Mary Anne Vance was born February 14, 1838 in Springfield, Ohio.  She received her acdemic education at Wesleyan College in Cincinnati.  In 1861 Miss Vance came to Kansas to visit friends in Manhattan and there she met Englishman James Humphrey who was county treasurer at the time.  They married October 23, 1861 and took up residence in Manhattan until May 1, 1870 when they then moved to Junction City and lived most of their lives there except for a short stint in Sedalia, Mo. and Topeka where Judge Humphrey was appointed a member of the State Tax Commission.  After his death in 1907 in Topeka shortly after their arrival there, Mrs. Humphrey returned to Junction City.  The Humphrey's had 5 children, only 3 of whom survived their Mother.  It was at the home of a daughter in California that Mary died on June 27, 1916.

Mary Humphrey's time in Kansas was very productive as she was a published author whose works included poetry, short stories, articles on civic welfare and a novel about the settlement of Kansas in territorial days.  She was also active politically espousing a woman's right to vote and herself serving many times on the school board.  Some of her published works included topics on evolution, women's right to vote, co-operative cooking, the sanitary value of plants and trees, Mormonism and industrial schools.  After reading most of her works I am of the opinion that she had very progressive and modern ideas.  She was very forthright in her opinions but presented them in a very non abrasive manner as for women to be outspoken was not very popular in the late 1800's.
 
 

The Ladies Reading Club (which I'll refer to as the Club hereafter) was originally formed as a benevolent society for the purpose of distributing relief to the sufferers of the grasshopper infestation and as drought relief in the form of food and clothing.  This was done in the summer of 1874 but after relief was given Mary says"the ladies found their meetings full of general interest and the news of the organization of "sorosis" in an eastern city suggested that they too might form a literary society.  Ane we took up the idea enthusiastically and determined to organize one in our western home".  The ladies were met with some disapproval and the sneers of of people who considred club women to be "strong minded".  None-the-less, nine women met with their first study topic being the Queens of England and they continued to meet weekly at the home of each member in turn.  "At  each meeting was given a historical, a scientific and a miscellaneous lecture.  Essay writing was at this time only attempted occasionally and was purely voluntary".  As these meetings progressed the women found that so few members were accustomed to reading and speaking before others that the original format consisted of  "Mrs. Boller and I read from a book or magazine, encouraging discussion afterwards-until those new members learned to hear their own voices, and found it a greater pleasure to give their opinions on a literary topic than on a gown or pudding.  Later some of these women became well known as ready and able writers and speakers".

In 1876, the Club held their first general election and Mary Humphrey was chosen as President.  This club represented the only literary club outside of a school or college  in this area and was considered to be quite a novelity.  Many of the attendees had no other means by which to acquire any intellectual information.  The advances that were made through the Club was in lieu of any formal college or university education that could be obtained .  Some of the topics of research and discussion were from literary classics such as Shakespeare as well as topics of historical significance such as Primitive Man, the Roman Empire and the Greek World.  To balance the look back into history, the meetings were opened with 30 minutes of current events.  In 1885, a report written by Mary Humphrey included these words..."The objectives have always been to direct thought to the great questions of the day, to foster a habit of looking at them from all points of view and to teach a consideration for the views and opinions of others, even though diametrically opposed to one's own.  All denominations and all political faiths are represented in the club, yet it has been possible to scrutinize every creed and every political faith without descending to personalities.  It is the pride of the Club that its self poise and diginity can be maintained through even a discussion upon women's suffrage or prohibition, upon which questions and opinions are apt to be decided and maintained with warmth." 

The Club meant a school where women might teach and be taught, a mutual improvement society which should educate them and lead them into better hopes and nobler aspirations.  Ladies of any economic, educational and social backgrounds were encouraged to join.  Yet a Club wowan's first duty was to family and home.  "Let it never for a moment be forgotten that a club woman's first duty is to her home.  No outside work can ever make up for the neglect of home duties."  Mary Humphrey is noted as having said these words.  The lives of those women pioneering the plains of Kansas was hard indeed yet each club meeting was much anticipated.   The hardships were momentarily left behind as the finery for refreshments was brought out and the best dress was pressed for the meeting. 

In 1883 the Club joined the Federation of Social Science Clubs, in 1893 federated with the State Club, in 1898 joined the General Federation and then in 1900 with the District Federation.  By now the Club was increasing in numbers and their "lending library " had approximately 680 books.  With their need for a permanent home apparent, a Captain Bertrand Rockwell, husband of one of Club ladies, built a beautiful clubhouse for the ladies.  Here they could not only hold their meetings but conduct other social affairs as well.  But as written in the bylaws,"the Clubhouse will not be available for:personaluse, rental, nor for the use of community organizations-unless they are the invited guests of the The Ladies Reading Club".  This was also due to  the tax exempt status under which the Clubhouse fell. 

Sample of charter issued when 
Kansas Federation of Women's 
Clubs was organized
 
 
 

Club Emblem
 
 
 

The Clubhouse: first club house west of the Mississippi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

On September 1, 1897, 300 people were present for the dedication of the Clubhouse, a beautiful building fashioned from native stone with a stage at one end and a library at the other.  In his speech delivered at the at the dedication  Captain Rockwell says "it has long seemed desirable to me that such a club as this should have a permanent and fitting home of it's own and that such a home would add to the attraction of our town and make it a more desirable place to live in, and we want Junction City to be the best place in the state to live.  These, Madam President, are some of the reasons why I now present you with the deed to the lot on which the Club House now stands."  The Club House still stands in its original condition today and is used for the bi-monthly meetings of the Club.  The annual dues of the Club pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the Club House.  Periodic fund raisers are held to supplement the dues that support the upkeep of the building..
 

THE MEETING

The format of the meetings today is as follows:

Order of Business:
 

• Call to Order
• Flag Salute
• Collect
• Receiving new members
• Introduction of guests
• Music
• Program
• Minutes and communication
• Treasure's report
• Report of Committee's and Delegates
• Review of GFWC's Clubwoman News
• Business
• Announcements
• Adjournment
• Tea

HOME LIFE DAY

THEME:Celebrating Home Life

QUOTE:"The reward for a thing well done, is to have done it." Ralph Waldo Emerson

MUSIC:Deb Barnes, Gail Dye and Laura Wyant

PROGRAM:"Nutrition" by Donna Martinson

GUESTS:Ft. Riley NCO Wives Club

HOSTESSES:Doris Nelson and Barbara Zeller

The original motto of the Club is still used today.  It is "Thought unfettered grows through speech to deed."

The Club Emblem is Carnation.

The Club Color is Cardinal.

 A Collect For Club Women

Keep us, oh God, from pettiness;
Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed,
Let us be done with fault finding
And leave off self-seeking.

May we put away all pretense
And meet each other face to face
Without self pity and without prejudice.

May we never be hasty in judgement
And always be generous.

Let us take time for all things;
Make us sto grow calm, serene, gentle.

Teach us to put into action our better impulses,
Straightforward and unafraid.

Grant that we may realize it is
The little things that create differences,
That in the big things of life we are at one.

And may we strive to touch and to know
The great, common, human heart of us all
And, oh Lord God, let us forget not
To be Kind!

Mary Stewart
 

Mary Stewart wrote this Collect in 1904 and says "It was written as a prayer for the day and was called a "Collect for Club Women" because I felt that women working together in wide interests for large ends was a new thing under the sun, and that perhaps they had need for special petition of their own."  The first women's organizaton to hear or use the Collect or to print it in its yearbooks and biennial reports was the General Federation of Women's Clubs.  Since then it has been reprinted in many forms in many lands.  It is still recited at not only the Ladies Reading Club but at other Women's and Literacy clubs as well.

To summerize the historical importance of Women's Clubs for the women of  bygone years as well as for women of today, let me offer a quote from Jane Croly, founder of the first women's club know as Sorosis.  "Club life teaches us that there are many kinds of wealth in the world-the wealth of ideas, of knowledge, of sympathy, of readiness to be put in any place , and to be used in any way for the general good."
This was the heart felt thought of the pioneer women who made up the Ladies of the Club.
 
 
 

The information for this web page was obtained through clippings and articles at the Kansas State Historical Society Archives and from a written and verbal history provided by the members of the Ladies Reading Club of Junction City. The 1984 pamphlet is entitled Lest We Forget: First 25 Years of THE LADIES' READING CLUB. A special thanks to the ladies of the Club for the use of this material and for their interest and support for this project.

Images used by permission and provided by the Kansas State Historical SocietyArchives and the almanac of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.  This web-page constructed by Sue Ferguson.