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Martinez Historical Society 1005 Escobar Street - Martinez, CA - (925) 228-8160 |
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Martinez Branch of AAUW Part of the Community for 60+ Years
By Harriett Burt From the November, 1987 edition of “The Forecast,” newsletter of the Martinez Branch of the American Association of University Women: “Martinez AAUW will be 40 next May but its roots go back 50 years. Our branch had a most unusual beginning. It started in 1948 as a twin, and as a strong on-going community organization, which gives it a unique history. Back in 1937, when little Martinez was the county “hub” and Concord a smaller community, 24 Martinez and Concord women met in Martinez to organize a long-discussed university women’s group. Since becoming AAUW would double their $2.00 dues they decided to remain local, became the Contra Costa University Women, an active organization for the next 11 years. By 1947-48 when CCUW had 175 members, affiliation with AAUW was discussed. In February 1948, because of their growing community, the 58 Concord members withdrew from CCUW, and began the process of affiliation with AAUW. Nellie Katharine Seth, a leader in the start of CCUW, and still our active member, headed the affiliation committee, working with national and state officers On May 17, 1948 the Martinez and Concord branches were inducted at a festive banquet, attended by some 200, in Martinez. Regional and State officers came to “Launch a New Ship, AAUW”, and install the new officers. Already well-organized, Martinez made a smooth transition into AAUW with 127 members listed for 1948-49. Total dues were then $5.50. Jean Taylor, Historian”
When members, friends and guests of Martinez Branch gathered on May 31, 2008 to celebrate its 60th anniversary, charter member Jean Taylor was very much ‘there’ even though she died fifteen years earlier. An indefatigable and meticulous record keeper and scrapbook maker, Taylor made sure that the organizations she belonged to – AAUW, Soroptimists and PEO – would always have a complete record – at least complete for the period she covered. She left the Martinez community a treasure trove of memories and achievements. At the May, 2008 AAUW anniversary, nine of the original 127 members were still living and six were able to attend a luncheon celebrating the Branch’s contributions to Martinez. Marcella Boyer, Erna Long, Ruth Newman, Nellie Katharine Seth, Carmel Taylor and Phyllis Wainwright received a standing ovation from those in attendance. Honored in absentia were Watrine “Trina” Harris, Faire Sax and Ruth Spade Weaner. Seth in particular was welcomed heartily as she was the charter president of Contra Costa University Women which was organized in May, 1937 to foster education among women and to provide programs and activities of interest to its members. A 1934 graduate of Stanford University , Seth was an active member of both organizations for over 60 years. Martinez Branch became nationally known soon after its founding because Taylor researched the history of the national organization and wrote a three-act play titled “The Talbot Story” after one of the young women who had braved the ire of a college president to form the organization for the purpose of increasing the number of women who attended colleges and university. For its first anniversary meeting, members, dressed in period clothing covering the play’s time period of 1881 to 1922, acted all the parts at a gala meeting in the Junior High’s Little Theatre. In the audience were state officers and members of other Branches whose enthusiasm led to a special performance at a State AAUW conference at Monterey’s Asilomar. Taylor had copyrighted the play so branches eager to produce it had to pay Martinez a royalty fee which then was transferred to AAUW’s Educational Foundation Fellowship fund to support women obtaining post-graduate degrees. In 1981, author Taylor and members of the Branch agreed to relinguish the royalty so that national AAUW could send a copy of the play to all 1,930 branches in honor of the group’s centennial. True to its commitment to advancing education for all, the ink wasn’t dry on its charter before the Branch joined an area survey on the need for a “junior college district which was soon launched. In 1953, the Branch sponsored its first “Candidates Night” for school board, city council and local measures which it has continued to this day. Two years later the group endorsed and worked for the successful election of charter member Phyllis Wainwright to the Martinez Elementary School District Board, its first woman member. Since then, Branch members Alice Bonner, Kay Cox, Vicki Gordon, Nancy Hobert and Jackie Ulrich have served in that position and Harriett Burt, Lara DeLaney and Janet Kennedy have been elected to City Council. Branch member Patricia Crocker was the first woman named superintendent of the Martinez Unified School District. In 1958, substitute teacher Margaret McBride, convinced fellow Branch members that high school students could benefit from encouragement to succeed in their classes if they received periodic rewards for their classwork based on the nominations of their teachers. Thus was born the AAUW “Certificates of Merit” program which 50 years later is still going strong thanks to the dedication of retired Alhambra High business teacher and branch member Carol Albright and various members over the years plus a grant from the Martinez Community Foundation awarded for the first time in 2008 to help defray the costs of the certificates and postage. Originally set up to note achievement in academic classes, in recent years, electives have been included and citations include dramatic improvement, special projects, and other contributions students can make to a class’s success. Briones Alternative High School is also included. Each year, the Branch presents medallions to graduating seniors who have received the most certificates over their high school career. Over the years, the Branch has sponsored Pre-School Fairs to inform parents, worked to support the establishment of Head Start in Martinez, sponsored the School Arts Program with members teaching elementary students about fine art, and co-sponsored public forums on key issues such as the social internet. It also raises funds each year to help send from two to four middle school girls to Tech Trek, a summer camp to encourage young women to pursue studies in science and mathematics. Branch past presidents gem expert Letitia Corum, engineer Lisa Swanson and veterinarian Katrinka March have presented sessions on the work they do. Corum was elected Chief Financial Officer of California AAUW in 2008. Men were welcomed into membership in 1988 with former Martinez businessman Bob Wall as the first to join the branch. George March became the first male president in 2005. Recently membership has been opened to all men and women with an associate or an equivalent degree from accredited regional community college as well as baccalaureate or higher degrees from accredited colleges and universities.
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