Grace and grit

(Continued from Sept. 6 edition of the Elgin Courier)

Early meetings were held in the homes of members and then meetings were held in a downtown rented room. Soon a home was bought next to the fire station and made into a club house. In 1949 a barracks from Camp Swift was moved to a large lot on Lexington Road and remodeled into a club house. This building was used for meetings, family reunions, church services and wedding receptions until the club dissolved in 1997. Proceeds from the sale of the property resulted in large donations to Elgin service organizations, including the Elgin Historical Association.

Working together

Few people outside the members realized that the work of the New Century Club was not “dressing up and playing ladies.” True, the members attended meetings in their finest clothes, including hats and gloves. They served refreshments using crystal and silver, and they studied and participated in the arts. But, these meetings provided a venue for Elgin students to become acquainted with political and current events for performances with their musical and dramatic talents and the ability to mingle with people of various age groups as each program included a student-performing guest. Members worked together through physical work and/or calling or writing school, town, county, state and federal officials about projects that helped Elgin. They lobbied the city council for the creation of the Veterans Park downtown, they handled mass testing and vaccinations for citizens, they participated in town clean-up projects; they organized parades for Christmas; they sponsored Christmas home tours and benefit events for special projects.

They also participated in favorable results of acquiring Texas historical preservations, in women serving on school boards, in women gaining voting rights, in prohibition practices and by organizing USO activities during Camp Swift.

Woman power was certainly known in Elgin. And it continued on.

In 1972, the Diamond Anniversary of the club founding, the theme was “Enthusiasm in Federation Creates Enlightened Women.” The interesting programs were augmented with different trips for the membership and some guests. The club visited Natchez, Mississippi, New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington, D.C. Williamsburg, Virginia and Mexico City.

In the 1990s, membership was declining because women were working outside the home and were not able to attend meetings. The New Century Club would not make it into another new century and they disbanded in 1997.

There is no doubt that the New Century Club was a success and played a large part in what Elgin is today.

Taken from “More Stories: Elgin, Etc.” Books available at the Elgin Depot Museum or facebook.com/elgin. depot.