Katy Hamman-Stricker Library
Encyclopedia
Calvert, Texas
Calvert is a city in Robertson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,192 at the 2010 census, a 16.4% decline from the 2000 census. It is part of the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area.-Geography:...
, USA. It consists of a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
as well as a public library and community center and was the first chapter house built by the American Woman's League in the state. Calvert is located within the Golden Triangle (the area between the cities of Dallas, Houston and Austin) of Texas. The building was constructed in 1909 but its role changed thirty years later when it became the town library. It is designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
.
History
The building housing the library and museum was built by the American Woman's League (AWL) in 1909. It was the first AWL Chapter House in Texas, and one of the first four in the country.The American Woman's League (AWL) was created in 1907 by the magazine publisher E.G. Lewis
Edward Gardner Lewis
Edward Gardner Lewis was a flamboyant and controversial promoter, magazine publisher, political activist, and founder of two utopian colonies -- University City, Missouri, and Atascadero, California....
, as a way to spread women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
as well as gain new salespersons for his magazine business. The aim of the AWL was to promote educational, cultural and business opportunities for women. He planned a network of institutions and businesses to serve women that included correspondence schools
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
, postal libraries
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
, savings bank
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits. It may also perform some other functions.In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to...
s and institutions to provide for the homeless and for orphans. He provided funding to have chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
s built in small towns across the United States, each intended to provide a community center for cultural, educational and social events and create employment opportunities for women. Fifty percent of the profit from magazine subscriptions was funnelled back into the AWL.
Katy Hamman-Stricker led a movement to erect a League of Woman's meeting house in Calvert, Texas. She was the daughter of Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General William H. Hamman who turned his attention after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
to land and railroad speculation. He stood as a candidate in the race for governor of Texas in 1878 and 1880 under the Greenback Party banner, but lost on both occasions. Both Stricker and her husband, jeweler Herman L. Stricker, were business, civic and social leaders. They built a two-storey Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
home at 503 Pin Oak, Calvert in 1900 which became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
in 1973.
Architecture
At first, the one room building with its small kitchen area served as the league's clubhouse. The building's architectural style was in the tradition of the Prairie SchoolPrairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
, with a low gabled roof. By 1939, the AWL had been discontinued and the Calvert Woman's Club purchased the building for use as a library. Today, the Calvert Woman's Club continues to sponsor the library for the community.
The library is named for Katy Hamman-Stricker, a charter member of the local AWL, who continued to be a long term supporter and patron of the library.
The Texas Historical Commission
Texas Historical Commission
The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas....
(THC) designated it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
in 2003.
Recent events
Calvert's is one of 38 AWL chapter houses in the country and the only one remaining in the state of Texas. In 2005, the historic building was in need of renovation as it was suffering from subsidenceSubsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
and needed roofing work and rewiring.
As part of its "We the People" initiative, the National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at...
awarded the custodians a $14,656 federal grant to carry out repairs.
External links
- Images of chapter and interior c. 1909 University City Public LibraryUniversity City Public LibraryThe University City Public Library is a public library in University City, Missouri, near the Delmar Loop. Established in 1939, the library holds more than 150,000 books. It offers several activities and services for all ages....