Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

The Townster’s Club

In celebration of Women’s History Month, today’s blog post is about a former
women’s organization at Tarleton called the Townster’s Club. It existed between January 1950 and the end of the 61/62 school year. Composed of Tarleton girls who lived in town, the group’s mission was to promote good will and encouragement of friendship among girls who lived in the dorm and girls who lived in town. All girls who lived off campus, including commuters, were encouraged to participate and become more aware of Tarleton activities.

Miss Helen Willard, Dean of Women, was the sponsor of the Townster’s Club when it was created in January 1950. There were 30 members. Donna D’Arcy was president, Sammie Powers, vice president, Jean McLarty, secretary, and Dean McLarty, reporter.

One of the Townster’s first activities was to sell pendants at the Tarleton basketball games to help finance the club. They assisted with many campus events during their active years at Tarleton, including serving refreshments to a large number of visitors and potential Tarleton girls to campus. In 1952 they served some 75 high school senior girls from nearby towns who were visiting campus.

The photo above, taken on the stairs of the “new” library, shows the 1956/57 Townster’s Club members. That stairway was in approximately the same area as the current reference desk. The Townster’s last photo appeared in the 1961/62 Grassburr, standing on the stairway in the Hunewell dorm.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Grassburr, 1962.
J-TAC, January 10, 1950, December 12, 1950, October 9,1951.