The GFWC Progress Club of Las Cruces has achieved a remarkable milestone. The Progress Club was organized in 1914 and federated with the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in Washington, DC, on April 24, 1915. This determined woman’s club has been actively providing community service to Las Cruces for 100 years.
Events
- March 16, 2015 – Las Cruces City Hall, 1 pm, City Council Meeting, Proclamation and Mayor’s Citation
to honor Progress Club for their 100 years of community service to Las Cruces.
- April 3, 2015 – Branigan Cultural Center of Las Cruces will feature the Progress Club during the month of April with a show in their Richardson Room. The show will highlight Progress Club’s commitment to scholarships for students at NMSU along with art, education, libraries, conservation, international affairs, and women’s rights. We will provide an Ice Cream Social to the public at the BCC, 5-7 pm.
- April 11, 2015 - Donating a park bench to Las Cruces in Pioneer Women’s Park in, 11 am -1 pm. A picnic will be provided to members and guests. A history of Progress Club will be given at the BCC at 2:30 pm.
- April 18, 2015 – Progress Club Fashion Show at Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces, NM, 11 am to 2 pm. This is the primary fundraising event to sustain our efforts to provide scholarships to NMSU students each year.
Highlights
- 1915 to present – Providing scholarships and monetary support to New Mexico State University students
- 1915 to present - Supporting the arts and local artists through shows and creative activities
- 1915 – Paid the Las Cruces Electric Light and Ice Company $30.00 to put electricity in Mesilla Park School. This building is now the Frank O. Papen Recreation Center in Mesilla Park.
- 1917 – Raised funds to provide services for soldiers of WWI and supported the Red Cross
- 1918 – Actively supported women’s suffrage and the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution
- 1934 – Supported the Pure Food and Drug Act, temperance education and equal rights
- 1936 – Distributed milk and other commodities provided by the USDA to children in Las Cruces
- 1940’s – Raised money to buy War Bonds, worked at USO facilities, helped buy bomber for the US Army
- 1958 – Witnessed the signing by Governor Burroughs of NM giving wives the right to inherit community property if the husband died intestate. This right had taken over 40 years of lobbying by the women’s clubs in New Mexico
- 1959 – Involved with efforts to improve the lives of migrant farm workers and their families
- 1965 – Raised funds to support the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation
- 1979 – Donated an art check out library to the Branigan Memorial Library which still exists
- 1999 – Donated funds to support Operation Smile, an international cleft palate repair service
- 2002 – Provided $16,000 in books and equipment to the new Sunland Park Community Library
- 2011 – Gave the City of Las Cruces the “5,000 Flowers” art exhibit, the national art project designed by the Progress Club, that commemorates those lost on 9-11-01
- 2012 – Endowed a nursing scholarship fund for the NMSU College of Health and Social Services’ School of Nursing
Today
The Progress Club continues to be active with the community of Las Cruces and beyond. They work to help children with reading skills, help support the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park, provide baby supplies for the Christ Child Circle, work with La Casa to help families who have suffered from domestic violence, provide funds for Heifer International and support many more activities. For a club to last 100 years is truly remarkable. For industrious women it is just another day. Progress Club members are “Living the Volunteer Spirit!”
Valerie Redington, President