The Tenth Annual Report of the Associate Committee of Women.

THE TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATE COMMITTEE OF WOMEN. Mr. President, Members of the Society and Guests: During the year 1929 as in. those of yester-years, the Committee has endeavored to measure up to its chart of activities outlined by the Board of Directors. Again it has added to the membership of this Society and that of the Historical Society. It has become still better acquainted with the work and ideals of the Society. It has added in a material way to the Col lections of this Society and to those of the Historical Society as the minutes of its meetings will attest, the principal donors being Mrs. Edward S. Sayres, the late Mrs. Louis K. Lewis and Mrs. Gummere. Realizing that the Committee, like the Society itself, is a trustee of posterity, it has twice stepped aside from its more local efforts to in¬ clude in its monthly meetings subjects of state-wide interest, presented by qualified speakers. In March, The Preservation of Pennsylvania Antiquities, by Major Frank W. Melvin, of this Society; in May, The Pennsylvania Indian Survey, by Miss Frances Dorrance of Wyoming, its most capable Chairman, who is also a member of the Society, created much interest. Both objects are fostered by the State Federation of Historical Soci¬ eties. The latter has also the support and co-operation of the Pennsyl¬ vania Historical Commission and has, since the date of Miss Dorrance ’s address, been reorganized as The Society for Pennsylvania Archeology, with particular reference to the American Indian as represented in this State. The Committee has the honor to announce, as the activity of the current season, an exhibition of Early Silhouettes and Profiles to be held in the Assembly Room of The Historical Society, from Tuesday, March eighteenth, to Friday, March twenty-first inclusive. John Frederick Lewis, LL.D., President of The Historical Society, has consented to speak on Silhouettes, Tuesday afternoon at three o’clock. Tea will be served each afternoon at four o ’clock. Invitations for the event will shortly be mailed. The basis of the exhibition is the silhouette collection of the Historical Society, lately and largely increased by the gift of Mrs. Hampton L. Carson’s Collection. The Committee bespeaks the loan of original silhouettes for exhibition purposes- A catalogue of the exhibi¬ tion is anticipated. One sad chapter there is in the Committee’s minute book: One well remembered voice no longer answers adsum. Mrs. Lewis F. Benson, a beloved charter member, after an illness of several months, sank silently to sleep on April twentieth, 1929, like a brilliant star falling into space. Clean souled, clear eyed, unspoiled, discreet, Thou gav’st thy gifts to make life sweet, These shall be flowers about thy feet. (99) — 100 Tenth Annual Report of Associate Women. The severing of other long established ties is also recorded in this chapter in brief testimonies to Mr. Carson and Dr. Montgomery : In the passing of the Honorable Hampton L. Carson on July eighteenth, 1929, the Genealogical Society lost one of its most valuable members. Mr. Carson was universally regarded as a first citizen of this Com¬ monwealth. Of extraordinary native ability and talents, he had no superior among his contemporaries; in the breadth and variety of his literary achievements, none who rose higher; none who more than he adorned life at so many and so widely different points, leaving every activity he approached the better for his open-minded underst andingness. He was deeply learned in the law and in the history of Pennsyl¬ vania; an orator with a national reputation, a writer with an un¬ usual command of the English language; a gentleman in thought, word and deed; a staunch supporter and loyal friend of the Women’s Committee and of The Genealogical Society. For these and much more, his life will long be remembered, his loss deeply mourned. The well-rounded career of Thomas Lynch Montgomery, LL.D., came to an abrupt close on Tuesday, October first, 1929, when the library work of the State, the City and The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, were deprived by his death, of an outstanding supporter. Dr. Montgomery was widely informed on the history of the state ; but of rare modesty as to his own accomplishment in making avail¬ able the source-material of its Colonial and Revolutionary periods, as well as in cultural library extension generally. His life interest in these fields of State and civic work, was embodied in three articles of his every-day creed, repeated with almost his last breadth: et I love Pennsylvania; I love Philadelphia; I love The Historical Society and all connected with it.” Other words there were, too intimate for minutes, which record in sorrow the loss of this courteous, Christian gentleman, this lovable personality who, in so many ways, proved his interest in and support of this Committee and The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. Respectfully submitted, MARY V. LEWIS SAYEES, Vice Chairman. M. ATHERTON LEACH, Recording Secretary •