Happy New Year! I am pleased to be back at work and
picking up where I left off processing the Woman’s Club of Claremont records. I
am making progress and am almost finished processing the Club’s operational
records. I am looking forward to moving on to processing the Junior Club’s
project reports and associated records. The process keeps unfolding as I get
deeper into the records. The plan keeps evolving, and I can see ways of improving
the plan as I continue to wade through the material and become more familiar
with the Club itself. I really want to finish as much as possible before my
time with CCEPS is over, so I feel like I accomplished something important when
I leave. This desire is fueling a sense of urgency in my work.
The Woman’s
Club/Junior Club has done some amazing projects to better their community over
the years. The Junior Club has made a difference through projects under program
themes such as Building a Better Community, Fine Arts, Family, and many more. I
was able to learn about one such program while processing correspondence with
the theme of International Affairs. The letters detailed the club’s sponsorship
of an orphan named Lee Myung Cha from the Orphans’ Home of Korea located in
Seoul, Korea. Lee Myung Cha wrote a touching letter of appreciation and
gratitude to the ladies of the Woman’s Club that appears to be dated ca. late
1950’s to early 1960’s. Lee Myung Cha reports that, through the Club’s
sponsorship, she can stay healthy and continue her educational studies. She
mentions twenty cows that were sent to her town from Texas and a homemade
drawing she sent to the club depicting happy children playing with a top. I wonder
what ever became of Lee Myung Cha? I haven’t come across any records detailing her
fate, but her letter says a great deal about the Woman’s Club of Claremont’s efforts
to make the world a better place. These compassionate women not only impacted
communities domestically, but also managed to touch lives on an international
scale. Brava Ladies!
Myung Cha’s letter.
