The Sorosis Club for Women

 

When Captain Cavedweller and I visited Fort Dalles Museum back in August, I kept seeing different signs referring to the Sorosis Club. 

I had no idea what it was, and decided to look into the history of the organization.

Jane Cunningham Croly organized the Sorosis Club in New York City in March 1868 with 12 members. Among its founding members were Josephine Pollard, a children's author, and Fanny Fern. Fern, a popular columnist, had been outraged when women were excluded from the all-male New York Press Club when it had an honorary dinner for the author Charles Dickens the month before.

That rejection to the dinner resulted in the formation of the Sorosis Club, where men weren't allowed. The women began a national movement that would save buildings, encourage literacy, establish scholarships, and, in general, make a big difference in the world around them. 

Sorosis was incorporated in January 1869 with Alice Cary serving as the first president. Within a year, Sorosis had 83 members. Along with Boston's New England Woman's Club, Sorosis inspired the formation of women's clubs across the country.

According to an article shared in 1884, the club was founded to promote mental activity and social opportunities for women.

Sorosis was among the 63 clubs that formed the General Federation of Women's Clubs in 1890.

Sorosis is a comes from a Latin word meaning "sister." The club's object was to further the educational and social activities of women by bringing together women of accomplishment in art, literature, science, and kindred pursuits to share their skills and vision.

Early members of Sorosis were participants in various professions as well as political reform movements such as abolitionism, suffrage, prison reform, temperance and peace. Sorosis expanded into local chapters across the country in the early twentieth century. These chapters went on to organize war relief efforts during both World Wars. Peacetime activities included philanthropy, scholarship funds, and social reforms.

 

Due to the efforts of the Sorosis Club in The Dalles, the old Surgeon’s Quarters, all that is left of the original fort, were preserved and saved through an Act of Congress. It opened as a museum in 1905. Today, that building is a key part of the museum complex.

It's wonderful what can happen when people (women especially) work together for a common goal.

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Today, Shanna draws on her rural roots to create sweet romances filled with hope, humor, quirky small-town characters, realistic heroes, and women of strength.

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.