"The organized woman's club movement spread into the State of Texas. Beginning as associations for self-culture and intellectual development, the clubs were soon laying the foundation for better conditions of living in their communities. Since Texas was largely in the pioneer stage of development with widely separated communities, the women's clubs in small centers became the nucleii for civic improvements. One of these small centers was the town of Gainesville, Texas, with a population of about 6,000 in the year 1893. That year the first women's club in the town was organized and named the Gainesville XLI Club. This club helped form the State Council of Women of Texas, formerly called the Women's Congress, in 1894, which was three years before the formation of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs."-- pg. 9-10 "It will, perhaps, be seen from the above survey that no transformation in modern society has been more striking or more fraught with significance than the change in the political, legal, economic, moral, and social status of women. Women's clubs were organized for discussion and study, with interests that varied according to location, surroundings, opportunities, and aspirations. The history of a pioneer club portrays the stages of development of clubs in general from institutions for self-improvement to institutions interested in national and international problems." -- pg. 11-12