Staff Writer
Wassail— a term that may perplex a reader upon first glance and quite often lead to a number of educated guesses. That uncommon word has been widely adopted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and, in their traditional practice, has come to define an expression of goodwill at a festivity or a salutation toasting to one’s good health.
At their next annual gathering, an affair that dates back many years, the Long Beach branch will not only be toasting to good health at its upcoming Dec. 3 wassail but will also be celebrating the end of a landmark feat— its 100th year as an organization In its early years, the founding group of women helped establish a school for voters in 1920, around the time the 19th Amendment extended voting rights to women. During World War II the branch set up a Speakers Bureau in connection with consumer research, worked with the YWCA to find rooms for defense workers, and with American Women’s Volunteer Service, established, helped furnish, and staffed a servicewomen’s club.
The branch is now actively involved with their summer technological camp called Tech Trek where six to eight girls are selected locally to participate, and planning their annual Science, Technology, Education and Math (STEM) Conference.
Co-president JoAnn Kuroda has been with AAUW for close to 40 years and still remembers the first time she came across the branch. She was a “stay-at-home,” as she refers to it, who wanted to get out of the house. Come 1972, that all changed when her friend took her to one of the organization’s meetings. She said the women she encountered that day were people she could actually talk to and have ultimately become the main reason she’s stayed involved with them for so long.
“We believed in education, and that’s one of the things I want to point out,” Kuroda said. “We’re really encouraging the younger generation and starting out as early as we can.”
Kuroda, co-president Darlene Daclan and the approximately 110 members continue to live by the same founding mission that has brought them together through the years, which is “advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research.”
This year’s wassail will take place from 10am to noon at the home of member Lamis Hashem and will honor past presidents. The co-presidents will pour the traditional hot, mulled-spice wassail, coffee and tea amidst a table of various treats, which also symbolizes the kickoff of the holiday season.
Past president and historian Norma Gradey will also be in attendance as not only an honoree, but will also be celebrating as one the organization’s long-standing, returning members. “Here We Come A-wassailing” is one of the Christmas carols Gradey fondly remembers singing with each celebration and adds that the wassail is a traditional AAUW recipe.
The branch was originally founded in Long Beach in 1911 under the name the College Women’s Club, and just last year reached the ultimate goal of being associated with its founding city’s university. Cal State Long Beach students can join for half price of the AAUW fees through the student affiliate program.
“They have become our corporate sponsor,” Kuroda said. “That’s one of the goals for the branches throughout the US— to become affiliated with a university or college.”
Kuroda hopes that the recent partnership will help introduce university women to the organization and better acquaint them with the value of belonging to AAUW. Their core values date back to the 1920s when members focused on early childhood health and the local parent-teacher association in which members met at the Ebell Club.
The STEM conference can be traced back to the mid 1980s, when the group sponsored a then predecessor conference titled “Women in Technology” at California State University Long Beach for high-school girls. Next year’s conference is scheduled for February at Long Beach City College.
Fundraising done by the group goes toward their scholarships and fellowships for women in graduate school. The organization also does research in issues pertaining to women. Most recently, the branch raised $1,500 last November, which was designated as a month of raising funds for their Legal Advocacy Fund.
The wassail will provide an opportunity for those interested in AAUW to become better acquainted with the different interest groups within the branch and perhaps even join.
“It’s just really a nice social where we gather. AAUW gives the opportunity for women to grow,” Kuroda said. “You learn leadership skills, and you learn to start thinking outside of the box.”
Local public figures, past and present, associated with AAUW include: Bixby Family matriarch Florence Bixby; former Long Beach mayor Beverly O’Neill; Virginia Baxter, head of the Long Beach City College Foundation; and 5th District Councilmember Gerrie Schipske.
More Information
aauw-longbeach.org
