Dr. Joan Cartwright — The Next League Chapter
By Virginia Franklin Campbell
Music Editor
In celebration of NLAPW’s 120th anniversary, several issues have highlighted a retrospective of our League’s Legends and Legacies. We have looked at some of the members from our magnificent history and gained a better understanding of how the organization has arrived at where it is today. In so doing, we have barely touched on the enormous treasure of accomplishments of our many past members. Nonetheless, for this issue we are turning to the future, and focusing on an individual who serves as an example of what the coming years may portend.
Dr. Joan Cartwright, our newest music member, Boca Raton Branch, Florida, lights a path on our horizon. A quote from Dr. Diva JC expresses the feeling that is conveyed when speaking with her, “When you are a joy to yourself, it is easy to be a joy to others.”
Three Owls on a Branch: A Family’s Legacy
By Robin Johnson Moscati
Vice President of Membership, Alexandria Branch, Virginia
I would like to introduce you to my family — to the women of my family — to the Pen Women of my family. Not one of us is “Wonder Woman,” yet all of us are Wonder-ful Women.
My maternal grandmother, Lilla Wood Daniels (NLAPW president 1952-’54), was born on Sept. 21, 1885, the second child of Alice Ellen Fisher and William Ireland Wood of the little town of Corinna, Maine. It was in this village where she attended Corinna Union Academy and graduated at the age of 16.
1928 Photo Yields a Story for the Present
By Mary Gardner
Central New York Branch President
The Central New York Branch has a remarkable connection to a historic photo now hanging in the Pen Arts Building and Art Museum. Dated April 18, 1928, this group portrait was taken in front of the nation’s Capitol and features President Calvin Coolidge standing among a few hundred NLAPW members who were attending the 1928 Biennial and had come to visit the Capitol. A now-deceased member of the CNY Branch is standing in the second row behind her 4-year-old daughter, who was pushed to the front — the only child in the picture.
Phyllis Fergus and Pen Women Composers at the White House
By Marian Wilson Kimber
Professor of Musicology, University of Iowa
Phyllis Fergus (1887–1964) was the first musician president of the National League of American Pen Women. Energetic and ambitious, Fergus wanted to organize concerts of music by women composers all over the country. She believed that national recognition for women’s music could be achieved through performances at governor’s mansions in every state. While she was not successful in achieving this aim, Fergus did arrange two historic concerts of music by Pen Women at the White House.
As a composer, she specialized in “story poems,” pieces combining spoken word with piano accompaniment, frequently humorous works that dealt with courtship, marriage, and children. Fergus graduated from Smith College and the American Conservatory of Music, and was active in Chicago music clubs. She became a Pen Woman in 1924.
Dorothy Langdon Timmons: A Des Moines Branch Icon
By Linda Hodges and Pat Underwood, Des Moines Branch
Dorothy Langdon Timmons, a Des Moines Branch member who celebrated her 100th birthday last December, is an inspiration to talented women who lack the opportunity to realize their creative potential until middle age.
She never hesitated to take on a challenge or be a trailblazer. When Dorothy was just 10 years old, her family lived in Hornersville, a tiny Missouri town bordering Tennessee and Arkansas. The town didn’t have any schools, so her parents put her on a train to Bellbuckle, Tennessee, to attend Webb Preparatory School.
In 1927, Webb was an all-boys’ boarding school that allowed local girls to attend classes. That didn’t discourage Dorothy, and she lived with the family of the assistant headmaster.
With few female extracurricular activities, she participated with the boys. Young Dorothy had an interest in acting and took the leading role in every play — even portraying a boy — according to her daughter, Nancy Timmons Eisinger.
Virginia Campbell King Frye
By Frances Patton Statham, Atlanta Branch
Virginia Campbell King Frye (1861-1939), known as Jennie, was an established writer of short stories, magazine articles, and poetry. She had just been offered the position of editor of Mother’s Magazine when her husband was transferred to Washington, D.C. Like so many women who are forced to choose between career and family — even today — she turned down the offer and moved with their six children to D.C. And yet, her creativity flourished in her new environment.
In June 1897, Frye gathered with 16 other writers, journalists, and illustrators at the home of Margaret Sullivan Burke, the first woman to be admitted to the Press Gallery of Congress, along with Alice Longfellow O’Donoghue, to form a literary club. According to an article by Frye, the group became affiliated with the National Editorial Association and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Although the officers at first were to be residents of D.C., membership in the Pen Women organization was open nationally.
Pauline ‘Polly’ Dages
Polly Dages has been a member of the league since 1973. as her life caused her to relocate, she just transferred her membership from a branch in North Carolina to Fort lauderdale and back again, and now is a member of the Yucca Branch in New Mexico.
At age 92, Polly attended the Biennial in Washington, D.C. in April 2016, and was at every luncheon and event, sharing her gracious smile with everyone around her.
Polly is defnitely a legend in the world of decoupage, repousse, moulage and other forms of sculptured decoupage. She studied oils at the University of Texas under Howard Tucker and began her experience with decoupage under the tutelage of Louise Hoyt, who was president of the National Guild of Decoupuers. She was a member of the National Guild of authentic Decoupuers, of which there were only 125 such artists in the world in 1973.