SHAKESPEARE
I--SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE STORY
1. _Parentage, childhood, youth, and education_. Description of
Stratford (with photographs).
2. _Shakespeare as an actor, manager, and playwright_. His friends; his
theater; his company.
3. _His marriage_.
4. _His later years_. Evidence from legal documents, etc.
5. _Appreciation_ of Shakespeare by his contemporaries and successors.
Discuss Browning's House as an estimate of Shakespeare's relation to his
own plays.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--William Winter: Shakespeare's England. Hamilton Mabie:
Shakespeare. Sidney Lee: Life of Shakespeare.
Read of the school at Stratford which Shakespeare attended, and show a
photograph. Have a selection from Irving's Sketch Book from Stratford on
Avon. Tell of Shakespeare's marriage, and have for a reading or
recitation, Anne Hathaway. Show pictures of the town, the museum, the
Shakespeare Theater, etc.
II--THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL PLAYS
1. _Richard II. and King John_--Analysis of plots, leading characters
and their traits. Readings from Richard II.: Act v., Scene 1. King John:
Act iv., Scene 1 (beginning with Hubert's speech, "Heat me these irons
hot").
2. _Henry IV., Henry V., and Richard III._--Analysis of plots,
characters, and traits, as above. Readings from Henry IV.: Part II.,
Act. iv., Scene 5 (in part). Henry V.: Act v., Scene 2 (dialogue between
Henry and Katharine). Richard III.: first speech of Gloucester.
3. _Henry VI., and Henry VIII._--Analysis of plots, characters and
traits, as above. Readings from Henry VI.: Part I., Act iii., Scene 2
(conversation of Joan of Arc); also, Part III., Act ii., Scene 2. Henry
VIII.: Act iii., Scene 2 (last part, Cromwell and Wolsey); also, Act v.,
Scene 5.
4. _How Shakespeare Made His Historical Plays_--Describe the use he made
of Holinshed and older writers; the changes in plot and character due
to Shakespeare; the imaginary persons he introduced. Readings from
Holinshed.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Hamilton Mabie: William Shakespeare, Poet, Dramatist,
and Man. W. Aldis Wright: The Cambridge Shakespeare (introductions and
notes). Gollancz: The Temple Shakespeare (introductions and notes).
It will be interesting to take up the question how far these plays are
historically true; also their value to the common people as a means of
teaching them in a vivid way the history of their own country. How far
were they calculated to stimulate patriotism by the glorification of
England? Describe modern productions of these plays by Booth, Irving,
Mansfield, Sothern, etc. Tell the story of the first production of Henry
VIII., which caused the burning of the Globe Theater. (See Mabie's
Shakespeare, page 383.)
III--TYPICAL TRAGEDIES
1. _Hamlet_--The tragedy of the unbalanced mind. Source:
Saxo-Grammaticus. Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief
characters. Discussion of Hamlet's madness. Read Act i., Scenes 4 and 5;
Act iii., Scene 1, in part; Act v., Scene 2, latter part.
2. _King Lear_--The tragedy of filial ingratitude. Source: Holinshed.
Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters. The three
daughters as types. Read Act ii., Scene 4, enter Cornwall, Regan,
Gloster, etc.; Act iii., first four scenes; Act iv., Scene 7.
3. _Macbeth_--The tragedy of guilt. Source: Holinshed's Chronicles of
Scotland. Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters.
Reading of the story of Macbeth from Holinshed. Shakespeare's use of the
weird, illustrated by the witches. Feminine strength and masculine
weakness shown in Lady Macbeth and her husband. Read Act i., Scene 3;
Act v., Scene 1.
4. _Othello_--The tragedy of jealousy. Source: Cinthio's Hecatomithi.
Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters. Shakespeare
and Italy; local color. Novelty of the Moor as hero. Read Act iii.,
Scene 3, in part; Act v., Scene 2.
5. _Julius Caesar_--The tragedy of ambition. Source: North's Translation
of Plutarch. Reading from this. Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the
chief characters. Admiration of Shakespeare for Caesar, and frequent
reference to him. Read whole of Act iii., also Act iv., Scene 1.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Wood: Hamlet from a Psychological Point of View.
Brereton: Some Famous Hamlets. Hall Caine: Richard III. and Macbeth.
W. W. Skeat: Shakespeare's Plutarch.
Although every great tragedian has attempted the famous parts in
Shakespeare's tragedies, some have stood out conspicuously for their
interpretations. Study Kemble, Kean, Macready, Booth, Barrett, Irving,
and Mansfield; also, Mrs. Siddons, Helen Faucit, Charlotte Cushman and
Ellen Terry. Illustrate, if possible, with portraits in character, such
as Booth as Hamlet, Mansfield as Caesar, and Terry as Ophelia.
IV--TYPICAL COMEDIES
1. _The Taming of the Shrew_--An Italian play. Source in an older
English play. Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters.
Contrast between Katharine and Bianca. Read Act ii., Scene 1 (the
dialogue between Katharine and Petruchio) and Act v., Scene 2.
2. _Twelfth Night_--Source: Bandello. Synopsis of the plot and analysis
of the chief characters. Imaginative setting of the play in Illyria.
Shakespeare's sense of fun. Rude humor of the time. Read Act ii., Scene
3, latter part.
3. _The Merry Wives of Windsor_--No definite source. Materials in
Stratford life. Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief
characters. A purely English play. The Falstaff of history compared with
Shakespeare's representation of him. Falstaff here and elsewhere in
Shakespeare. Note the possibility of the origin of this play in a
request of Queen Elizabeth. Read Act iii., Scene 3.
4. _The Comedy of Errors_--Source: the Menaechmi of Plautus. Synopsis of
the plot and analysis of the chief characters. Read Act v., Scene 1
(from "enter a servant" on).
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Hudson: The Harvard Shakespeare (introductions and
notes). Lang: Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. List of Songs by
Shakespeare set to Music: the New Shakespeare Society.
V--PLAYS OF SENTIMENT
1. _Romeo and Juliet_--Source: William Painter's Palace of Pleasure.
Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters. Essentially
lyrical quality of this play. Compare Ophelia and Juliet. Read Act ii.,
Scene 2. Reading from A Study of Romeo in J. J. Chapman's Emerson and
Other Essays.
2. _As You Like It_--Source: Lodge's Rosalynde. Synopsis of the plot and
analysis of the chief characters. Note the part of Adam, which
Shakespeare played himself. Compare Juliet and Rosalind. Read Act ii.,
Scene 4, and Act iii., Scene 2. Readings from Hamilton Mabie's In the
Forest of Arden and William Winter's Old Shrines and Ivy.
3. _The Merchant of Venice_--Source: the Italian Tale, Il Pecorone.
Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief characters. Discuss the
question, Who is the hero of the drama? Read from Act iii., Scene 2, and
Act iv., Scene 1 (Portia's plea). Reading from Philipson's The Jew in
English Fiction.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Hiram Corson: Introduction to Shakespeare. Fleming:
How to Study Shakespeare. Dowden: Transcripts and Studies (for Romeo and
Juliet). Stopford Brooke: On Ten Plays of Shakespeare (for As You Like
It). Introductions to the several plays by Brandes, R. G. White and
Rolfe (popular).
The heroines of these plays are among the loveliest in Shakespeare. A
special paper might be prepared on them, illustrating it with their
famous speeches.
VI--PLAYS OF FANCY
1. _Midsummer Night's Dream_--Source: old tales (Petrarch, Ovid,
Chaucer, etc.). Synopsis of the plot and analysis of the chief
characters. An early play, full of sprightly gaiety. Splendid metrical
command. Influence on later literature and music (Faust, Oberon). Read
Act iii., Scene 1. Also the Pyramus and Thisbe part.
2. _Cymbeline_--Source: Boccaccio and Holinshed. Synopsis of the plot
and analysis of the chief characters. Serene temper with tragic element.
Fanciful geography. Read Act iv., Scene 2, through the song Fear No
More.
3. _Winter's Tale_--Source: Greene's Pandosto and the Decameron of
Boccaccio. Analysis of the plot and description of the chief characters.
List of Warwickshire flowers mentioned (Act iv., Scene 3). Discuss the
reason for the popularity of this play in Shakespeare's time and its
neglect now. Read Act iv., Scene 3, in part.
4. _The Tempest_--Source: almost entirely Shakespeare's own; very slight
dependence on materials. Analysis of the plot and description of the
chief characters. Probably Shakespeare's last play. Wreck of the
_Sea-Venture_ and description of Bermuda (see Mabie's Shakespeare). Note
Shakespeare's desertion of reality for fancy at the close of his career.
Read Act v., Scene 1.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Hudson: The Life, Art, and Character of Shakespeare.
Dowden: Shakespeare, His Mind and Art. The Arden Shakespeare:
introductions by Chambers, Wyatt, Boas, etc. Editions of the plays by
Rolfe, Brandes, and Hudson. Winter: Old Shrines and Ivy. Sherman: What
is Shakespeare? (chapters on Cymbeline and Winter's Tale). W. B.
Carpenter: Religious Spirit in the Poets (chapter on the Tempest).
As this is the last program in which Shakespeare's plays are taken up in
detail, the important subject might be discussed of the relation of the
plays to the author's own life and mental development. (See Dowden's
book.) Special study should be made of the exquisite songs in which the
last three plays are particularly rich. Hark, Hark, the Lark! and Fear
No More, from Cymbeline, Jog On and When Daffodils Begin, from Winter's
Tale, and Where the Bee Sucks, from the Tempest, should be sung or
read.
VII--SONNETS AND OTHER POEMS
1. _Venus and Adonis_--Early experiment in narrative verse. The story
founded on Ovid, with medieval alterations of the legend. Character of
the theme acceptable to the Renaissance spirit, but impossible to-day.
Correctness of the text.
2. _The Rape of Lucrece_--Story of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. Legend
unaltered by the poet. Lucrece, the model of conjugal fidelity in the
Middle Ages. Who was the Earl of Southampton, to whom the poem was
dedicated? What did the other poets of Shakespeare's time think of these
early poems?
3. _Shorter Poems_--A Lover's Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim, and The
Phoenix and the Turtle. Shakespeare's part in the second and his
indignation at the use of his name for the whole. The "unsolved enigma"
of the last.
4. _The Sonnets_--The origin of the sonnet form in Italy. The plan of
the series. Comparison of the collection with Wordsworth's sonnet
sequences, Mrs. Browning's Sonnets, and Tennyson's In Memoriam. The
problem of W. H. Read the Sonnets, 18, 22, 33, 116.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--W. J. Rolfe: Venus and Adonis, and Other Poems.
Sidney Lee: introductions to the several poems. Israel Gollanez:
Shakespeare's Sonnets. Edward Dowden: Shakespeare's Sonnets. Parke
Godwin: New Study of the Sonnets of Shakespeare.
The most interesting problem about the sonnets is whether or not they
are a revelation of Shakespeare's own experience and views of life, or
are wholly imaginative. On this point read from Wordsworth, Scorn Not
the Sonnet, and Browning's House, in which the two poets take opposite
views. For a full and most interesting discussion see Dowden's essay.
VIII--THE WOMEN OF SHAKESPEARE
1. _Introductory_--Variety of characters and pronounced individuality.
Different types represented. Not peculiar to his age, but timeless.
2. _The Women of Intellect_--Portia: the woman of wisdom and learning.
Is she Shakespeare's highest female type? Beatrice: the fine lady, of
wit and high spirits. Readings--Portia: the casket scene and the court
scene from the Merchant of Venice. Beatrice: first and last scenes from
Much Ado.
3. _The Women of Sentiment_--Juliet: woman of the South; romantic and
intense. Desdemona; woman of the North; modest, tender, self-restrained.
Readings--Juliet: Act iii., Scenes 2 and 5, of Romeo and Juliet.
Desdemona: Act iv., Scene 2, of Othello.
4. _The Women of Imagination_--Perdita: simplicity, dignity, and
sweetness. Miranda: ethereal, unsophisticated, and ideal.
Readings--Perdita: Act iv., Scene 4 (the shepherd's cottage), of the
Winter's Tale. Miranda: Act i., Scene 2 (the island), of the Tempest.
5. _The Women of History_--Lady Macbeth: power of intellect,
determination, devotion to her husband's career. Princess Katharine:
charming and coquettish. Readings--Lady Macbeth: Act i., Scene 8, from
Macbeth. Katharine: Act v., Scene 2 (beginning "Fair Katharine"), from
Henry V.
6. _Women of Various Types_--Illustrative readings from As You Like It
(Rosalind), Hamlet (Ophelia), King Lear (Cordelia), Taming of the Shrew
(Katharine).
BOOKS TO CONSULT--E. Dowden: Transcripts and Studies. L. Lewes: Women of
Shakespeare. Mrs. A. B. Jameson: Characteristics of Women. Wingate:
Shakespeare's Heroines on the Stage.
The club members could add interest to this meeting by recalling the
famous actresses they may have seen, and comparing their presentations
of Shakespeare's women. For example, Mary Anderson as Juliet, Ada Rehan
as Katharine, Ellen Terry as Portia, Modjeska as Rosalind, and Julia
Marlowe as Ophelia.
IX--SHAKESPEREAN PROBLEMS
1. _His Personality_--How much education had Shakespeare? Did he reveal
himself in his plays? What were his personal characteristics?
2. _Characteristics of His Work_--Did he plagiarize? If so, was he
justified? Was his meaning always clear to himself? See Richard Grant
White on this point. Is his broad humor defensible? Discuss Taine's
criticism on this point.
3. _Estimate of Shakespeare in His Own and Later Times_--What did his
contemporaries think of him? Why was he ignored in the later seventeenth
century? Quote from great writers on Shakespeare: Coleridge, Goethe,
Swinburne, etc.
4. _The Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy_--Origin: story of Delia Bacon's
life. Is there a cipher in Shakespeare? Quotation of learned opinion on
both sides.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Emerson: Essays. E. Dowden: Essays, Modern and
Elizabethan. Arthur Gilman: Shakespeare's Morals. Ignatius Donnelly: The
Great Cryptogram. Charlotte Carmichael Stopes: Bacon-Shakespeare
Question Answered.
Have a talk on Shakespeare the historian. Is he trustworthy? Does he
give an accurate account of events or only reproduce general color? Have
a discussion on the character of Hamlet. Was he really mad? Did
Shakespeare intend so to represent him, or to leave the matter in doubt?
For those interested in such things, the subject of the early editions
of Shakespeare, and their relation to one another, is one of great
fascination. A description of the immensely costly collection recently
presented to the Elizabethan Club at Yale might be given.
X--FAMOUS PRESENTATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS
1. _English_--Garrick, Charles Kean, Siddons, Charles Kemble, Lady
Faucit, Irving, Terry, Tree, Benson. Descriptions and anecdotes from
Boswell's Johnson, Charles Lamb's Essays, Fanny Burney's Diary, and
Ellen Terry's life.
2. _American_--Forrest, the elder and younger Booth, Barrett, Ada Rehan,
Mansfield, Sothern, and Marlowe.
3. _The Theater at Stratford-on-Avon_--Description of it with views.
Story of some of the famous presentations given there. Differences
between these and those of Shakespeare's own time.
4. _Discussion of the Question of Stage Settings_--Was that of
Shakespeare's time better, with no scenery, and all the effect lying in
the meaning of the lines; or is the method of to-day preferable with its
elaborate, costly, and spectacular scenery and stage effects? Describe
the change in stage ideas due to the invention of the electric light.
5. _Description of Plays Seen_--Brief statements by the club members of
the Shakespearean representations they have witnessed, with an analysis
of their impressions of plays and of actors.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Sidney Lee: Shakespeare and the Modern Stage. Percy
Fitzgerald: Shakespearean Representation: Its Laws and Limits. Percy
Fitzgerald: Romance of the English Stage. C. E. L. Wingate:
Shakespeare's Heroes on the Stage. Also, Heroines.
Prepare in advance of this meeting a screen with old play-bills and
photographs of famous actors, Forrest, Kean, Booth and others. Read
from newspaper files the dramatic criticisms of the plays presented.
Describe some of the famous theaters of America in past and present
times. Close with a discussion of the personal attitude of the club
members toward Shakespeare's plays as compared with those written
to-day. Is there a Shakespearean affectation?
CHAPTER XIX
THE EMPLOYMENTS OF WOMEN
In arranging a year's program from this outline, have several meetings
on the older occupations of women before bringing the study down to
present times, when the work becomes more varied. The first five topics
may be made very interesting if there are readings from histories of the
Middle Ages on the work of women at that time. Where possible, clubs
should make trips to museums or libraries and examine work exhibited
there.
I--POTTERY
Making clay pots for household use is one of the first things women did.
They took ordinary earth, moulded it roughly, and baked it in their
domestic fires until it would hold water and food. Such pots are found
everywhere where there are ancient remains, among the lake dwellers in
Switzerland, among Egyptians and Greeks, and in the ruins in Mexico.
Later, men took this work largely to themselves, and kept it until our
own day, when women have begun to make beautiful pottery, glazed and
decorated. Show pictures from catalogues of such potteries as the
Rookwood and others, and mention also the good work that is done
privately and fired in small kilns.
II--SPINNING AND WEAVING
Begin the study of this delightful topic back in the earliest times, and
show how step by step it advanced. Woolen and linen fabrics were made by
the ancients, and dyed with vegetable colors, for clothing and for
hangings. Notice the tapestries of later days, especially those first
woven in Flanders and Arras, which were so valuable they were used only
by royalty or in churches. Have a paper on tapestry made at home, in
castles, and even in royal residences, by the household of women. Speak
also of the work done in Colonial days by our grandmothers, of the linen
sheets and blankets spun and woven, and of the beautiful blue-and-white
coverlets of the period. Show some of the latter, if possible. Read from
the book called Tapestry and Embroidery, by Cole.
III--EMBROIDERY
Almost as soon as skins were made into garments the art of decoration
was discovered, and feathers and shells were sewed to them in patterns,
and stitches taken with colored fibers, grasses, and shreds of wool. The
primitive tribes of Indians, especially in South America, use exactly
the same methods to-day. Embroidery was always distinctly women's work,
men never sharing in it as they did in making pottery. In Egypt,
Assyria, and among the Jews it became much more elaborate and artistic.
Tyre and Sidon were noted for their beautiful work. Homer describes
embroidered garments among the Greeks; Roman women wore showy colored
borders on their skirts and scarfs.
In the early Middle Ages ecclesiastical embroidery, done largely in gold
and silver threads, was known in Europe, and much exquisite work of the
kind was done in the convents. Matilda, the wife of William the
Conqueror, and her women made the famous Bayeux tapestry, which was
really embroidery.
The embroidery of the Orient, especially that of China and India, is
famous, though this is not done exclusively by women. Mention the
originality of the patterns used, the brilliance of the silk, and the
permanence of the colors. Note also the lovely white embroidery done by
the French and other nations.
IV--LACE-MAKING
This art grew out of that of embroidery, for the thin parts of the
latter were cut out, leaving the effect of heavy, colored lace. A book
was published in 1527, called The New and Subtile Book Concerning the
Art and Science of Embroidery, Fringes, and Tapestries, as Well as Other
Crafts Done with the Needle, and in this book there are patterns for
lace. The Venetians first mastered the making of white lace with the
needle, and produced heavy, effective designs. Under Louis XIV. delicate
lace was made in France, especially that called Valencon. Pillow-lace
made with bobbins was invented by a woman in Saxony about the middle of
the sixteenth century.
Have papers on the laces peculiar to different countries, and show
examples or pictures of them. English thread in white and black; Spanish
silk, hand-run; Irish crochet; Valenciennes, and others. See Palliser's
History of Lace for description and illustrations. If possible, visit a
museum which has a collection of laces; there is an excellent one in the
Metropolitan, of New York. Study also the conditions under which the
laces are made, the lives of lace-workers, and the prices received by
them for their work.
V--BASKET-WEAVING
Like the making of pottery, the weaving of baskets goes back to the very
earliest times. Women soon learned how to twist together osiers or twigs
and make them into receptacles for household use. As time went on,
baskets became more beautiful and artistic, and all nations, but
particularly those of the Orient, made them in delicate materials and
lovely designs. Often savage peoples will be found who excel in
basketry. Notice especially the baskets made by the North American
Indian women, and see the book on Basketry, by G. W. James, which is
full of illustrations.
VI--MODERN HANDICRAFT FOR WOMEN
Have club members make as many programs from the subjects following as
they desire, and illustrate them as far as possible with examples of
the work. Take up also the schools where designing is taught, and tell
what is done there. Note the growth of all designing work for women;
bookbinding; jewelry-making; stenciling; making of furniture; bead-work;
knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, and patchwork; rug-making; work
in leather and wood; china-painting; work in plaster.
VII--WOMEN IN THE PROFESSIONS AND ARTS
Clubs should have papers on each one of the following representative
women, showing what they accomplished. In addition there might be a
study of the women of to-day who are doing good work on similar lines.
In astronomy, Caroline Herschel; in music, Fanny Mendelssohn; in
philanthropy, Elizabeth Fry or Florence Nightingale; in painting, Rosa
Bonheur or Elizabeth Thompson Butler; in sculpture, Harriet Hosmer; in
education, Mary Lyon; in the lecture field, Mary A. Livermore; on the
stage, Charlotte Cushman or Rachel; as poet, Mrs. Browning; as novelist,
George Eliot.
Add to this list some names of women who are doctors, lawyers,
ministers, editors, teachers, and nurses. See Lives of Girls Who Became
Famous Women, by Sarah K. Bolton.
VIII--WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Have one or more practical papers showing what women have done and can
do in the field of every-day work. The Trained Mother might come first,
and then Woman as Housekeeper. After that take her as teacher,
governess, stenographer, saleswoman, dressmaker and milliner, caterer,
landscape-gardener, architect, dairy-woman, real-estate dealer,
house-decorator, and buyer. Follow with a paper or talk showing what can
be done in unusual ways to earn one's living; keeping a tea-room,
shopping, caring for children, mending, packing, preserving, and
embroidering.
IX--SUMMARY
Close the year with a broad view of the whole subject. What about
woman's work in general? Is it well done and well paid? What of factory
work, domestic service, and work in shops? Under what conditions is such
work done? What of the question of equal pay? What of the "living
wage"? What is being done for working girls? Do settlements, vacation
homes, and the like meet their needs? Read Olive Schreiner's Woman and
Labor.
CHAPTER XX
IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS OF OUR TIMES
Sufficient material is given under each of the following ten heads for
clubs to divide into two or more meetings.
I--THE PEACE MOVEMENT
The first Peace Society was founded in New York, in 1815. A second was
organized six months later in Boston and the following year a third in
London. The first International Peace Congress was held in 1843, in
London. From that time till the present, many congresses have been held
all over the world, and Peace Societies exist everywhere, forty in
America alone.
The object of all societies is to so establish an orderly state of
affairs that war shall be impossible. The consular and diplomatic
services work along these lines, and advocate treaties between nations.
The gradual reduction of standing armies and navies is also one of the
aims of the movement.
The Hague Tribunal was established in 1899, to adjust differences
between nations who cannot settle them for themselves. Between that year
and 1912 one hundred and sixty-seven such settlements were made.
The gift of $10,000,000 by Andrew Carnegie and the bestowal of the Nobel
Prize have put the Peace Movement on so secure a financial basis that
its future is assured.
Read the reports of the great Peace Conference in New York in 1907, and
select readings from its addresses. See also Chittenden's book, Peace or
War.
Clubs will find it worth while to preface this study with one meeting on
War. Speak of the cost of standing armies and navies, of loss of life in
great battles, of military schools, of compulsory military service.
Discuss: Is war ever necessary?
II--WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE
1. The movement in the past. Briefly sketch the history of woman in
early times, in the Middle Ages, and later, to the present. Notice that
the modern movement may be said to have begun when in 1647 Mary Brent,
the representative of Lord Baltimore, demanded a seat in the
representative body of Maryland. In the middle of the last century such
women as Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia B. Mott, Susan B.
Anthony, Emma Willard, Mary Putman Jacobi and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
became the leaders of the Woman's Rights party, and the first convention
was held in New York state, in 1846. Give sketches of these and other
women; tell of the demands they made, and the result of the convention.
On what did the suffrage party base its claims?
2. The movement to-day. Have a paper or talk on the conditions in
Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden and Norway, Finland, Scotland,
Ireland and Wales, and last, on England, called "The storm center."
What of our country? Which states have equal suffrage, and how does it
work? What especial questions are of vital interest to women, and how
will they be aided by the vote?
What of woman's physical and mental ability to handle political issues?
What of such work as that of soldier, sailor, worker on roads, in
sewers, on the police and fire boards?
What of her relation to her home if equal suffrage is granted?
Name some of the women in England and America who are especially leaders
in the movement, and tell of their position and work.
See books and magazine articles by Jane Addams, Ida Tarbell and Mrs. Ida
Husted Harper. See also: The Modern Woman's Rights Movement, by
Schirmacher.
III--THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT
Prohibition is an attempt to abolish the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic liquors, except for purposes of industry, science, art and
medicine. It declares that the capital now in the liquor traffic would,
if invested in legitimate business, give employment to hundreds of
thousands of men. It would promote commerce, protect labor, preserve
health, conserve the interests of home and state. It would prevent
cruelty, pauperism, disease and crime.
The movement for prohibition was merely local until 1851, when the Neal
Dow law was passed, making Maine a prohibition state. The nation and
state also combined at this time to prevent the sale of liquor to the
Indians. At the close of the Civil War new conditions arose; German
beer was imported, and huge breweries and distilleries were built at
home. Numerous states then took up the matter of prohibition, and many
have had laws passed prohibiting manufacture and sale of all
intoxicants, most of them repealed or declared unconstitutional.
In Ohio there was a remarkable movement called the Women's Crusade which
is worthy of study. Mention some of the leaders; study also the careers
of John B. Gough, and Frances Willard.
South Dakota was admitted to the Union as a prohibition state; Kansas
and Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska have prohibition also, and some states
have local option by counties or towns; cities in many parts of the
country have it by precincts.
The history of the political Prohibition Party is a subject to be taken
up by itself. Mention its prominent leaders, their methods and the
results of the campaigns.
Discuss: Would enforced prohibition be beneficial to the state? Is local
option a success? Is there open violation of the law in prohibition
states? What of the legislative work of the Anti-Saloon League?
IV--MODERN MEDICINE AND SURGERY
The new day in medicine and surgery began, when, in 1846 ether was
discovered, and chloroform a year later, and Warren, in the
Massachusetts General Hospital, popularized them. All operations,
however, were still attended with danger because of infection, till
Pasteur discovered the dangerous bacteria and Lister invented
sterilization. Then modern methods really began.
The field of possible operations at once widened; surgeons began to have
better operating rooms, more scientific preparation of patients before
operations and better dressings and care afterward. Not only antiseptic
but aseptic treatment became known. New anesthetics, and local ones have
been found; the use of oxygen and electricity have been beneficial; the
X-ray has been discovered and put to practical use.
Great sums of money have been set aside for research work, and new
serums have been found of enormous benefit to the public. Scientists are
looking for the germs of many diseases, and for their antidotes.
Wonderful new operations are full of interest; note especially the
transfusion of blood, and the preservation of tissue and transplanting
of living organs.
Have other papers on: the specialist as the supplanter of the general
practitioner; the new relation between medicine and hygiene; the
relation of the old family physician to his patients; the work of the
Red Cross Society, and the widespread knowledge of first aid to the
injured. What are the possibilities of the near future in medicine and
surgery? What in research work?
V--MODERN MOVEMENTS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
Boards of Health in the state and community exist for the purpose of
controlling and repressing agencies which would undermine the health of
the people. Their work is far-reaching, but it may be grouped under the
following heads:
1. The care of the water supply is among its most important functions;
it must protect it from its source to the homes of the consumers,
overseeing all sewers, cesspools and drainage. It must also see that the
supply of ice is pure. It undertakes to care for all roads and
sidewalks, and their proper lighting. It is responsible for the
construction of buildings, as to safety, ventilation, plumbing and
draining.
2. It also insists on its notification of all disease and attends to
quarantining and disinfecting; it vaccinates; it fights tuberculosis; it
removes the sick to the proper place; it sees that the dead are properly
handled; it keeps a record of vital statistics.
3. It has an oversight of food supplies; it insists that the milk is
pure and carefully handled; it prevents the adulteration of foodstuffs
and drugs; it stops the sale of stale or unwholesome foods; it demands
clean slaughter houses; it sees that all dangerous animals are shut up
or killed, and dead ones removed from the streets; it prohibits
unpleasant odors, and smoke; it tries to do away with all public
nuisances; it seeks to exterminate the mosquitoes.
These topics may be taken up as far as time allows. Discuss in closing
such questions as: What does our local Board of Health do for us? Where
does it fail? What can women's clubs do to make it more effective?
VI--MODERN IMPROVEMENTS IN CHILDREN'S EDUCATION
One of the most important of recent events is the establishing by the
government of a Federal Children's Bureau, for the expert study of the
conditions of childhood, and suggestions for its betterment. This
included among other things, the outlook over their education.
The new school-houses built both in city and country are finer than have
existed before, and the ideas of education are widening daily. Clubs
should take up some of the following subjects:
The health of school children; what is being done to improve it? Study
the new sanitation and ventilation of school-houses; the disappearance
of the common drinking cup; the doctor's care of eyes, teeth, throats,
spines and ears; the supply of breakfasts to the under fed; the
out-of-door schools for tubercular pupils; the training in cleanliness.
The vocational schools in thirty states, with manual training, domestic
arts, industrial work and agriculture. Also vocational guidance in
choosing a business; finding situations, etc. The schools for
exceptional children, the foreigner, the backward, the crippled, the
blind, the epileptic, the morally defective.
The Montessori system; is it successful? Compare with the kindergarten.
The training in patriotism; saluting the flag; birthdays of great men,
etc.
The graded country school of to-day; compare with "the little red
school-house." School play grounds in city and country. Gymnasiums.
Athletic fields. Close with a discussion: What is the standing of your
local school? Do teacher and parent work together? Is the school board
doing its best?
VII--MODERN MUNICIPAL ART
Municipal art, is art applied to cities. Its aim is to build up an
entire city with a view to symmetry, beauty and utility.
An Art Commission is appointed when a city decides to become beautiful,
and this draws up a far-reaching plan. Then all buildings put up must
conform to this, and nothing can be done at haphazard. Slums must
disappear, and model tenements take their place; streets must be cut
through congested districts to relieve them; business blocks must not be
over-high; inartistic public buildings and monuments must give way to
others; parks must be opened, trees planted along the streets, and
boulevards laid out. See what Chicago and Minneapolis have accomplished
in making themselves over.
Discuss foreign cities which are symmetrical, notably Paris and Berlin;
speak of our own capital, Washington, D. C.; show pictures of
well-lighted streets, of a good skyline; of superior paving. Show
pictures also of objectionable street advertising; electric signs;
alternate high and low buildings, ornate court-houses; ugly statues.
From the different magazines get illustrations of the "Garden Cities of
England," and other beautiful towns. Notice what can be done with
different building materials, and with vines and flower boxes on a city
residence street.
Discuss the sky scraper; is it necessary? What of apartment houses? of
elevated railroads? of disfiguring gas works, chimneys, manufactories?
What can women's clubs do toward making the home city beautiful?
See C. M. Robinson's The Improvement of Towns and Cities.
VIII--MODERN BENEVOLENCE
More money is given away to-day than ever before in the history of the
world. It is called "the era of magnificent giving." Two hundred
million dollars is spent in benevolence yearly in the United States
alone, and it is estimated that in ten or fifteen years from two to four
billions will be given annually. Old methods are passing away, and new
ones taking their place. The subject of modern giving is one of immense
importance.
Clubs should introduce the study with a resume of benevolences in the
past; gifts to hospitals, asylums, colleges, libraries, art galleries,
museums, missions and other institutions; then take up more recent
giving to such things as model tenements, homes for tubercular,
settlements, institutional churches, homes for working women, the Mills
hotels, trade and technical schools, homes for convalescents, seaside
homes for children, pensions for professors; modern schools for the
blind, the crippled, the orphan, teaching self support. Notice that the
trend of giving to-day is toward prevention of suffering as well as its
cure.
Great gifts to-day are largely in favor of science. Note the great
medical research laboratories in New York, and what they already
accomplished; also the endowment for individuals on special lines in
which they show marked ability. Study what is being done by
legislatures in establishing laws about bequests, their trusteeship, and
time limitations, and the new theory that no gift should be bestowed
without the possibility of change, since in twenty years conditions
alter. What of making and breaking wills? of funds left for institutions
which may not be always needed? of protection to society through state
boards, etc.?
Read the article on Giving in _The Survey_, December 28, 1912, which
discusses the various phases of modern giving.
IX--MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF COUNTRY LIFE
Clubs may divide this subject into two heads, and have several programs
on each.
1. The farmer. After years of obscurity, the life of the farmer has
suddenly become of immense importance to society. To-day the Bureau of
Agriculture and other forces are rapidly changing its future. State
fairs, granges, courses of instruction for men and women in
school-houses, and "farmer's bulletins" give instruction; experiment
stations deal with such difficulties as weeds, soils, drainage, and
pests, and teach scientifically about cattle, poultry, bee keeping,
crops, and the dairy. Public and high schools, colleges and
universities have courses in agriculture, which teach beside the
ordinary farm work, forestry, how to have good roads, how to take up
unusual work.
The telephone, the automobile and the parcel post all bring the farmer
nearer town. Speak also of the Commission on Country Life, and its work;
of abandoned farms; of the farmer's wife, and her problems; of the
farmer's sons and daughters, and their future. How can life be made more
easy and attractive on a farm?
2. Country Homes. Notice the extraordinary growth of the country home
for all the year, instead of for summer only. What are its difficulties
and what its advantages? Read of large estates, and describe some in the
Adirondacks, in the vicinity of Boston, New York, in the South, and
West; illustrate with pictures from magazines. Have a paper on Gardens,
and describe some; read from the many books on this subject. Take up
landscape gardening, and discuss its possibilities. What of country
sports? of golf, tennis, hunting, motoring, etc.? of bungalows, camps,
seashore cottages, etc.? of country lanes, of game preserves, forest
parks and the like. Speak of the enormous literature on country life.
X--SOCIAL SERVICE
Social service is of distinctly modern growth. It is the intelligent
understanding of the needs of to-day and of the best way to meet them.
Clubs should study it under some or all of these heads:
Read of the Schools of Philanthropy, where modern methods of relief are
taught, and the workers are trained for service in some branch; and the
American Institute of Social Service, the object of which is the
gathering and disseminating of information on all social thought and
service. The latter publishes monthly a pamphlet on present day problems
which is excellent for reference.
Discuss welfare work, the care of employers for employees; what has been
done? the ventilation of work rooms; safe machinery; pensions,
insurance, hospital, savings bank, care of sick at home, food, etc.
Settlements; their origin and history; what can neighborliness do for
the poor? Read of the work of Toynbee Hall and Hull House.
The Juvenile Courts; their origin and work. The Big Brother and Big
Sister movement.
Work for the defective; for paupers; insane; consumptives; idle.
Prisons, and modern prison reform.
For children; creches; free kindergartens; seaside homes; floating
hospitals; pure milk and ice.
Relief of congestion in cities; parks and playgrounds; recreation piers.
Legal Aid societies and help for the aliens; legislation on women's and
children's labor.
The Charity Organization societies; nursing of poor; relief of want.
Education; moving pictures; music; open-air Christmas trees; free
beaches, etc.
For references see The Gospel of the Kingdom, published by the American
Institute of Social Service, and _The Survey_.
CHAPTER XXI
THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD
I--THE BABY
1. _The Baby's Welcome to the Home_--The mother's anticipation; the
brothers' and sisters' anticipation; the intelligent mother: study of
modern methods.
2. _The Baby's Environment_--The wardrobe; the hygienic nursery; the
atmosphere of cheerfulness.
3. _The Baby's Physical Development_--The handicapped child (nerves,
temper, defects); food; sleep; the out-of-door sleeping-room; the child
and the doctor.
4. _Reading_ from The Luxury of Children, by Martin.
_Books to Consult_--Oppenheim: The Development of the Child. S. H. Rowe:
The Physical Nature of the Child and How to Study It.
Begin the discussion of the day with a paper on the Modern Science of
Eugenics: How Far is It Practical? Have a Talk on the Spoiled Baby,
over-fed, over-amused, over-indulged; contrast with one on The Normal
Baby. Close with readings or recitations on Babyhood, poems from Eugene
Field, Stevenson, and others.
II--SCHOOL
1. _The Kindergarten_--Its value to manners. Is it a good preparation
for later work?
2. _The Public School_--Training children to regular habits of study.
Dealing with individual difficulties. Desk-mates. Moral influence of
child on child.
3. _Parent and Teacher_--Relations of interest and friendship. Mutual
suggestions. The backward child.
4. _The School and Health_--Sanitation of the school. Danger of
contagion (the individual drinking-cup, etc.). Watchfulness over sight
and hearing. The out-of-doors school.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Herbert Spencer: Education. Luther Burbank: Training
of the Human Plant. J. Mark Baldwin: Mental Development in the Child and
the Race. G. Stanley Hall: Aspects of Child Life and Education. Irving
King: Psychology of Child Development.
The school life of the child should be discussed from the standpoint of
both parent and teacher. The watchful care over the child's morals is an
important topic. The child's home work, how much should be done; and at
what hours, is a subject for discussion. The school dress of little
girls, the tidiness of both boys and girls, school lunches, the plays of
the noon-hour, are all suggestive. Beautifying the school-room with
pictures, casts and flowers may well be considered.
III--PLAY AND PLAYMATES
1. _The Place of Play in Child Life_--The development of body and mind
in infancy, childhood, and youth. Intelligent direction of play by
parents and teachers. Cultivation of originality.
2. _Outdoor Play_--The building instinct: the sand-pile, miniature
houses, practical play-houses, camps. Plays of imagination: Indians,
pirates, hunters. Athletic games.
3. _Indoor Play_--Contests of intelligence and skill. Group games:
anagrams, twenty questions, etc. Manual and educational plays.
4. _Playmates_--The parents' control. Ethics of play: honesty, courage,
honor, etc. Moral and social training of play.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Karl Groos: Play in Man. Newell: Games of American
Children. Gomme: Children's Singing Games. Leland: Playground Technique
and Playcraft.
Discuss the value of letting boys and girls grow up together as
playmates. Athletic games for girls is also a good topic to take up.
Play-rooms for children, with suggestions for the decoration of walls,
treatment of floors, and furnishings may be discussed. Sunday plays for
small children will be found full of interest. The growth of the
provision for play for city children is treated in many magazines of
recent date, with illustrations of playgrounds, garden spots,
roof-gardens and the like.
IV--DISCIPLINE
1. _The Trained Parent_--Preparation for parenthood. Character and
knowledge. Discussion of helpful books.
2. _The Normal Child_--The faults to be expected: forgetfulness, lack of
cleanliness, lack of promptness, temper, etc. How shall we deal with the
ordinary faults?
3. _Special Faults_--Disobedience, obstinacy, lack of self-control,
dishonesty, lying. Discrimination as to seriousness. How far is
imagination responsible for falsehood?
4. _Punishments_--Discuss the question: Is physical punishment ever
allowable? Consider Abbott's theory of gentle measures. Fitting the
punishment to the offense. The child's sense of justice. When are
punishments outgrown?
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Jacob Abbott: Gentle Measures in the Management and
Training of the Young. E. H. Abbott: On the Training of Parents. G.
Stanley Hall: Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene.
V--MORAL TRAINING
1. _The Ideal of the Parent for the Child_--Necessity of a definite plan
in the parent's mind. Discussion of books that have helped.
2. _Methods of Training_--Story-telling and reading aloud. Books for the
child. The value of hero-worship.
3. _The Contagion of Character_--Childhood's keen vision. Force of
example versus reproof. The child as partner in the home work.
4. _Special Training_--Truthfulness. Chivalry and the spirit of honor.
Purity. How shall the mystery of sex be taught to a child?
Unselfishness.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Felix Adler: Moral Instruction of Children. C. C.
Everett: Ethics for Young Folks. W. T. Harris: Moral Education in the
Public Schools. Horace Bushnell: Views of Christian Nurture.
The department of child-study most discussed to-day is that of sex
education, and club women should certainly take it up. Consider its
necessity, the age at which instruction should begin, and the person who
should give it, the teacher scientifically, or the parent at home.
VI--MANNERS
1. _Manners at Home_--Table manners. How early should they be taught,
and how? Self-control. Modesty. Consideration for servants and
tradespeople. Courtesy to elders.
2. _Manners to Playmates_--Teasing and bullying. Must our boys fight?
Should tale-bearing be encouraged? The spirit of honor and generosity.
Courtesy between children.
3. _Society Manners_--Definite training in social conventions. The place
of the dancing-school. The value of children's parties.
4. _The Relation of Manners and Morals_--Are American manners
deteriorating? The teaching of manners by historic stories. Sympathy,
the foundation of courtesy. Self-restraint, the essence of manners and
morals.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Gow: Good Morals and Gentle Manners. Wiggin: Lessons
on Manners. Dewey: How to Teach Manners in the School-room.
A talk may follow the first paper, pointing out that kind treatment of
animals, especially of pets, tends to teach children gentleness,
sympathy, and consideration. A little paper might take up the subject of
the modern ideals of manners.
VII--OCCUPATIONS
1. _Reading_--Direction by parents and librarians. To how much liberty
in taste and choice is a child entitled? Lists of good books for
children. Discussion: What good books can we suggest? What books shall
we avoid: poorly written, over-sentimental, and with low ideals.
2. _Gardening_--The children's plot. Flowers and vegetables. Household
rewards. Competition and prizes. The autumn exhibition. Children's books
about gardening. Gardens for city children.
3. _Care of Fowls and Animals_--Moral value: sense of responsibility,
kindness, practical sense. Raising of fowls for market. Ownership of
animals: the lamb, the colt, the calf, the pig.
4. _Household Work_--Value of the regular task in teaching system,
order, and punctuality. Housework for boys: care of rooms, cooking, and
kitchen work. For girls: the normal routine made attractive. Reading
from Blessed Be Drudgery, by Gannett and Jones.
5. _Handicraft_--The children's workroom and its furnishing. Work in
wood, metal, plaster, and leather. Drawing, painting, embroidery, etc.
6. _Music_--Should all children be taught to play and sing?
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Gertrude Jekyll: Children and Gardens. Holton and
Kimball: Games, Seat Work, and Sense Training Exercises. R. K. Row:
Educational Meaning of Manual Arts and Industries.
Prepare in advance a discussion on the subject of children's earning
money. Should they be paid for doing daily household duties, or not?
Does earning money tend to make boys mercenary? Take up also occupations
for invalid children and convalescents, and notice that handicraft is
better than games for these.
VIII--THE CHILD AND MONEY
1. _Sources of Supply_--Gifts, earnings, and prizes.
2. _The Question of the Allowance_--At what age should a child have an
allowance? What should it cover? How much liberty should a child have in
using it?
3. _Lessons in the Use of Money_--Spending. Saving. Giving.
4. _Benevolent Tendencies_--How to cultivate the spirit. How to divide
the money given. The chief objects to which to give.
5. _The Ethical View_--Responsibility for property. Honesty in
acquiring, wisdom in using, generosity in giving.
BOOKS TO CONSULT--C. B. Burrell: The Mother's Book. J. W. Jenks: Life
Questions for High School Boys. Julia W. Dewey: Lessons on Morals.
This is considered a mercenary age, and a discussion may be prepared on
such subjects as these: How shall we keep our boys from becoming either
extravagant or mercenary? How may our girls be taught to understand the
value of money? What ought to be the relative emphasis on money in our
home life?
IX--THE CHILD AND RELIGION
1. _The Beginning of Religious Training_--Prayers for children to use.
Telling Bible stories. The children's grace at table. Children's
questions about God and heaven: how shall they be answered?
2. _The Child and the Church_--The Sunday-school kindergarten and
primary class. Suitable hymns for children. Children's societies. At
what age should a child begin to attend church service?
3. _Sunday Hours at Home_--Need of cheerfulness and common sense. Sunday
occupations: Sunday books, Sunday toys and games. Dramatizing Old
Testament stories. Sunday, the father's opportunity. The twilight hour
of song.
4. _The Age of Development_--Intellectual expansion and doubt. How shall
we deal with this phase? The time of critical decision. How much
influence should the parent exert?
BOOKS TO CONSULT--George Albert Coe: Education in Religion and Morals.
George Hodges: Training of Children in Religion. Sir Oliver J. Lodge:
Parent and Child. E. D. Starbuck: The Psychology of Religion. E. P.
Saint John: Stories and Story Telling. Horace Bushnell: Christian
Nurture.
The Sunday-night supper should have a large place in the life of the
home. The children may prepare it alone or with slight assistance, and
it will be found an excellent way of interesting them if they tire of
the long afternoon. The subject of the memorizing of Scriptural passages
and of hymns may be discussed, and personal experiences on this line may
be given.
X--MODERN CHILD STUDY
1. _The New Movement and Its Breadth_--Interest among physicians,
teachers, clergymen, psychologists, and parents. Some reference to the
vast literature, encyclopedias, etc. Discussion of helpful books.
2. _Physical_--Study of food values for the individual baby and the
growing child. Fresh air and sleeping outdoors. The outdoor
kindergarten. Sensible clothing. Gymnastics for deficiencies.
3. _Mental_--Care against overstimulation. Interesting diaries of
development. Cooeperation between teacher and parent. Studying the
child's individuality. Books for successive ages. Private versus public
schools. What is an ideal education? Is it possible under ordinary
conditions?
4. _Moral and Religious_--How are morals best taught? Books that help
the parent and teacher. Individual problems (lying, etc.). Knowing our
neighbors' children, their character and influence.
5. _Practical Outcome_--Mothers' clubs. Magazines of child culture.
Increased place given to child life in the modern world. Are children
too prominent in the home life?
BOOKS TO CONSULT--Mrs. M. F. Washburn: Study of Child Life. M. P. E.
Groszmann: The Career of the Child. E. A. Kirkpatrick: Fundamentals of
Child Study. W. B. Drummond: The Child, His Nature and Nurture.
The subject of mothers' congresses may be discussed: Are they
practically helpful, or merely speculative? Present the topic of
institutions for children, homes and asylums for orphans, for the blind,
the crippled, the feeble-minded; also, children's courts and the Big
Brother movement. Discuss at this meeting the question of adopting
children.
CHAPTER XXII
MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS
When clubs have serious subjects for their year's work, which require
considerable reading and the writing of substantial papers, it gives
variety to arrange the general program in such a way that a light
program comes between two heavy ones; or at least to have every third
meeting of quite different character from the rest.
Often clubs can invite a speaker from outside to take up most of the
hour; a traveller, a settlement worker, a college professor, an actor, a
journalist, a judge of a Children's Court, a student of bird life, all
have something worth while to contribute. Perhaps a writer will read
from his books; or a musician will sing or play, or an artist will tell
of life in the ateliers of Paris or Rome. Even in a small town one can
find some one who has a friend who will come and help in such ways, and
there is no better way to rouse interest in a club than to offer such
meetings occasionally.
Where it is impossible to provide anything of this kind, it is still a
good plan to have miscellaneous meetings from time to time; but there is
always the danger that these will be spoiled by having them consist of
odds and ends, a paper on one subject followed by another on something
which has no relation to the first, and perhaps a third which is still
further afield. It is best to have but one topic for each meeting, with
music if possible, and a social hour afterwards.
One of the best ways to begin a miscellaneous program is to take up
current events for ten minutes. It is possible to plan systematically
for these, so that one member is responsible for a report on foreign
affairs, wars or politics, or whatever is of national importance
anywhere; another for great scientific discoveries or important
inventions; a third, noteworthy music; a fourth, for the great book of
the hour; a fifth, for anything of especial importance to women. No one
should write these brief outlines, but merely give them informally. The
material can be found by following the daily papers, or looking up
articles in review magazines.
Clubs which study a historical or literary subject often find it
interesting to begin these miscellaneous programs with a roll-call,
members answering to their names with quotations from the authors of the
period, or from one author alone. There are books of quotation which
give the best short lines for such recitations, and one gets a good, if
brief idea of writers in this way.
As to the matter of miscellaneous programs, the subjects should not be
too heavy and papers should not be too long or too seriously written.
Popular themes, the books of some well-known author, the magazines of
the day, a philanthropy, a brief study of a political figure, all work
out easily. Above all, whatever theme is selected, there should be a
discussion of the subject at the close of the meeting. Women do not
speak easily and naturally impromptu, and it is an immensely valuable
training to be obliged to present one's views clearly, concisely and to
the point before even a small audience, and even a short experience of
this kind in a club is of enormous assistance. If the subject of the
discussion is announced in advance members may prepare themselves to
take part.
I--A CENTURY OF DRESS
A very simple but most interesting program for one miscellaneous meeting
may be prepared on this theme. Divide it into three parts, having the
first paper on The Dress of Our Grandmothers; speak of its durability,
its simplicity, its lack of change from one season to another; mention
the bonnets, mitts, slippers, muffs and fans; illustrate with old prints
or fashion plate or illustrations from books of about 1820 and 1830.
The second paper would then be on The Dress of Our Mothers. This will
cover the periods of 1860, with its hoopskirts, its coalscuttle bonnets,
its shawls, worked collars, and cameo pins; 1871 too, should be
represented, with the tied back skirts, the small hats perched on
chignons, the ridiculous sunshades. Read Miss Flora McFlimsey at this
point.
The third paper would be on Our Own Dress, showing the extreme styles,
short, with scanty skirts and huge hats. Speak briefly of the sudden
change of styles and their causes, and the tendency to extravagance.
Discuss topics such as these: How far shall we follow the dictates of
fashion? How much of a woman's income should be spent for clothes? What
of our daughters' dress?
It will add to the interest of this program if the three papers are read
by members in the costumes of the times of which they speak, or if three
or four tableaux are shown illustrating the papers. Have little ballads
about dress sung if possible, the Old Grey Bonnet, the Owld Plaid Shawl,
and Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be? among others.
Several programs might easily be made from this outline; one, on Peasant
Dress, with illustrations from all countries; another on Colonial Dress;
a third on Quaker Dress. By using the dress of all nations and all
times, an entire year might be delightfully spent on the subject of
Women's Costumes.
II--EMERSON AND HIS TIMES
Clubs which prefer literary study will find this subject most
interesting, and like the previous one, capable of expansion into many
programs.
Begin with a roll-call, the responses being selections from Emerson's
prose and verse.
The first paper would be on his boyhood, his parents, his home life and
education, his marriage, his ministry, his quiet life in Concord.
The second paper would take up the friends so closely associated with
him, especially Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau, Longfellow and
Whittier. The story of Brook Farm may come in here, or have a special
paper by itself; close with his travels in England.
The last paper would be on Emerson's work as author and lecturer; of his
place in his own day; of what Englishmen thought of him, especially
Carlyle; of the influence of his essays on young men.
Have readings from prose and verse; read also from some estimates of him
by great writers. See A Memoir of Ralph Waldo Emerson, by James Eliot
Cabot. Discuss, Is Emerson's place among philosophers what it was a
generation ago? Does the modern idea of social service find
encouragement in him? What was his attitude in regard to individualism?
III--CHILDREN AND BOOKS
This is one of the topics on which it would be interesting to have the
club invite some speaker, perhaps a librarian, to speak. She would
probably take up some of the following topics. The effect of the public
library for children of the poor, of their interest in it, their delight
in the warm, charming reading-room, their growth in personal cleanliness
as they learn to care for the books entrusted to them. Of what books
children draw from a library; of the reading of history, of fairy
stories, of poetry, of books of adventure. Definite and helpful
suggestions will be given for children who have books at home, of what
parents should give them to read, and how to interest them in good
literature.
If no speaker can be had for the meeting, divide these topics into two
or three papers, and have members write or speak on them.
Close with a discussion on these lines: What books have replaced the
Rollo Books, Little Prudy, and the Elsie Books? What of giving children
grown-up writers to read such as Shakespeare, Don Quixote, Mallory and
Bunyan? Does much reading of stories vitiate their taste for better
literature?
This program will be more delightful if songs about children are
interspersed; Eugene Field's verses set to music by De Koven are
admirable.
IV--MURAL PAINTING
In preparing this program look up in advance plenty of illustrations
from historical books on art and architecture, magazines of art, and
prints and photographs of famous examples, such as the Sistine Chapel.
The first paper will of course deal with the earliest form of mural
painting, found in Egypt, Assyria, and Greece. Describe these, and
notice the colors used by the Greeks.
The second paper should speak of the wonderful paintings in churches, of
altar pieces, and the decorations in fresco of walls and ceilings;
select from the many examples of churches in Italy. Then the guild halls
of the middle ages should be mentioned, and the curious work on bridges
and elsewhere in Germany. The third paper should speak of the
extraordinary interest to-day in mural painting; note that of the Houses
of Parliament and other places abroad; show pictures of the work of
Abbey and Sargent in the Boston Public Library, and of Blashfield and La
Farge in the Congressional Library at Washington and elsewhere, and the
excellent mural paintings on our public buildings, court houses and
capitols, and some public schools in New York.
Discuss: The Cost of Mural Paintings To-day: Are They Worth While?
V--THE ART OF CONVERSATION
This subject opens a whole literary field and will be found delightful
to expand into several meetings. A roll-call might be answered with
famous _bons mots_ from some of the men and women to be studied. Sidney
Smith, Charles Lamb and others have left many.
The first paper might be on famous conversationalists; mention Johnson,
Horace Walpole, Macauley, Fanny Burney, Samuel Rogers, Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu and Sidney Smith, among many others.
The second would follow with some account of famous salons, especially
those of France at the time of Recamier; see Sainte-Beuve's essays on
this theme. What of corresponding salons elsewhere?
A third paper would speak informally of conversation to-day; is it
becoming a lost art? Do we consider it seriously?
This paper will lead naturally to a discussion on these and similar
themes: What of our home table talk? Should children be taught to
converse rather than to chatter? Shall we prepare ourselves in advance
for conversations at dinners and other social occasions? What is the
relation between a good conversationalist and a good listener?
VI--MENDELSSOHN
When club members can not only write papers but also play and sing, this
will be found a popular little program: Mendelssohn's famous
grandfather; his father, interested in his son's genius; his early home
life; his sister Fanny; the little Sunday morning concerts; his
education, his versatility, his gay, affectionate nature.
The second paper may be on the early beginnings of his work as a
composer; of his first opera; the overture to Midsummer Night's Dream,
and the formation and work of his choir. Speak of his travels in England
and on the continent, of his marriage; his call to Berlin by the king,
and his operas and oratorios; the foundation of his music school; and
last his death.
The third paper should discuss his position among musicians, his
greatest work and its lasting qualities. Discuss: Does Mendelssohn rank
among the great musicians?
Between each two papers have played some of the Songs Without Words, and
others of his best known compositions, and have some of his songs sung,
or selections from his oratorios; or they may be given by using musical
records. The Lark, I Would that My Love, and Had I the Wings of a Dove,
are among the best.
VII--COLLEGES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
This is another popular program, and one easily prepared and discussed.
Divide it into two parts: first, the great universities, Harvard, Yale,
Princeton and Columbia; their history; their opportunities; show
pictures of each campus. Follow with a paper on the small college; its
advantages; the state universities; college athletics; fraternities,
dangers of college life; does college prepare for a business life?
Next take girls' colleges in the same general way; describe Bryn Mawr,
Vassar, Wellesley and Smith; and show pictures of them. Have papers on,
Is a college education essential for all girls? and What are its
advantages over the boarding-school, and its disadvantages? and What of
athletics for girls? and Should their studies be those of men's colleges
entirely?
Discuss these subjects, and add others: Does college life unfit a girl
for life at home? Is a college girl likely to demand a career? Does she
marry? Have some college songs sung: Fair Harvard, Old Nassau, Neath the
Elms of Dear Old Yale, and others.
VIII--THE CARE OF CHILDREN AND THE AGED BY THE STATE
This is one of the subjects in line with the philanthropy of to-day, and
will be found suggestive of social work for women's clubs.
The first paper might be on Orphan Asylums; the care of young children,
their food, dress, education and personal oversight. What of adopting
children from asylums? What of placing children in homes instead of
asylums?
The second paper would take up: the defective children to be cared for
in asylums. The blind, deaf, epileptic and idiots.
The third paper would be on the care of the aged; of almshouses,
especially those of the county; are they sanitary, well cared for and
cheerful? Are the old people well fed, clothed and amused? Are husbands
and wives separated?
The last paper might touch upon English almshouses on the cottage plan
and contrast them with our own large institutions.
Discuss the near-by almshouses, and question what can be done to better
conditions.
IX--RECENT BOOKS
A group of three or at the most four books are quite enough for a
miscellaneous program for one afternoon. They may be selected on one
general theme, such as biography, or on several. The first book
suggested here is a delightful life study, that of Robert E. Lee, Man
and Soldier, by Thomas Nelson Page. Notice the clearness and beauty of
the style, the appreciation of the man's character and work, and the
well chosen descriptions of his associates. Read part of a chapter near
the close of the book.
Second, have a paper on The Promised Land, by Mary Antin, one of the
really great books of to-day. Tell the story of her life, reading here
and there from her own words; show how she was handicapped and yet how
she rose, and speak of the fact that such women bring inspiration to our
shores.
Third, take The Three Brontes, by May Sinclair, a book of fascinating
interest. Briefly give a resume of the family, and speak of the work of
each sister; compare with Clement Shorter's The Brontes and Their
Circle.
Or, for a program on several topics, have these three books for the
papers: first, The Lady of the Decoration, by Frances Little. Give a
review, with its story, the local color, the humor and pathos; read
short selections.
Second, take Heretics, by Chesterton; here again, review his style, his
mannerisms, and note his light touch; read briefly from two essays.
Third, take a collection of short stories, perhaps Jacobs' Dialstone
Lane. Speak of his quaint dry humor, his sense of the incongruous, the
similarity of his captain-heroes, and the absurdity of his plots. Read
one story.
X--MARKETS
For a last program take the subject of Markets. If possible, illustrate
some of these foreign markets mentioned, the pictures to be found in
magazines.
Flower markets will make a first paper; notice those of Paris
especially, near the Madelaine; of Covent Garden, London. Note the
smaller flower markets in connection with the ordinary markets of
cities.
A second paper may discuss famous markets in our own land, notably the
markets of New Orleans and other Southern cities; their picturesqueness;
their value to the housewife. Are they hygienic?
Third, take up the larger aspects of the subject; our great meat markets
in cities here and abroad; note the market at Smithfield, London, on
Saturdays, and the old Fulton Market of New York, and others. What can
be done to regulate our markets, and make them clean and wholesome? What
have women done here of recent years to clean up the markets of the
West? What of foreign markets, especially in Germany?
Discuss the practical aspects of the subjects. What of the relation of
farmers to customers? Can the latter insist on cleanliness and fair
trade? What has the pure food legislation done on those points?
THE END