In 1934, Dr. Eugene B. Hawk became the Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. In order to take the position, he and his wife, Dora Patterson Hawk, moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Hawk felt lost in Dallas because she did not know any of the ministers’ wives by name.
While attending services at the Munger Place Church in the fall of 1934, Dora Hawk met Eula Mae Mcquire Baker. Mrs. Baker held a party so Mrs. Hawk could meet the other ministers’ wives in the Dallas district. Bess Selecman, Emma Gregory, Marguerite Jones, Vera Richardson, Enola Hunter Carlyon, and Elenora Smith Webb were some of the women in attendance at the party. Dora Hawk made a motion to organize a Ministers’ Wives’ Club in Dallas, and the women enthusiastically agreed.
At their first regular meeting, the women decided to name the organization the Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Club. Mrs. Hawk read the constitution used by her former club in Louisville, and with a few revisions it was adopted for the Dallas club. The mission of the club was to strengthen the naturally existing bond between Methodist Episcopal Church, South ministers’ wives in a social and spiritual way.
The club expanded in 1937 to include wives of Dallas area Methodist Protestant Church clergy. Some of the women in the Dallas club also participated in the North Texas Conference Ministers’ Wives’ Club (formed in 1939), and the two organizations often held events together. In 1954, the Dallas club was divided into two groups: the Dallas-Northeast and Dallas-Southwest Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Clubs.
Sources:
Ministers’ Wives’ Club Dallas, TX Scrapbook, Dallas Area Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Club scrapbooks, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.
The Dallas Area Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Club scrapbooks document the activities and accomplishments of the women in the organization. The three scrapbooks contain newspaper articles, photographs, yearbooks, programs, minutes, and summaries of events. The newspaper articles document wedding anniversaries, retirements, deaths, club meetings, and achievements and honors of the ministers and their wives.
The collection is organized into one series:
The collection is open for research use. Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the Bridwell Library.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.
This collection is indexed under the following terms in the Southern Methodist University Libraries' online catalog. Researchers desiring related materials may search the catalog using these terms.
[Identification of item], Dallas Area Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Club scrapbooks, Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.
Gift of Enola Hunter Carlyon (Mrs. J. T. Carlyon), 1966.
The scrapbook pages were scanned and the scrapbooks unbound. In two of the scrapbooks, pages were placed in mylar sleeves. In the third scrapbook, acid-free paper was placed between pages.
This collection was arranged and described in 2011 by Allison Osborn.
Allison Osborn, 2011.
Ada Negraru, 2011.
The series consists of three scrapbooks from the Methodist Ministers’ Wives’ Club in Dallas, Texas documenting the activities and contributions made by the club. The remaining folders in this series contain related documents: printouts of scrapbook pages and the original donation letter.