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Women’s group a gathering of inquiring minds

In The Athenaeum, Vancouver women fulfill their intellectual curiosity

By Mary Ann Albright
Published: April 18, 2010, 12:00am

Members of The Athenaeum and their guests sat rapt as Oregon Symphony Principal Cello Nancy Ives played excerpts of pieces by American composer Charles Ives, her great-grandfather’s cousin.

Nancy Ives’ demonstration and lecture complemented the 114-year-old Vancouver women’s study group’s topic of inquiry for 2010 — composers. Several of the group’s members are musicians, but they, too, are learning new things about the subject through the lens of their fellow Athenaeum ladies.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Betty Bell, a Vancouver pianist. Bell, 71, joined The Athenaeum in 1983. Through The Atheneum, she’s learning about the political, social and cultural contexts into which Ives and other composers fit.

The March 19 event was the one day a year that The Athenaeum’s members invite people outside the group to participate. Otherwise, The Athenaeum’s twice-monthly Friday afternoon meetings are closed. Membership in the group is capped at 25, and there’s a waiting list.

News of the invitational group spreads through word of mouth, and some members are reluctant to publicize The Athenaeum. There’s concern about appearing elitist or hurting people’s feelings by excluding them, but the reason for the 25-person cap is practical, Bell said.

They meet in private homes, so the group can only accommodate so many people, Bell explained. Also, there’s a time factor. Each member is responsible for presenting or co-presenting one lesson on a subtopic during the year. Bell, for example, gave a talk on Baroque music this month and planned to play some examples from the period on her harpsichord. If membership spiked, not everyone would be able to participate in this exercise of research and exposition, Bell said.

Active participation is a key component of The Athenaeum, along with intellectual curiosity and fellowship.

“We want people who have active, inquiring minds,” Bell said.

Minds at work

The Athenaeum is dedicated to “the intellectual improvement of its members,” according to a club fact sheet. Its motto is “Absence of occupation is not rest. A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.”

Many of the group’s members, who range in age from about 50 to 90, are retired, but their minds certainly are not at rest. Over the years, the group has tackled a range of topics such as Nobel Prize winners, folklore, China and journalism. Each spring, the group’s officers meet to decide the topic and subtopics of study for the following year.

“It’s surprising how much we learn by giving reports and listening to them,” said Vancouver pianist Donna Egan, 76, current president of The Athenaeum. “It’s a learning experience. It’s very rewarding.”

One of Bell’s favorite areas of inquiry in recent years was The Athenaeum itself. The group and its members past and present share a rich history. The Athenaeum began as The Ladies’ Athenaeum in October 1895, following the dissolution of the Wimodausis Club. Wimodausis, founded in 1893, stood for Wives, Mothers, Daughters and Sisters. A dispute over Women’s Rights spelled the end of this group, according to The Athenaeum’s historical records. Wimodausis members in good standing when the group disbanded were invited to join a new group, The Athenaeum.

The word Athenaeum in Ancient Greece referred to buildings dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and in particular to gathering places for the erudite. There are Athenaeum groups across the country and abroad, although the Vancouver group isn’t affiliated with any of them.

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Changing with the times

The Athenaeum in Clark County has seen its members’ lives change over the years, as women achieved more freedom and technology advanced. Members used to attend meetings in a horse and buggy, for example, before the rise of the automobile. The dress code has morphed from gloves, hats and dresses to more casual pants and tops. Even the format of the roster has changed. Members used to be listed under their husbands’ names, rather than their own.

“I would have been Mrs. J. Bruce Bell,” Betty Bell said.

How members research subtopics and share their findings has evolved, as well. Sue Hennum, who joined The Athenaeum in 1981, said the Internet has made research materials more accessible.

“Before that, you would go to the library, check out all the books you could find on the subject and pore over them,” said Hennum, an 82-year-old retired college art history teacher from Salmon Creek.

The Internet made researching Romantic composers Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin for her January presentation to The Athenaeum that much easier for Hennum. Surfing the Web, she found photographs of the composers and learned tidbits such as how popular Liszt was with the ladies.

“They compared Franz Liszt to the Elvis Presley of his day,” Hennum said, adding that women would swoon at his concerts. “It was very interesting to find out all these things.” It’s those type of details, Hennum said, that help bring historical figures to life.

In addition to the Internet, some members started using PowerPoint in recent years to present their research findings to the group.

“We’ve come into the technological age,” Hennum said.

Treasuring the past

They’re enjoying the modern conveniences and freedoms, but glimpses into the club’s past are treasured. The Athenaeum’s archives are kept at the Clark County Historical Society, stored in a handmade box crafted from wood from Vancouver’s historic Old Apple Tree.

The sense of history The Athenaeum captures is part of its appeal, Bell said.

“It’s a pretty amazing group to have been in continuous existence for this long,” she said. “It was certainly a movement that asserted women’s right to independent, intellectual pursuit. Being tied to that history, that past, is really meaningful to me.”

Mary Ann Albright: maryann.albright@columbian.com, 360-735-4507.

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