The University of Iowa Libraries

A fabric of women's clubs wove together rural women's society. From the rural township clubs initiated by the Farm Bureau in the early 1920s to the more cultural "study clubs," to the Federated Women's Clubs, garden clubs, and church-related clubs, rural women participated in a great number and variety of clubs. In most cases, clubs developed when individual women organized their friends or neighbors to create opportunities to socialize, educate themselves, and support each other in joys and grief. Frequently officers were elected, minutes recorded, and club anniversaries celebrated. Although membership was high during the first half of the twentieth century, it has declined in recent decades as younger women find other social outlets or have less unscheduled time.

Arrangement: One folder, shelved in SCVF.

Access: The records are open for research.

Use: Copyright has not been transferred to the University of Iowa.

Acquisition: The records (donor no. 579) were donated by various donors, beginning in 1998.

Preferred Citation: Histories of Rural Iowa Women's Clubs, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.