The Katy Hamman-Stricker Library is located at 404 E. Mitchell Street in

Calvert, Texas Calvert is a city in Robertson County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 970. It is located approximately halfway between Waco and Bryan-College Station at the intersection of Texas State Highway 6 and Far ...

, USA. It consists of a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

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 Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist sp ...

(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 (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...

History

The building housing the library and museum was built by the American Woman's League (AWL) The American Woman's League and the American Woman's Republic
. University City Public Library. 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 The American Woman's League (succeeded by American Woman's Republic) was created by the magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis in 1907. In part, it was a maneuver to lower postal rates by appealing to educational and social opportunities that ...

(AWL) was created in 1907 by the magazine publisher E.G. Lewis, as a way to spread

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

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, postal libraries,

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

s and institutions to provide for the homeless and for orphans. He provided funding to have

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

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.Gass, Mary Henderson.
The American Woman's League
. ''Preservation Issues'', Vol. 5, #2. 1995.

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

Katy Hamman-Stricker led a movement to erect a League of Woman's meeting house in Calvert, Texas. She was the daughter of

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

General William H. Hamman who turned his attention after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

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 The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...

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 or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

home at 503 Pin Oak, Calvert in 1900 which became a

in 1973.Stricker–Sneed House
. ''THC Atlas''.

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

. Accessed February 25, 2010.

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 School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

, 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.Historic Calvert Tour
(includes images)Cavazos, Jennifer (2005).

". KBTX.com. Gray Television, Inc. Accessed February 21, 2010.Little, Whitney.
Historic Calvert Library to Offer Tours
. ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

''. May 6, 2006. Accessed February 21, 2010. 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.Calvert
. Calvert Chamber of Commerce. 2000. Accessed February 25, 2010. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) designated it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2003.Stricker, Katy Hamman, Library
. ''THC Atlas''.

. Accessed February 25, 2010.

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

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

and needed roofing work and rewiring. As part of its "We the People" initiative, the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

awarded the custodians a $14,656 federal grant to carry out repairs.Grants In Public Programs: Interpreting America's Historic Places
. February, 2006.

. Accessed February 25, 2010.

Notes

References

*
Calvert library is a piece of city, U.S. history
. 3.85 MB PDF. ''Teamwork Entergy Newsletter''.

Entergy Texas Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and ge ...

. Spring, 2004.

External links

Images of chapter and interior ''c''. 1909
University City Public Library
Katy Hamman-Stricker Women's Heritage Center
{{authority control Library buildings completed in 1909 Museums in Robertson County, Texas Hamman-Stricker, Katy Public libraries in Texas Education in Robertson County, Texas Women's museums in the United States American Woman's League Women's education in Texas