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 962. It is located approximately halfway between Waco and Bryan-College Station at the intersection of Texas State Highway 6 and Farm ...

, USA. It consists of a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

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 ...

(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 sta ...

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 (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 right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

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 whose primary purpose is accepting savings account, savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits. History of banking, They originated in Europe during the 18th century with the aim of providi ...

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 research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. Located on the former grounds of Bel ...

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

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

General William H. Hamman who turned his attention after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

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 American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

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 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 state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic La ...

. 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 in ...

, 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 KBTX-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed in Bryan, Texas, United States, serving the Brazos Valley as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on East 29th Street in Bryan, and its transmitter is ...

.com.

Gray Television, Inc Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. Accessed February 21, 2010.Little, Whitney.
Historic Calvert Library to Offer Tours
. ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

''. 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

(THC) designated it a

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 move ...

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 Texas (formerly Gulf States Utilities (GSU)) is an electric power generation and distribution company headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. The company was founded in 1911 as Eastern Texas Electric, a holding company for Stone & Webster. O ...

. 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