Willows Reading and Study Club (San Jose, Calif.)

The Willows Reading and Study Club was established in 1896 and is one of the oldest organizations in the Santa Clara Valley. It changed its name to Willows Reading and Study Club in 1917. "Willows" in the club's title refers to the Willows neigborhood, later known as Willow Glen. The club's purpose, stated in its 1900 constitution, is "for the mutual improvement and culture of its members through reading of good books, the discussion of questions of general interest and importance and the study of parliamentary law". While initially the club was organized as an improvement club for the Willows, it became a reading and study club after "men in the community" organized an "Improvement Club". Over the years the club studied a diverse range of topics, for example, the 1903-1904 programs included a series on American poets, the "Influence on America's Development of Laying the Pacific Cable", and the study of China and its people. During the Progressive era, club members wrote on topics ranging from Jane Addams to the juvenile court system. Particular to the United States' war years the club's topics concerned the "Nutritive Value of Food Stuff", Sanitary and Economical Cookery", "Our Friends and Foes - Bacteria", and "Foods and Their Adulteration". Other studies concentrated on local themes such as the "Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe" and "Golden Gate and California's People Involving Foreign Citizens". Not all these essays exist in the collection. In addition to study, the club worked for charities such as a Home for Crippled Children and Fruit for Needy Families. Some of the club's past members have included women from Santa Clara Valley's first pioneer settler families. Many members belonged to the prominent fruit-raising families, some of whom came to California in the early 1850s. One member, Nell Rose, was the the daughter of Reverend Brierly, chaplain of "the Legislature of a 1000 Drinks" - the name given the first California State Legislature located in San Jose from 1849-1859. It was so called because Senator Thomas Jefferson Green made several motions to adjourn and have 1,000 drinks at his expense. Other notable members include Carrie Elizabeth Mitchell, reading club historian and early settler, who came with her family to the Santa Clara Valey in 1873. Her father, Thomas Keesling, was an orchardist. She married Robert Grant Mitchell, also an orchardist, and she served as the first president of the Willow Glen PTA.