Johnstown university women's group celebrates century of education, advocacy

Mar. 4—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — For almost a century, the Johnstown branch of the American Association of University Women has provided countless educational resources, business opportunities and cultural experiences for its members and the community.

The organization's first official meeting took place at the city's Franklin Street United Methodist Church on Oct. 18, 1923.

The chapter is celebrating its centennial year in in March, which is Women's History Month. Georgia Yeager, chapter co-president, said the month "aligns with our mission."

"It raises awareness of women in many pioneering roles if we're looking back in history, and then we have women who are making current history," Yeager said in an interview at Flood City Cafe downtown. "I think it's important for young women to see these pioneers, these current role models, to know what they can be. It's our mission — research, education and advocacy."

Yeager added: "I think that women's history is important, and I bet that if you would poll the community they would say that it's important — but I remember not too long ago being asked what I was doing in a man's job, and we're not talking 50 years ago. We're talking like 10 years ago. So we can never lose sight of the fact that we need to raise awareness. We need to provide opportunities."

Chapter members will continue to offer positive examples to local girls who live in a much different world than their counterparts did in the 1920s.

"Research shows that young women have a tendency to choose careers that they have seen modeled in their lives," said Nina Girard, chairwoman for the 100th anniversary celebration. "They know what a nurse does. They know what a teacher does. Sometimes they don't know what an engineer does. and so I think part of the efforts and part of the things that have changed over the years is that those are more visible.

"They see role models in those careers, and so they are able to choose them, I think, a little more perceptively. They know what those careers are like."

AAUW was formed in 1881 in Boston with the goal of empowering women. There are now more than 1,000 branches, with membership open to any woman who has earned an associate degree or greater.

Fifty women attended the original meeting of the Johnstown chapter, according to a one-paragraph brief in The Daily Democrat that did not even mention the organization's name. Officers were elected, including Margaret Evans as the first president.

Approximately 130 women in Johnstown would have met the requirements to join at the time, according to historic records, when less than 10% of women in the United States graduated from college.

"Things were a lot more formal, I think, when the organization started," said Anne Fattman, a member of the local chapter for more than 50 years. "They certainly knew that women didn't have the same opportunities that men had. That changed.

"We changed a little bit, too. We're still trying to get girls to think about jobs in areas other than a nurse, a teacher or working in the commercial field, a secretary. Those were the three areas that were open to women, I think, when I came out of high school. We didn't know what was available. That was the hard thing."

Throughout its history, the local AAUW has conducted presentations at schools, honored outstanding women with awards, hosted book club meetings, supported the community in tough times such as the 1977 flood, provided scholarships to high school seniors, and funded endowments at Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. The organization has held an annual used book sale since the 1950s.

"Literacy has always been an important part of AAUW, literacy and education," Yeager said. "That is big in our mission here in town. That's why we raise funds, so that we can give scholarships."

Seminars and workshops on a wide variety of subjects have also been hosted.

"I can remember it was an opportunity for a lot of us who stayed at home to take care of children to get out and go to a stimulating program," Fattman said. "We felt that we learned something and we could contribute in a small way."

Anniversary celebration activities are already underway. Women Business Enterprises recognitions are posted on the group's Facebook page. Significant events in the chapter's history are being remembered with Centennial Citations.

On Thursday, members plan to gather at Asiago's Tuscan Italian near the top of the Johnstown Inclined Plane to watch the historic Stone Bridge in the valley below be lit in AAUW colors.

The "AAUW Empowering Women for a Century" exhibit is scheduled to be displayed from March 30 through the end of May at the Johnstown Area Heritage Association's Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Discovery Heritage Center in the Cambria City neighborhood. It will include timelines, newspaper clippings, artifacts, photographs and posters from the local chapter. Part of the exhibit will later be displayed at other sites.

"This is one of the exhibits that really came out of the community," JAHA President Richard Burkert said. "They wanted to involve us in their anniversary planning, and we're happy to accommodate them. It's kind of a place where they can meet and get together. It's an opportunity to really celebrate what the organization has done over the years. It really showcases it to the rest of the community."

Finally, on Oct. 18, the chapter plans to hold an event at Franklin Street United Methodist Church that will include a covered-dish dinner, just like the founders held a century earlier.

"We're planning to do exactly as they did 100 years ago," Girard said.