More Than a Decade of Dedication
Now Fighting Domestic Violence
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n 1913, a group of industrious and civic-minded ladies organized The Civic Association of Brunswick, Georgia with a goal to make the streets, parks, and squares blossom with thousands of trees and shrubs. Students from the now non-existent Purvis Elementary School joined in by planting window boxes full of bright, colorful flowers. The beautiful work they did was recognized by Brunswick’s “City Fathers” who set aside a fund to finance the women’s projects. Soon Brunswick’s squares blossomed, streets were well-maintained, and parks overflowed with flowers as evidence of the work done by the civic association. The Civic Association merged into a “Woman’s Club” in April 1917 and became owners of a school in Tallulah Falls, Georgia. Concerned that children in the mountains were not receiving proper education, a Mrs. Lipscome started Tallulah Falls School in 1909, with the school
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owned and operated by Georgia Women’s Clubs. Today, the school exists as a private boarding and day school for grades 6-12 which enrolls students from several foreign countries. Brunswick Woman’s Club takes great pride in “their school” by helping to support it.
the Jaycees and later sold again to another non-profit organization. The Junior Woman’s Club of Brunswick was organized by the Woman’s Club of Brunswick in the 1940s, the St. Simons Junior Woman’s Club in 1950, and the Woodbine Club in 1951.
The membership for the club totaled 150 heading into the war years of 1918, and the women did their part for the cause by knitting garments for the Battleship Georgia and sweaters for “our boys.” Following the war, the club sponsored a night school for adults who were unable to read or write using public school teachers who were paid a small stipend. Enrollment increased from 135 students to 506. A resounding success! Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of raising funds to support the program, it ceased around 1932.
In spite of the goals the original civic association set for themselves – to beautify the city of Brunswick – they and their successors far exceeded their expectations. In 1922, Brunswick Women’s Club joined the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, an organization of more than 80,000 members in affiliated clubs in every state and more than a dozen countries. GFWC members are community leaders who work locally to create global change by supporting the arts, preserving natural resources, advancing education, promoting healthy lifestyles, encouraging civic involvement, and working toward world peace and understanding. In addition to continuing to maintain their garden and various other beautification projects, and providing support for the Tallulah Falls school, members have volunteered time and money to a wide variety of organizations and community programs, awarding scholarships, raising funds and collecting needed supplies for agencies like CASA, Safe Harbor, America’s Second Harvest, Gateway Behavioral Health Services, Coastal Honor Flight, United Way, the families of service personnel, MAP International, UNICEF, Heifer International,
During the 1930s and 1940s, Club meetings held at the Oglethorpe Hotel included programs on music, public speaking, literature, education, and government. Plans to build a clubhouse never came to fruition and valuable downtown lots owned by the Club were sold. Members approached Glynn County commissioners for space for a clubhouse when the county was disposing of property in the Goodyear Park area in the 1950s and the Club was granted a deed for property adjacent to Parkwood Drive and West Park Avenue in February 1952. In 1971, the building was sold to
