Far from upholding the domestic ideal of the Victorian Era, the Moorhead Woman’s Club helped establish the first public library in the city and strove for changes in education through active engagement in the public “sphere.” The club women, helped women gain a foothold in local government by applying maternalistic arguments for women’s involvement and leadership in reform activities.

Educational reform in the New South took many forms. After the ravages of the Civil War, education in the South was chaotic and sporadic. Diverse external groups sought to improve the situation of the southern poor. They ranged from successful businessmen who organized philanthropic ventures such as the Southern Education Board to mission associations established by church denominations to minister to the disadvantaged rural population—both black and white. Within the South, various individuals and groups played critical roles in improving southern rural education. This study focuses on the creation of Tallulah Falls School in the north Georgia mountains by the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs. Tallulah Falls School’s founding in its cultural and social context reflects upon a number of issues that characterized the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Of significance were the vision of a New South as articulated by Henry Grady and others, and the ‘discovery’ of Appalachia in the 1890s, followed by the perceived need to ‘repair’ it. Also influential was a different vision of a New South that drew upon the Lost Cause philosophy as articulated by the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. Industrial education was seen as a means not only to educate but also to alleviate concerns about the potential loss of rural America and the legendary yeoman farmers that had been the foundation of the nation from its earliest days. The rise of great fortunes and the emergence of a middle class led those who had the resources to uplift and ‘repair’ through philanthropic means that which seemed to threaten the virtues and vitality of America. Although their motives were not purely altruistic, clubwomen exerted great effort to bring educational opportunities to the rural people of Georgia. Through personal involvement and by means of political and social reform, these clubwomen were prepared to their position and influence to ‘heal’ the children. Their endeavor at Tallulah Falls stands as an example of their determination to uplift poor, disadvantaged mountain children and their families and bring to them an awareness of an efficient, modern world.

The rise of women’s volunteer organizations can be linked to the social changes that the United States was undergoing during the Progressive Era. The movement from an agrarian society to an industrial one, massive migration of Americans from rural areas to the cities, and increased immigration all contributed to social challenges in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recently historians have begun to explore how women’s contributions helped to combat these challenges and this study shows how women’s clubs in Georgia were able to exercise their philanthropic power through their involvement in education. By 1860, the women’s club movement was well underway in the United States, with most of the activity in the Northeast, Midwest, and the West. The South, due to the devastation of the Civil War, did not see an emergence of women’s clubs until 1890. Southern middle class white women felt compelled to help those they perceived as less fortunate at a time when they themselves were trying to establish their own placement within the social structure of the Progressive Era South. Women, due to changing societal roles, were beginning to move beyond the home. They began to use the expertise they acquired through managing a household and applied this knowledge to social programs that would help those in need. Often times these social programs were focused on the education of young children and women. Women’s clubs in Georgia provide a lens for exploring how women were able to influence educational developments during the Progressive Era. Archival data show that the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Atlanta Woman’s Club, and the Athens Woman’s Club played in important role in educational advancements in Georgia during the Progressive Era. Archival and primary source materials were used to support an analysis of gender, social class, and geographic differences on women’s roles in educational changes. This study analyzes how women were able to affect education in Georgia at a time when men dominated educational decision-making.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Springing up in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Indiana women's study clubs provided generations of women with the opportunity to improve their educations in a friendly environment. They also brought culture to their communities by hosting art exhibits, musical entertainments, and lectures, building libraries and museums, and participating in community improvement endeavors. The activities of urban clubs in big cities have been documented in histories of the women's club movement, but small towns have recieved little attention even through they were vital parts of their communities. This study considers the characteristics, organization, study practices, and civic improvement work of three small-town Indiana women's clubs in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The Zerelda Reading Club (Warsaw) studied a wide variety of subjects, while the Ladies' Piano Club (Salem) and Florentine Club (Lebanon) limited their studies to art and music, respectively. All three clubs participated in community improvement efforts that helped their towns achieve urban amenities. The Zerelda Reading Club helped to establish a ladies' rest room, the Ladies' Piano Club worked with other community organizations to build a Carnegie public library, and the Florentine Club raised money to beautify Oak Hill Cemetery. Forming in decades of tremendous growth in popularity of club activity, the organization of all three clubs shows influences of those associations already in existence. This study argues that the individual circumstances of members and their communities resulted in the organization of three women's clubs that prospered under the guidance of extant clubs, but served their members and their communities by adapting activities to suit local needs.