Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist
In March, we will celebrate Women’s History Month by taking a look at the lives and contributions of women throughout Harrison County’s history. This week we feature The Woman’s Literary Club of Corydon, which was established in 1878 and was one of the earliest such organizations in the state. The club emerged through the efforts of Anna VanZandt Applegate, who wanted to keep herself intellectually challenged and knowledgeable in addition to fulfilling her roles as wife and mother. She gathered likeminded women in the community to form the club, which was at times called the “Spare Minutes Club.”
The club studied a wide variety of classical literature as well as contemporary works. The women took their work seriously and expected each member to come to meetings not only having read the literature under current study, but also to be well prepared to discuss at length the themes, plot, and characters of the work. They also set aside a portion of their time to discuss current events. Topics ranged from national and world politics and events to arts and culture and scientific discoveries. for example, among the many topics discussed in 1898-1899 were the sinking of the Maine, U. S. involvement in the Philippines, Rookwood pottery, invention of “the talked of flying machine,” a Vanderbilt wedding, and Tesla’s plan to harness the power of Niagara Falls for electricity.
Here are a few images of members of The Woman’s Literary Club of Corydon over the years. These images and others as well as meeting minutes, club program yearbooks, and a memory scrapbook are available online in HCPL’s Woman’s Literary Club of Corydon collection, https://cdm17251.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17251coll12
