Martha C. Callanan's Presidential Address to the Club 1887

One of the many wonderful documents in our club archives is the original copy with hand written corrections of the Annual Address before the Des Moines Women’s Club by Martha C. Callanan, President. September 28, 1887.  Mrs. James Callanan served for two terms as our second club president following Dr. Margaret A. Cleaves.  Her husband, James Callanan was a Des Moines businessman and a life-long advocate of temperance.

Mrs. Callanan’s thirteen page lecture discusses the early establishment of women’s organizations from the 1840s through the development of the Annual Women’s Congress which was begun in New York City in 1873 and continued to be held each year in a different city.  In  1885 the Congress was held in Des Moines, and soon after, the Des Moines Women’s Club was formed.

Mrs. Callanan emphases the importance of women working together in groups as men have throughout history.  She illustrates her point with the analogy of building an expansion bridge over Niagara Falls one wire at a time.  She strongly argues that women’s clubs should unite together in federation to form an even stronger force for good.  She asserts that the Association for the Advancement of Women with membership of individuals only should grow to become a federation of clubs.

Martha Callanan’s words ring out with truth even today:

You have heard that I believe in combination.  At this period in history, it would seem as if women were waiting for it, though it may be that perhaps none of us have yet wakened to a full knowledge of its value.  But a study of our laws affecting women: a knowledge of the fact that mothers are not the legal guardians of their own children, and an interchange of opinions on the great questions of the day, will rouse new thoughts, will intensify the love of liberty, and help to give a realizing sense of the value and need of organization.

Women as they come to realize the disparity between their labor and its reward, as compared to the recompense men receive for the same labor, should learn to apply the lesson…  woman should be in a position to command respectful attention to her wishes.

Then as she is true to herself, will the honor and justice be accorded her, and the motto of the AAW: “truth – justice – honor” not only be inscribed upon the outer temple but be implanted in the hearts of her children.