Over the past week, I’ve transcribed programs from the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore spanning from October of 1890 to June of 1899. While it’s often been difficult to glean more than surface-level information from these documents, like names and general topics, a few things that I’ve noticed have piqued my interest. For instance, I’ve made note of each time a woman with a doctorate spoke to the club, or was listed on a program–so far, nine times in nine years. There have also been a handful of non-doctor professors or instructors who have been noted as such. Many women appear to be sharing their own written works, like short stories or poems, with the club, or reading aloud the projects of their peers. There are also meetings dedicated entirely to music performed by club members. I think this sharing of personal accomplishments amongst the presentations and discussions with loftier, academic titles is lovely–though I don’t have any more information from the program itself beyond the fact that a woman is sharing her work, it’s clear that these women gather to both spread knowledge and support each other in creative endeavors.

It’s also been interesting just to see how little the formatting of the programs themselves has changed over almost a decade. There are small discrepancies in phrasing from each to the next, but overall the largest change I’ve noticed has been the design of the decorative trim. Every program is printed in purple, and I’ve seen a handwritten note on stationary stamped with the club’s crest, also in purple, and I wonder why that specific aesthetic choice was made from the very beginning.  Later on in the years I’ve transcribed, though, there have been some programs that do stand out from the rest. A handful of programs document a club debate, and list the topic, key question, and who will argue for each side, and also note that after such debates, the entire rest of the club was invited to share their own thoughts. Another part of this that I found notable was the rigor with which these debates were laid out; in some programs, it’s specified that a member of the general body of the club will have a maximum of two minutes to speak.

The instance when I received the most personal information about members of the club occurred while reading the the ‘program’ for October 30, 1894. There is no program for this date, just a handwritten note that was likely posted on a door to the meeting-place announcing that there would be no meeting that day since a woman who had been a member since the club’s conception, Mrs. Easter, had died, and encouraging club members to attend her funeral instead. A few weeks later, the club had an entire meeting dedicated to memorializing Mrs. Easter, with a eulogy of sorts and readings from her poems and critiques. It was so nice to see within these seemingly straightforward programs the kind of care that goes on behind the scenes of this organization, and I’m looking forward to similar types of revelations.