The O. O. P. Club

BY MRS. A. J. GILLESPIE.

In 1891 a little group of eleven women were brought together upon the invitation of Mrs. C. B. Osborne and Mrs. David Stanton. Each week we met for study and self-improvement, and as O. O. P. signifies, "Our Own Pleasure." It could scarcely be given the dignified name of a club, as we were governed by no constitution and by-laws until 1903, when we were in our fourteenth year.

We have studied the history of the United States from its "Earliest Settlement." Her army and navy, her wars, laws, statesmen, reformers and philanthropists, her religion, charities and college. We have journeyed from the "Sunny South" to the snow-capped mountains of the great northwest. From California to the rugged coast of New England, and to the "Islands of the Sea."

We crossed the ocean (in fancy), visited cathedrals and palaces and at the courts of kings and emperors, took a trip down the Thames and into the "English lake district," studied the "Conditions of Ireland," saw the "Lakes of Killarney," the "Scottish Highlands," and the "Land of Burns." Studied history and art in France and Italy, and the mythology of "Ancient Rome." Found ourselves in Greece in its "Legendary Period," studied also her laws, literature and "great men." One year we spent in Germany, and one in "Brave Little Holland." In India, China and Japan, we visited mosques, palaces and tombs, learning of their literature and religion. Visited Russia and the "Exile in the Siberian Prison."

We tarried more than a year in Spain, learning much about this old nation, with which we have had so much to do and yet have known so little about.

I have heard it said that the O. O. P. Club had a way all its own. In my opinion it is a very good way.

Men are coming to recognize that the inteleectual activity fostered by the clubs, results in better service in the house and the common duties of life.

While sorrow and death has touched our hearts many times during the twenty-two years of our existence, but one of our club members has gone from us to the Great Beyond.

The officers of the club are: President, Mrs. A. J. Gillespie; vice-president, Mrs. T. B. Swan; secretary, Mrs. J. G. Whitney; treasurer, Mrs. C. P. Meredith.

From: Industrial Edition, published by Atlantic News Telegraph, Atlantic, Iowa, 1913, pp. 27, 29.

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