Finding Women's Names

Our church women's group is honoring the women who have served as presidents of the organization over the years. We are fortunate that we have a large and active women's group in our parish. That group has been in existence since the beginning of the parish, although the name has changed. These women have served and a number of them still serve in leadership positions in our parish and community.

Until the last few years, everything the organization did was on paper. I am a computer person. We have moved to a computer system in the last few years. For the last ten years or so, we have been able to track who has been an officer and when. The only way to do that for the 70 prior years is to read through bulletins and meeting minutes. A task which seems daunting. So, I thought I would ask those women who are wiser and more experienced than I what years they served as officers in the organization. No one ever remembers. I'm beginning to think it's like childbirth, they just block those years out of their mind. Just like childbirth, being a leader in an organization has painful moments, but that is often outweighed by the feeling of fulfillment when a service project brings help to others, or the value of the friendships made along the way.

So, while I am amazed that no one can really remember when they were officers, I am saddened that we have several women without first names. Back in the 30s and 40s, women didn't have first names. They were referred to as Mrs. Michael Smith or Mrs. Joseph Jones. I realize it was the convention of the day, but I feel somewhat sad about these unnamed women. Of course, their names don't appear in print either. So, I'm on a quest to find the names of our first few presidents. Unfortunately, the parish database doesn't go back that far. I was talking to one of our older parishioners and she remembers some of the women because they were her mother's contemporaries. She couldn't remember their names either because she always referred to them as Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Jones. That makes perfect sense to me, because moms don't have first names. I'm sure my kids don't realize the first names of some of my associates because they always call them Mrs. or Ms .

I like that my acknowledging these women who worked hard to build an organization and a parish are being recognized. I think many of the women like it also. I've seen several past presidents in the last few days, and they are almost giddy about a night honoring them. It's somewhat of a reminder that we all have a place in history. As I look at the names of women who proceeded me, I wonder what they were like and what was their lives like. It would be interesting to see if there was something all the women had in common besides the willingness to come forward and be a leader.