Woman’s Union – Meeting Minutes Nov 11, 1921 (Annual Meeting)

Nov 11, 1921 – Annual Report

Once again the secretary of the Woman’s Union is confronted by the task of taking stock of striking a yearly balance between achievements and failures and of opening a new ledger for the coming year which already looms large with opportunity.

Prior to the last year’s annual meeting, tho we had learned to know our working mates pretty well and to like them very well, and were beginning to get our bearings, we were still cruising about, so to speak, in uncharted waters.

It was Sister Greene who came to our rescue. “Let’s have a definite program,” quoth she, and set for ourselves the task of becoming acquainted with the city’s charitable and reformatory institutions so that we may give our service where if is most needed.

A program committee was appointed at the December meeting and at the January meeting the following institutions were named for investigation.

• The Juvenile Court
• The Prisons
• The Travellers’ Aid
• The Home for Crippled Children
• The Home for Incurables
• The Home of the Friendless
• The Department of Health
• The Anti-Tuberculosis Association

To one meeting was assigned local history, another was devoted to sewing for the Home of the Friendless and the July meeting was to be held in that portion of God’s Out-of-Doors held under the stewardship of Dr. and Mrs. Fisher (Archivist Note: Rev. Dr. Fisher was the last minister of the First Universalist Church of Atlanta before its merger with the Unitarians in 1918).

With but one exception the programs as planned had been successfully carried out to date. The Sept. meeting was to have been devoted to local history. The historian, Mrs. Douglas, could not be present, but at the October meeting she gave us, impromptu, most interesting gleanings of her trip abroad. The local history is one bit of stock we shall carry over into next year.

Committees and individuals of the Union visited the various institutions and reported their findings. Representatives of the institutions gave illuminating talks concerning them. We have taken memberships in them and pledged timely aid when called upon.

We wish to publicly acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. Hollingsworth for having our programs typed, to Mrs. Harper for securing sugar bags from the Federal Bakery and to Mr. Perkins of the Jno Laundry for having them laundered. Some of these bags we turned into undergarments for the Home of the Friendless.

At the Jan. meeting the following officers were elected to service until Jan 1922:

• Mrs. Edwards, president
• Mrs. Neil, vice-president
• Mrs. Draper, treasurer
• Mrs. Jones, corresponding secretary

Mrs. Draper has given such wonderful reports that we almost felt it duty bound to warn Mrs. Draper to see that she was not diverting private funds into the Union’s treasury. (Archivist Note: This “warning” is a playful way of giving praise to Mrs. Draper. There is no real “warning” directed from the Union to Mrs. Draper).

Listen to this and judge if it be not a case for federal investigation:

A music committee was appointed and a brave effort was made to improve the soprano and alto in the congregational singing. Let the Men’s Club get busy on the tenor and bass. At one of our meetings Miss Finney drilled us in singing the responses. Several members of the committee have stepped into the breach when the ranks of the choir thinned out and a committee made new caps and cottas for the choir.

Through a calling committee the writing of letters and sending of flowers, we have endeavored to seek out the newcomers and spread sunshine where it was needed.

In Feb, a birthday dinner was given in honor of our beloved pastor’s wife and a jolly good time was enjoyed by all.

In June, another supper and auction was held to help the young people secure funds to send a delegate to the Chattanooga convention.

In March, we entertained and in turn were entertained and inspired by Mrs. J.H. Lewis of Va., vice-president of the Woman’s Alliance in the Southern States east. Mrs. Lewis is one of those rare souls who simply radiates the Christ spirit and she helped to inspire in us some of Dr. Keirn’s optimism as to the future of the church. Both Mrs. Lewis and Dr. Keirn expressed this optimism at the New Orleans Conference which occurred a little later.

There is but one sad event to record in the Union’s history for the year. I refer to the passing of our esteemed colleague, Mrs. Hollingsworth. We have suffered as irreparable loss unless her example inspires others to step into the breach. If all Liberal Christians were as faithful as she, we should soon have to push out the walls of our church.

Just a foreword and we close. We are going to put on a drive for membership and we are not going to be satisfied until every lady in the church is at least a contributing member of the Union. There are several other services bees buzzing in our bonnets.

We are going to fix up the Sunday school room at least screen off the pots and pans if the tiny tots must meet in the kitchen. But eventually – lend me your ears – we mean to have the use of the Parish House. Watch this space next year.

Physical Archive: UUCA   Box: 60   Folder: 03
Citation: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta Records, RG 026, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, Atlanta GA