Out of the kitchen and into the political arena

JERRY PERSON

The years seem to fly by so quickly and in just three more, our own

Woman’s Club of Huntington Beach will be celebrating 100 years of

service to our community betterment.

Our local club was established in 1908 by a few of our most civic

minded women.

Seven prominent ladies of our city met in the home of Florence L.

Blodget on Jan. 23, 1908. They gathered there to form a local Woman’s

Club that they hoped would bring culture and civic improvements to

the town.

These ladies included Blodget, Adelaide Howard, Ruth Hall

Lindgren, Minnie Nutt, Hattie Sholly, Dena Sundbye and Ruth Waite.

Throughout the years, our Woman’s Club would focus its vast energy

on community self-improvement and philanthropic work that would in

later years define the character of our city. To achieve these lofty

goals, the club would exercise discussions on the national interests

of the day.

Nowhere were these issues more evident than when the club invited

and hosted a convention of Orange County Woman’s Clubs in 1926.

Nearly 200 women descended on our small town to discuss those

national issues that concerned the ladies of our community on Oct.

22, 1926.

It would be a message of “War & Politics” that would fill out the

agenda of that meeting.

Because our local clubhouse was too small for such a large

meeting, the Huntington Beach Woman’s Club secured the Methodist

church building as a meeting place. These women had come to speak on

issues that for centuries had been the exclusive domain of the male.

War and world politics may have been a new subject for the ladies

to discuss, but they showed at this meeting that they were very

serious about these subjects and wanted to be part of the world

politics in general. No subject would be taboo at this convention.

There were 22 Orange County Woman’s Clubs represented at this

meeting.

President May Jackson of our club welcomed those who traveled to

our town and Mrs. Alex Nelson, president of the Orange County

Federation of Woman’s Clubs.

Nelson introduced world traveler Helena Lamson, who held her

audience spellbound. Speaking of the past world war, Lamson said that

war didn’t and that no country could live by itself. World trade was

not only necessary, but a means to stabilizing nations against war.

She went on to explain that the only way to have world peace was

to get the people of all nations to think friendly thoughts about

each other.

Another item brought up on the agenda concerned an effort to save

the Wright Act, California’s take on Prohibition, from repeal. Mrs.

S.H. Creager from Los Angeles was adamant that it remained law and

declared that any attempt on the part of anyone to repeal the act was

just as much an act of anarchy as a refusal to obey the U.S.

Constitution.

The Wright Act authorized putting over 20,000 police officers

throughout California to enforce the Volstead Act. This act made the

nation dry and made many a gangster famous during the time it was in

force.

I’ll bet if Creager were around today, she would favor putting

those officers on duty down here as “smoke police,” arresting anyone

found lighting up on our beaches.

Other topics during the convention ranged from child and community

welfare to motion picture and radio censorship. The meeting would

take a break for an appetizing luncheon, and our ladies had decorated

the tables in Halloween colors and designs.

To add a little entertainment to the solemn occasion, a musical

program was presented. Mrs. H.A. Bowman from our town pleased her

audience with her singing of two numbers, “Homing” and “All the

World’s In Love.” For these two numbers, Wilma Potthoff accompanied

her on the piano.

Last on the day’s agenda were two selections performed by members

of the Huntington Beach High School Girls’ Glee Club under the able

direction of Ruth Harlow. The girls sang “The Persian Serenade” and

“Little Orphan Annie.”

After that, it was time for the members of the convention to

retire to their hometowns. For the ladies of our Woman’s Club, it

would be time for ponder and to reflect on everything that was said

during the daylong convention.

So we must never underestimate our ladies when it comes to war and

to world politics, especially the ladies of our Woman’s Club.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.