Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, Jenny June | Page 5

in New York and the vicinity. Letters from many clubs belonging to the
General Federation were read, and from the secretary's report of the
meeting have been gathered the following tributes of notable
clubwomen to the beloved founder of both clubs.

Address by Dimies T.S. Denison, President of Sorosis
We have met this afternoon to pay a loving tribute to one of the
departed of Sorosis, who was for many years its President, and for
years its Honorary President.
The loss is not ours alone, for our sorrow is shared by all clubwomen,
from Australia around the world to Alaska. Her position will always
remain unique. Whenever there comes a time for a great movement
there has always been a leader. The Revolution had its Washington; the
abolition of slavery its Lincoln; and so, when the time came for such a
movement among women, there were also leaders. Mrs. Croly
remained, throughout her life, an advocate of everything which was for
the betterment of women, and she died in the heart of the movement.
Her perception of the value of unity, of the advantage of organized
effort, was remarkable. Perhaps the generations beyond ours will think
of her most in that quality, but the women of our time will remember
her, as they loved her, for her ready sympathy and her unfailing
helpfulness to all women. Though departed, she is still with us, and the
beauty of her life remains, in that its influence is imperative.
Mrs. Croly had that particular sense of fellowship among women most
unusual. If you will stop to think, in our language you will find that
there are no words to express that thought, except those that are
masculine--fellowship, brotherhood, fraternity. Mrs. Croly, perhaps
more than any other woman in the world, had the sense of what
fellowship or fraternity meant in women, and although she sometimes
may have been called an idealist or sentimentalist, it is recognized by
many women that this thought must be abiding, for in a federation it is
the spirit that is current through it that keeps the federation alive.

The last afternoon it was my privilege to be with Mrs. Croly we had a
long talk, and it seems to me, in looking back, that Mrs. Croly was then
leaving a message with me for all clubwomen. I never heard her speak
so eloquently. We talked of some of the problems of the General
Federation--its possible disruption. Mrs. Croly said: "It does not matter;
if anything happens that the General Federation should be disrupted,
another will be formed at once." She had absolute faith, if not in a
Divine Providence, that there was a possibility it was part of the human
scheme of development that must be carried on through the Divine Will.
So, if she left any message for the General Federation, it was this: that
whatever our personal opinions are, whatever we think of any question,
we are to think first of the life of the General Federation; because in it
is the great thought of the fellowship and fraternity among women that
is to bring us closer and closer to the millennium.

[Illustration: MRS. CROLY at the age of 40. (About the time Sorosis
was inaugurated)]

Address by Charlotte B. Wilbour
When a soul that has worn out its frail body in the work of the world
crosses the threshold of eternity, the darkness that gathers around our
hearts has in it a relief of light. Nature has suffered no violence; the
power of the body has been exhausted in good service, and the tired
spirit is set free from the encasement that can no longer serve it. A fond
look backward, a hopeful look forward, and the portals close with our
benediction.
"A life that dares send A challenge to the end, And, when it comes, say
'Welcome, friend,'"
inspires the wish that we may so fill the measure of our days with
usefulness.
The departure of such a spirit would be fittingly commemorated by the
grand marches of Chopin and Beethoven, or the majestic requiems of
Mozart, rather than by our simple words. And yet they are our hearts'
testimony to her in whose name we are assembled and, let us hope,
made worthy. To us who believe that life reels not back from the white
charger of Death towards the gulf of inanity and oblivion, there is a
vivid realization that our words may be spoken to the conscious spirit;

and we desire that, in the sacred name of truth, and with the love that
comprehends and overcomes, we may speak simply as "soul to soul."
One of the most beautiful lessons I have learned of death is that after
the departure of a friend, or even of an acquaintance, our memories