Pacific Coast Women's Press Association (PCWPA; September 27, 1890 - 1941) was a press organization for women located on the West Coast of the United States. Discussions were not permitted regarding politics, religion, or reform. The members of the association took on causes related to certain public improvements in the way of roads, streets, parks, libraries, village improvement societies, free exhibits of county resources, the suppression of criminal details of sensational cases in newspapers, the suppression of criminal advertising, and school development. To facilitate the work, the association issued printed monographs.
Establishment
Until 1890, working newspaper women and women authors located along the U.S. Pacific coast lacked protection, benefit and advantages associated with unity. In other parts of the United States, these associations had been established since 1880, most of the earlier ones being organized for purely social purposes.
After nearly three years of planning, 150 invitations were sent out to newspaper women and authors in good standing on the Pacific coast, asking them to meet in San Francisco, California on September 27, 1890 at the home of Emelie Tracy Y. Swett. Fifty women came to the meeting, but everyone invited sent letters of encouragement and pledged herself to support the movement.
History
A Constitution and By-Laws of the New England Woman's Press Association were adopted. The primary purpose of the PCWPA was to improve the women's relationships through the frequent interchange of ideas and methods.
The first year was spent in active organization. A library of several hundred books was accumulated and catalogued, and at the close of the year, the Association numbered 125 active members.
The members took on causes related to public improvements in the way of roads, streets, parks, libraries, village improvement societies, free exhibits of county resources, the suppression of criminal details of sensational cases in newspapers, the suppression of criminal advertising, and the development of kindergartens. To facilitate their work, the Association issued printed monographs. The first monograph issued was on the topic of "Country Roads and City Streets", written by Mary Lynde Hoffman, a large property owner. More than 500 notices were sent to the Association concerning this essay alone.
In its first three years, the only source of income of the Association was through membership and initiation fees and from contributions. In time, the association hoped to erect a building in San Francisco, the rentals of which would suffice to pay the running expenses of the Association, as well as sick benefits, when required.
More than 500 volumes were contributed to the Association's library, besides files of many of the leading dailies, weeklies, monthlies. The Association wanted first to accumulate complete sets of the published works of members, then works by Pacific coast writers, then reference books, and finally, rare and standard books. The organization's librarian was a member of the American Library Association.
The writing of the general newspaper worker was for the most part anonymous in that era. Therefore, the Association did not feel that its ranks were at a disadvantage when compared with those of other press associations. the PCWPA's members was so scattered over a large territory, that it was unable to show many influential Western newspaper connections. On the other hand, the Western style of reporting had become popular, with nearly all of the writers retaining from one to six connections with influential Eastern and British periodicals. As a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the International League of Press Clubs and the Woman's National Press Association, the PCWPA was abreast with the spirit of organization, at the same time confident that responsible individualism was its strength.
The organization was discontinued after 1941.
Executive Boards
Emelie Swett Parkhurst founded the Association in 1890. Nellie Blessing Eyster was unanimously elected as the first president. The original Executive Board included Jeanne Caroline Smith Carr of Pasadena, California, First Vice-President; Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper, Second Vice-President; Ella Rhoads Higginson of Whatcom, Washington, Third Vice-President; Parkhurst, Corresponding Secretary; Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis of Carson City, Nevada, Recording Secretary; Mary Olmstead Stanton, Treasurer; Isabel H. Raymond of Santa Cruz, California Auditor; and a supplementary committee consisting of Mary Camilla Foster Hall-Wood of Santa Barbara, Frances Bagby-Blades of San Diego and Andrea Hofer of Chicago.