Members of the Monday Study Club in Stanwood don’t worry if the coffee pot is on or who brought cookies.
There are no refreshments served at meetings.
What is on the plate are discussions about fossil fuel, Eleanor Roosevelt or the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Woman gather to discuss a set theme throughout the year and listen to presentations on research projects. If you dreaded doing oral book reports in the eighth grade, this could be a second chance at mastering public speaking.
“It’s a most responsive audience,” said May Palmer of Camano Island. “It’s one of the most enjoyable groups I belong to.”
The Monday Study Club is 95 years old.
Each September, a committee reveals a highly kept secret — the yearly topic, and who speaks which week. Themes have been about outrageous women, remarkable courtroom trials and theatrical plays. This year, it’s “Challenges of a Changing World.” The 24 members are each assigned a topic, time and date to present at a meeting.
It all started in 1913, when a group of Stanwood women figured they needed some intellectual stimulation in their lives.
Member Nancy Leuschel of Camano Island said Stanwood was a really small town.
“Industrious residents mostly tilled the soil, tended their dairy herds or labored in the forest industries to help meet the mounting needs of a home-loving America,” she said. “It was back in the days when most women called themselves housewives and found little in the Stanwood area to broaden their understanding of the world after finishing high school.”
The town didn’t have a library for another nine years.
Charter members, a real who’s who of Stanwood and Camano Island history, were Ida Brown, Ruby Brown, Regina Christianson, Virginia Cook, Florence Durgan, Mabel Holgren, Hattie Howard, Julia Knutson, Sophia Leknes, Elsa Lien, Theresa Lien, Marie McKean, Tillie Myron, Anna Nicks, Blanche Parsons, Jessie Pearson and Louise Wenberg.
Membership is limited to 24 women who meet twice a month except for during the summer. They also have a Christmas gathering, a picnic and take field trips related to the year’s topic — for instance, to a church when they study religion.
“They agreed from the first that their meetings would be no coffee klatch,” Leuschel said. “Meetings meant that usually two members would talk on a given topic each had researched within a study theme selected by the program committee.”
The club easily maintains full membership. In the early years, most members lived in Stanwood; now the majority of members are from Camano Island, she said. After someone has been in the club for 20 years, she can choose to become an emeritus member, which means she no longer has to research and present a report.
This opens a space for a new member. Each member has a turn at bringing in a new person, on a rotating basis, Leuschel said. Consequently, the group represents a diversity of interests and a span in ages.
Evelyn Eide joined in 1936 but became inactive during the time she taught in the Stanwood schools. She became active again in 1968 and rarely missed a meeting until her death in 2003.
Her record of 67 years of membership still stands.
Though the Monday Study Club clings to traditions, one thing has changed. In the annual yearbook that lists topics and speakers, most were prefaced with “Mrs.”
Now woman are listed first name first, “Reflecting the change in society’s perception of women as individuals, not appendages.” Leuschel said.
Another change is that most members now do their research online.
That reflects the club’s motto: “The world is advancing, advance with it.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
Learn more
Find out more about the Monday Study Club at 2:30 p.m. May 18 at Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center, 27108 102nd Ave. NW, Stanwood. It’s a tribute to the club founders and all are welcome.
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