Man About Canton: Community Club 1912-2012

The MAC column this week is dedicated to the story of the Canton Community Club with information compiled by the club’s historian, Ruth Kidd.

One hundred years ago, in 1912, a minister’s wife together with a young female member of the Congregational Church formed the Canton Community Club. The club’s objective was to “unite in fellowship and service all women of this community to the end that the highest interests of the town may be served,” and it was truly a community club in spirit as well as in name.

Miss Mildred Dunbar, a member of the Congregational Church, first brought a noted suffragette, Eva Channing, from Boston to an organizational meeting. Channing spoke about “What Women Can Do to Improve Conditions in Canton.” Women from all over Canton were invited through the local newspapers and churches to meet in Lower Memorial Hall on Tuesday, June 25, 1912, to listen to and then plan for the organization of a women’s club. They decided on the name “Community Club of Canton” (rather than the Canton Women’s Club or the Women’s Club of Canton). Over 100 women came to that meeting, excited to start a women’s club with the purpose of bringing hope and improvement to Canton.

Dunbar was made temporary chairman to organize the club, and at the October 1912 meeting, she was officially voted as the first president of the Community Club of Canton. Meetings were first held at the Universalist Parish Hall. Dues were $1.50 per year. Members were to be notified of any club news through the Canton Journal. Written notices and reports were posted in the local newspaper, the Canton Journal, the Boston Globe, and the Saturday edition of the Boston Transcript.

From October 1912 to the present, meetings have been held on the first Tuesday of the month. The club is non-sectarian, non-partisan in politics, a group of women with the goal that its members could make a difference in the lives of others.

All ideas and programs were established quickly, mostly concerning the health and welfare of the citizens of Canton and the education and involvement of schoolchildren.

Some of the innovative programs the club started and supported were:

1. At a cost of 1 cent per package, seeds were distributed to schoolchildren to be planted in four sections of town. Over 40 gardens were planted with first and second place ribbons awarded by grades. This was a town-wide effort involving both children and adults.

2. A 9 p.m. curfew was established, and each night, starting at 8:50, three blasts by the fire whistle let young people know it was time to head home. This whistle could be heard for miles around. Because of this, other communities decided to do the same and blew their fire whistles around the same time.

3. After much discussion between the School Committee and the Community Club, the high school luncheon program was started, with the Community Club taking financial responsibility as well as making and serving hot lunches to students at the high school.

4. The club had a “public health” committee to assist in the treatment of tuberculosis, decreasing infant mortality and improving sanitation in schools and houses. This led to the “well baby clinic” where mothers could bring their infants and young children to be cared for by doctors and nurses.

5. The club petitioned the selectmen for action at town meeting for the “Tenement Law,” which prohibited the erection of apartment houses holding more than two families unless it was made fireproof and sanitary.

6. The club successfully sponsored town meeting articles that allowed school buildings to be used after school hours for educational purposes.

7. The club suggested to the selectmen that warning signs be placed near the schools for the children’s protection, which were put up per order of the School Committee.

8. The club successfully proposed a “Cleanup Day and Week,” also known as the “Clean Canton Campaign,” to the Board of Health. Trash barrels were put on streets, and a person was eventually hired to clean up streets with the Community Club supplying a pushcart.

9. The Canton Bird Club and the Canton Choral Society were started because of the club.

10. The club conducted classes at the old Crane School for immigrant mothers and always was the first to sponsor adult education classes at the high school.

11. During the Great Depression, the Community Club provided baskets of food, medicine, and fuel for the many needy families and also supplied cod liver oil and oranges to undernourished children. There were no other federal, state or local agencies to help families.

Present Day

The Community Club has awarded scholarships to deserving seniors every year since 1951. When the club received the Schmeider-Miller Scholarship fund 10 years ago, it was able to give out four $1,000 scholarship awards a year to three Canton High School students and one Blue Hills Regional High School student.

In the past, the Thomas Hayes/Elsie Poole, Marion Maxim (local second grade teacher at the Gridley School), and Community Club scholarships were also awarded.

In 2012, the Anagnoston family gave the Paul Anagnoston Memorial Scholarship for $1,000 to a graduating senior.

Every year, the CCC sponsors the “Outstanding Young Citizen” award, given to a junior in high school for academics, leadership, community service and citizenship.

The MassStar Award, a statewide leadership award, is given yearly to a high school sophomore from Canton High or Blue Hills Regional. This award is co-sponsored by the Bank of Canton and the Community Club. A candidate for this award spends a weekend at Lasell College with students from all over Massachusetts for leadership training at no cost to the student.

The Community Club donates items for veterans at the VA Hospital at Christmas to help with their holiday party and also brings them robes, scarves, and hats handmade by Canton women.

The Community Club has members that make crafts for a nursing home and is currently involved in a program for second grade classes called “Kids and Kindness.”

The club is involved in environmental issues in Canton, selling unique magnets, each one showing a different area of Canton. The Community Club members donate food for the Canton Food Pantry every month.

The Canton Community Club has done so much for so many over the years, and is excited about the 100^th anniversary celebration that is planned for October 2 at the Brookmeadow Country Club.

And finally, MAC personally congratulates the Canton Community Club as it celebrates its 100^th anniversary. The club has quite an illustrious and amazing history, and thanks to CCC historian Ruth Kidd, MAC’s readers are now more informed about the club.

Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=16096

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Sep 13 2012. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.