Kitiems ir sau : moterų draugijų veikla Kaune

Abstract

The 1920s in particular witnessed a rapid growth of women organizations in Lithuania. Especially popular were charitable and self-educational organizations. A noticeable tendency was that women would gather into organizations in order to improve the situation of other people and not their own welfare. They tried to help by consoling and supporting the needy, or, more broadly, by contributing to the cultural life of their country. Despite the orientation towards the others and not to oneself, women engaged in organizational activities also benefited: they practiced expressing their thoughts in public (something rather uncommon up to then), shared information and advice, and by organizing projects learned to be organized and implement their plans. This article discusses the charitable, educational and social activities of women organizations in Kaunas between 1918 and 1940. A special attention is given to the Lithuanian Catholic Women Organization (Lietuvių katalikių moterų draugija) as its branches were active in the everyday life of Kaunas community. The organization involved not only the intelligencia, but also female workers, home servants as well as housewives. Furthermore, the article deals with the activities of the Council of Lithuanian Women (Lietuvos moterų taryba), which almost without exception involved only the elite women. The organization had its headquarters in Kaunas, which was the temporary capital of Lithuania at that time. As a roof organization, it united 18 women organizations. Its contribution to the others was not only by providing diverse lectures and organizing balls for the local elite, but also by gathering money in support of the women in need. Thus, it is shown that numerous women organizations and their different activities not only elevated the life of some of the poorest citizens of Kaunas but also contributed to the cultural life of the town.