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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)