Special Collections Research Center presents ‘A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse’January 29, 2009Pamela McLaughlinpwmclaug@syr.edu
A new exhibition, “A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse,” is now on display in Syracuse University Library’s Special Collections Research Center. Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women’s study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse.
The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women’s access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.
Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year’s president.
Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club’s first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.
The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents. The exhibition will be available until May 8 on the sixth floor of E.S. Bird Library. The sixth-floor gallery is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-through Friday, except holidays.
The following members of the Syracuse University community are recognized for achieving Years of Service milestones in academic year 2020-21. Jeurje Alamir, Facilities Services Kathryn Allen, School of Information Studies Suzanne Baldwin, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College…
We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…
Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of television, radio and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner article “Nips and poops: Biden dogs cause ‘Major’ headaches.” Thompson,…
Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the PBS NewsHour story “Relative invisibility makes for uphill battle to get COVID vaccines for Americans with IDD.” Landes, an expert on the sociology of disability, has…
Yingyi Ma, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for The Chronicle of Higher Education Q&A piece “Global: How International Students’ Perception of Racism in the U.S. Has Changed.” Ma, who also serves as the director of…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
