In the 1930s

catalaclubarms.jpg

Catala Club Coat of Arms

The 1930s saw the first organizations for women on campus with the establishment of the Catala Club in 1930 and the Faculty Wives Club in 1938.

The Catala Club was established in order to bring a female presence to campus and as a source of fundraising and supporting students financially.

The Faculty Wives Club was established by many in the Catala Club in order to bring together the wives of Santa Clara University faculty members.

While not academic, these two clubs helped establish and organize the presence of women on campus.

Catala-first.pdf

This document introduces the Catala Club for the first time, describing it as a club for "mothers, sisters, and feminine friends of students" among other women involved with campus, in order to bring a "feminine touch" and "mothers' hand" to campus.

mother.pdf

This poem was written by Catala Club member Nora Noonan Plover for the first Mothers' Day at Santa Clara University.

father-catala.pdf

This document describes a Catala Club event in which Father Cornelius Deeney gave a speech about the successes of Santa Clara University, as well as about the Catala Club's namesake, Father Catala.

nuns-translate.jpg

An article about Father Spearman enlisting the help of Carmelite Nuns rescued from Mexico and brought to California. They helped Father Spearman translate documents from Spanish to English.

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This first page of the September 1936 Catala Club scrapbook, including a picture of the club president at the time, Mrs. Edmund C. Flynn, and article clippings about programs and lectures put on by the club.

Catala Lectures Fall Semester Series.jpg

A 1938 example of one of the Catala Club lecture series programs. These lectures were free and open to anyone. Generally covering an array of subjects, this particular series focused on Music, History, Botany, and Political Science.

Foreword - Faculty Wives- Uni of Santa Clara.jpg

This document introduces the Faculty Wives Club, a club created in 1938 to bring the wives of Santa Clara University together. The club put on many events each year, from the annual Garden Fete to the Christmas Yule Party. The club was a big source of moral on campus.

The role of women on the Santa Clara University campus during the 1930s was not an academic one, but one rooted more in the feminine and social roles expected by women. This is understandable for the historical context, and the clubs were important for establishing an organized female presence on campus.

These women did many things for Santa Clara University, from fundraising to bringing people together on campus. These groups were the initial seeds planted that would eventually lead to the growth of a female academic presence on campus.

1930s