Page View
Military government weekly information bulletin
Number 100 (July 1947)
American-German women's club, p. [6]
PDF (691.9 KB)
Page [6]
AMERICAN-GERMAN WOMEN'S CLUB IT seems to me a most important thing to share the spirit of demo- cracy with young German women so that they not only can see it in us, but also can live it with us in our homes," said Mrs. Sumner Sewall, wife of the Director OMG Wuerttem- berg-Baden, speaking before the or- ganizational meeting of the Stuttgart American-German Young Women's Progressive Club recently. As far back as December of last year, 80 Army wives and daughters of the Stuttgart area had decided to take an active part in the GYA pro- gram. They met with GYA officials of OMGWB and Third Constabulary Brigade officers and were informed of the work to be done. Committee chairmen were named to launch the new youth assistance organization and when 1947 came they were ready with their first project: a plan to entertain groups of German girls in the homes of American families. Mrs. Sewall, chairman of the exec- utive committee, launched the plan and girls between 12 and 18 were invited into 10 American homes. The type of entertainment in each home was decided by the hostesses. Since the time the project was started, approximately 1,000 girls have been entertained by these and other American families in the Stuttgart area. Mrs. Sewall, who has a group of 60 girls in her home every week, says that these privileges are not restricted to a certain small group. The groups differ from week to week so that at the end of a given time all the girls of a certain school had an opportunity to be entertained in an American home. These meetings are most informal, with some groups reading poetry, others singing, while some are knitting or sewing. Discussion groups are being formed by the girls who also play American and German games. Very often the girls come to their American hostesses to confide prob- lems confronting them and ask for advice. Because this program has worked out so successfully, some American and German women have decided to establish a similar program for adult women with the objective of arrang- ing discussion meetings on the prob- lems of Germany. The Stuttgart American-German Young Women's Progressive Club grew out of this idea. It held its first meeting on 22 May, with approximately 130 persons present. Among this group were writ- ers, a publisher, an attorney, a den- tist, an actress, as well. as the wives of Germans engaged in widely diver- sified fields. Mrs. Sumner Sewall, wife of the Director OMGWB and chairman of the executive committee of the American-German Women's Club of Stuttgart, greets a German friend at a recent meeting. (right) Club meetings are informal. They include music from Germany and the United States, discussions, and contests in cooking and photography. (photos from DENAj Chairmen of committees as well as an American president and a Ger- man vice-president were chosen. Mrs. Sewall was named president for the next two months, After that time she suggested that the German women will better understand how such a club operates and the president's po- sition can be transferred to a German club member while the vice-president will be an American. THE Program Committee headed by Frau Lilo Aureden Schwill, wife of a German editor, has worked out a plan for the next gatherings of the club. First, outstanding selections from both American and German mu- sic will be given. Discussion of all kinds of subjects will follow. The club president will ask questions of the audience, includ- ing such problems as "Should women administer their income separately from their husband's money?" or "What rights do the American women have that the German women should try to acquire, too?" Not more than three minutes will be given to each speaker. In addition, the program includes the presentation of two German artists who devote their time to fashion draw- ing. They will give short talks on French, Italian, British, and German fashion. This part of the program is expected to bring about lively how- to-dress discussions. A photo contest will be launched with pictures taken in the most interesting parts of Wuerttemberg- (Continued on page 12)
As a work of the United States government, this material is in the public domain.| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright