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Show Dear Sam: Due to the fact that the Woman's Literary Club will be celebrating their 70th birthday, I thought I'd drop a note of congratulation to them through the Times- Independent, In-dependent, so that everybody would know about them and jot down a few of the many hundreds of projects they have done to help build up Moab over this time. From the time they tried to get the first library going in 1912 to the contribution of $2,000.00, they gave to the new library in November 1967, they have been an outstanding out-standing organization, and the oldest, I might add. On March 9, 1898 a group of some 20 women gathered to organize a club for their own education, known then as the "Busy Woman's Club". You should see their first scrap book with the news clip pings on the current events of the days from the San Francisco Chronicle, with the name of the woman who gave it written underneath. They always took their children and in between somewhere they studied drama, literature and always had music, especially es-pecially from quote "some-ones "some-ones phonograph". I almost hesitate to name some of the women but will, Mrs. Mary Louise Goodman, (mother of Betty Jo Hayes) Mrs. Annie Green, her sister, Mrs. Helen Kirk, mother-in-law of Neva Kirk), Mrs. Essie Es-sie Shaffer, (mother of Frank and Sog),. Mrs. Lydia Watts, and Mrs. Sena Taylor, (your grandmother), Mrs. Mattie Turner are a few. If you would like to have more, call Gen Pope. These women had a very fine library of their own and after 1914 when they added civic projects to their work, they were successful in get- ting a small library. They met with the County Commissioners Commis-sioners and were told that "after all the taxes were paid they could have $900.00 toward to-ward their library". So with this they had a book shower, and gave 56 books, 40 different differ-ent magazines and the subscription sub-scription to 5 new magazines. It was not long after that that the school and the county merged in the efforts of a libr ary, and their backing was no longer needed. To remind folks of a few other projects they undertook, were sidewalks, street cleaning, clean-ing, fire hydrants, 3 times they got city trash barrels, and they had J. N. Corbin help them incorporate the the City of Moab. We asked if we might paint the trash barrels around the park last summer, but never heard from anyone, so they just might ask again. Four years ago the club went all out on a Civic Center, Cen-ter, but after the library fire the county took over the possibility pos-sibility of getting aid from the Government, it was found that we as a club or a Civic Center could not include a library in our original plans. Then the Museum decided they would build their building build-ing on the east side of the new library, so we are now going to have to re-do our Civic Center plans. Our $2, 000 will be matched with Government funds, also. You will recall that the Center Cen-ter was to be a combination of library museum and civic gathering place. After investigation with our Utah Federation of Women's Clubs past chairman and o-thers, o-thers, we were told that we as a club could take one phase of our Civic project so that is when we voted to give the $2,000 to the library. libr-ary. We did not have to touch one cent that had been donated to the club by all of the organizations in Moab, and we still have $1,500 left'. This will draw a good interest and we will add to this a-mount a-mount as the years go by. Sam we have not given up "a a Civic Center. We have appreciated ap-preciated the money given to us, and hope that before long something will break for the community that will make it possible for the Center. Our club has a fine group of 32 women belonging, andj 1 for one of the OLD members mem-bers want to say congratulations congratula-tions for 70 years of continued Service to the City of Moab. Sincerely, Ha Corbin |