Soroptimist Club of London was started in 1923 and received its charter in 1924 from Morrow.[9] Its founding members included George Bernard Shaw's secretary.[9] Other early members included Sybil Thorndike, Flora Drummond, and Mary Allen.[9] The Soroptimist International of London Mayfair commissioned a painted enamel President's badge in 1946 from Arts and Crafts enameller Ernestine Mills, paying seven guineas for it. The design included their founding date of 1942 and commemorates the Alpha Club, founded in 1928, from which they grew, with the chain listing the names of the club's presidents from 1942 to 2006. These included Olympic fencer Elizabeth Carnegy-Arbuthnott and comedian Helena Millais. The chain is now held at the V&A Museum. Mills was a member of the Soroptimist Greater London club, for which she created an enamelled President's badge in 1933.[13]
From 1924 onwards,
Prior to
After WWII, Noël resumed expansion. Her attempt to found a club in Czechoslovakia in 1948 was prevented by the Communist coup, but she was successful in Turkey (1949) and Greece (1950).[10]
By 1952, at least one club existed in Australia,[15] under the auspices of the Federation of Soroptimist Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland,[15] which included clubs throughout the Commonwealth.[citation needed] Thelma Eileen Jarrett joined this club in 1952 and became a prominent international Soroptimist, being elected president of that Federation in 1972.[15] In 1973, in Sydney, Australia, she chaired the first conference of the Federation to be held in the southern hemisphere.[15]
C. 1988-1990,
At the
In the 2000s, Soroptimist International repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the Beijing Declaration,[21][22][23][24] which emerged from the latter conference.
At least as early as 2003, Soroptimist International had gained consultative status with
In 2007, Soroptimist International initiated Project Sierra, a four-year project[26][27] to help disadvantaged women and children in Sierra Leone, in partnership with the international charity Hope and Homes for Children.[28][29][30]
As of 2016, the Soroptimist movement continues to provide practical assistance for women in need via means such as educational grants, domestic violence shelters and mammograms.[10]
Structure and size
Soroptimist International is an umbrella organisation, with its headquarters in Cambridge, UK.[31]
Within this umbrella, there are five federations:[31] SI of the Americas (SIA);[31] SI Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI); SI of Europe (SIE); SI of South East Asia Pacific (SISEAP) and SI Africa (SIAF).[citation needed]
Each of these federations in turn contain local clubs.
Notable members
- Mary Allen[9]
- Mary Creighton Bailey, president of the Canterbury branch.[32]
- Thérèse Bertrand-Fontaine[10]
- Margaret Blackwood[33]
- Pauline Suing Bloom[34]
- Nadia Boulanger[10]
- Cécile Brunschvicg[10]
- Teckla M. Carlson[34]
- Grace Cuthbert-Browne[33]
- Mary Campbell Dawbarn[33]
- Lucie Delarue-Mardrus[10]
- Flora Drummond[9]
- Nannie C. Dunsmoor[34]
- Béatrix Dussane[10]
- Oda Faulconer, President[34]
- Nellie A. Goodhue[34]
- Winifred M. Hausam[34]
- Thelma Eileen Jarrett[15]
- Jeanne Lanvin[10]
- Lily Laskine[10]
- Carrie Morrison[35]
- Anna de Noailles[10]
- Suzanne Noël[8]
- Eleanor Addison Phillips
- Geneve L. A. Shaffer[34]
- Mary Jane Spurlin[34]
- Mary Sykes[35]
- Sybil Thorndike[9]
- Violet Richardson Ward[34]
- Daphne Steele[36]
- Ida V. Wells[34]
- Madrid Williams[37]
- Ellinor Hinks
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Certification of Incorporation". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Contact Soroptimist International". Soroptimist International. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ "S I (SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Soroptimist International profile". esango.un.org. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ SI History. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Quadrennial reports for the period 2012-2015 submitted by non-governmental organizations in consultative status". undocs.org. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "International President's Appeal – December 10th | SIGBI".
- ^ ISBN 9780742514218. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9781134204373. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9781317047476. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ 100 Years of Sisterhood: Bristol Fashion by Dr Marion Reid - Redcliffe Press.
- ^ Blue Plaque for Eleanor Addison Phillips
- ^ Museum, Victoria and Albert. "Chain and Pendant | V&A Explore The Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
- ISBN 9781317047476. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9780522853827. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ClareHerald.com. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ClareHerald.com. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ClareChampion.ie. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ISBN 9780754679509. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9780788171499. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789210001397. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789210001458. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789210001496. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789210001519. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9789210001458. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ "American expat finds Sierra Leone heritage". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Local Soroptimist Members Attend International Convention in Scotland - Santa Clarita Magazine". Santaclaritamagazine.com. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Project SIerra. Retrieved 17 July 2012. Archived September 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Duong, Thyda (16–29 September 2008). "Soroptimist International: "The Best For Women"" (PDF). Long Beach Business Journal.
- ^ Examiner, Huddersfield (17 February 2009). "MEMBERS of the Soroptimist International held a fundraising Curry Night to support Project Sierra". Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9781118834107. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Mary Bailey President 1967–1968". sigbi.org. Soroptimists International. 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ ISBN 9780522853827. Retrieved 1 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A. (1928). Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America. Los Angeles: Publishers Press. Retrieved August 6, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b "Mary Elizabeth Pickup". first100years.org.uk. 3 May 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
https://doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382499
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Madrid Williams". Georgia Women of Achievement. 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
Bibliography
- Fisher, Lillian E. (1983). Violet Richardson Ward: Founder-President of Soroptimist. ISBN 0533055636.
- Haywood, Janet (1995). The History of Soroptimist International. Soroptimist International. ISBN 0952378809.
External links
- Media related to Soroptimist International at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- "Minutes of Soroptimist International". The National Archives (United Kingdom).