In the shadow of the Great Depression, as drought persisted in America’s heartland and unemployment peaked at 25 percent, a group of Kalispell women gathered at Vera Ann O’Neil’s home in May 1933 to talk about what they could do to help women in their community.

These were the founding members of the Kalispell chapter of the American Association of University Women, an organization that has for 132 years worked to advance equality for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research.

The local AAUW chapter is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a look back at the group’s many accomplishments over eight decades.

O’Neil and Norma Wilson co-founded the local branch and remained actively involved, as archives from the Daily Inter Lake indicate.

In 1934 the women got involved in a statewide history project undertaken by women’s clubs throughout Montana. They also heard “an excellent talk on ‘The proposed Food and Drug Legislation,’” an Inter Lake article noted.

Several early projects focused on child care. The Kalispell branch saw tangible results from its efforts, first through the creation of a playground in Woodland Park in 1938.

Also in those early years, the women supervised a Works Progress Administration nursery set up at Central School for children of working mothers. A children’s library room at the Carnegie Library (now the Hockaday Museum of Art) was established after the women organized the project and raised the money.

The Kalispell chapter supplied continuous representation on the Flathead Health Council for 25 years until a county health nurse was hired.

By the 1950s the organization actively opposed censorship and “McCarthysim during those dark years of Senate hearings and blacklisting of the so-called ‘pinkos,’” Lois Sampson recalled in written memories submitted by club members for an earlier anniversary.

Joan Murray remembered AAUW in the ’60s, when the local chapter was studying the emerging nations of Africa and educational issues of the day.

“We had United Nations Day each October and served a lunch of ‘foreign’ foods, each member making something from a recipe provided by a committee,” Murray wrote for the branch’s memory booklet in 1993. “AAUW’s influence in the community helped make it a better place to live and raise a family.”

The 1960s was a busy decade for the local university women, who supported the creation of Flathead Valley Community College and helped start the Hockaday Museum of Art. The branch developed a volunteer tutor program to assist with a learning disability program initiated at Elrod School.

The chapter’s projects have been wide-ranging since Day One. Establishing scholarships for women was an important accomplishment. The women have hosted forums and discussions on any number of topics, from how to address bullying to the issue of rape in the military.

“This branch keeps morphing to deal with what’s relevant,” longtime Kalispell member Nancy Rose said.

In the 1980s the focus was on working women and their families. The Kalispell branch helped with the “Molders and Shapers” conference in 1987 that focused on women as community builders. 

The chapter founded the Gemini program, a mentoring program for young women now under the auspices of The Nurturing Center in Kalispell.

AAUW members have been mentoring since the beginning, too.

Longtime member Jane Lopp remembers her first experience with AAUW at a tea for girls in the National Honor Society. It was spring 1961 and Lopp was a junior at Flathead High School.

Lopp was honored to sit at a table with Billie Burtch, the Kalispell AAUW president that year.

“I remember what a wonderful conversation we had,” Lopp recalled. “She’d gone to Carleton College, and because of what she shared I wanted to go there, too. It was a wonderful event, the interaction and stimulating conversation.”

Lopp would go on the join AAUW and is the chapter’s current president; she also served as president from 1991-93.

“AAUW is interested in cutting-edge issues — that’s key,” Lopp said. “We look at contemporary issues and we call those issues to the attention of the public. We’re active in the public policy arena.”

The Kalispell chapter’s annual used book sale has become the organization’s biggest fundraiser and has been an opportunity to give AAUW some local publicity. The fundraiser has grown exponentially since that first book sale 40 years ago when the women collected $400. Today the sale brings in upwards of $8,000 to be used on local projects and scholarships.

Like their counterparts on the national level, Kalispell branch women continue to examine and take positions on the fundamental issues of the day.

There are 60 members in the Kalispell branch, but Lopp would like to increase that number.

“We’d like to have 80 members for our 80th year,” she said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.