{"id":3388,"date":"2022-08-20T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T15:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/?p=3388"},"modified":"2024-11-23T09:55:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T15:55:46","slug":"history-of-the-calgary-womens-literary-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/eternal-3388-history-of-the-calgary-womens-literary-club","title":{"rendered":"History of the Calgary Women\u2019s Literary Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Calgary Women\u2019s Literary Club is a gathering place for Calgary women who share a passion for literature. It is the oldest club of its kind in Canada. Learn more on calgarynka<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A Woman with a Dream”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1860s, Annie Davidson, born in the province of New Brunswick, arrived in Calgary with a trunk full of books. A widow who had endured the loss of six of her ten children to illness and accidents, she sought solace in reading classics and the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie Davidson<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 68, on February 6, 1906, Annie founded the Calgary Women\u2019s Literary Club. Members of the club met weekly in the parlor of her home on 13 Avenue West. At the inaugural meeting, they developed the club\u2019s charter, elected officers, and selected program topics. Early meetings were dedicated to complex books, including political novels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendance ranged between 25 and 30 women. To join the club, members paid a 25-cent fee. Women who had moved to Calgary with their husbands from other towns and surrounding farms joined the club to adapt to community life, make new friends, and escape domestic duties for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Annie realized that the community needed a library. She petitioned for Calgary\u2019s first public library. Rosemary Griebel, Director of Service Design for the Calgary Public Library, described Annie as a determined woman with a dream who overcame various hardships to create a space for literary gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building the Library<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To turn her vision into reality, Annie reached out to American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who had amassed wealth in the U.S. steel industry. A lover of books, Carnegie used his resources to fund free public libraries across North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie secured $80,000 from Carnegie for Calgary\u2019s library construction. However, the all-male city council required her to collect signatures from 10% of Calgary\u2019s male residents, as women were not yet allowed to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was no small feat, as many disliked Carnegie, believing he had earned his fortune dishonestly. After two attempts, Annie succeeded in gathering the signatures. The city contributed $20,000 and a plot of land, while the province donated $10,000 to purchase 5,000 books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The library opened in 1912. The sandstone, two-story building featured columns, stone steps, and a curved fa\u00e7ade and was located in the Central Memorial Park. Unfortunately, Annie did not live to see the library. She moved to Montreal before its opening and passed away shortly afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Happened Next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The library\u2019s first librarian, Alexander Calhoun, introduced a program for children, as libraries had traditionally been for adults only. He also launched free humanities and social sciences courses for adults. During the Great Depression, the library became so popular that book borrowing limits were imposed to ensure the collection remained intact. In 1959, a new children\u2019s department opened in the library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the Women\u2019s Literary Club, its members continued to meet at the public library in the afternoons during October, November, March, and April. During the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings were held virtually via Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club\u2019s active membership has remained at about 30 women over the years. The format of the meetings has not changed: members deliver presentations on the works of the year\u2019s chosen author, focusing on literary aspects, the author\u2019s biography, and excerpts from their books, followed by discussions. Occasionally, guest speakers, including authors, are invited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To honor the club\u2019s legacy, four cement plaques were installed at each entrance to Memorial Park, and a bronze plaque was placed in the library to commemorate Annie Davidson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Calgary Women\u2019s Literary Club is a gathering place for Calgary women who share a passion for literature. It is the oldest club of its kind in Canada. Learn more on calgarynka. “A Woman with a Dream” In the late 1860s, Annie Davidson, born in the province of New Brunswick, arrived in Calgary with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":3389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1034],"tags":[2121,2115,2113,2124,2122,2116,2119,2118,2114,2125,2120,2127,2126,2117,2123],"motype":[1045],"moformat":[66],"moimportance":[34,33],"class_list":{"0":"post-3388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-life","8":"tag-alberta-library-history","9":"tag-andrew-carnegie-libraries","10":"tag-annie-davidson","11":"tag-annie-davidson-legacy","12":"tag-calgary-historical-societies","13":"tag-calgary-literary-history","14":"tag-calgary-public-library","15":"tag-calgary-reading-groups","16":"tag-calgary-womens-literary-club","17":"tag-canadian-womens-history","18":"tag-central-memorial-park","19":"tag-early-womens-organizations","20":"tag-literary-community-calgary","21":"tag-public-libraries-in-canada","22":"tag-womens-literary-clubs","23":"motype-eternal","24":"moformat-vlasna","25":"moimportance-golovna-novina","26":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3392,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions\/3392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calgarynka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}