Mutual Improvement Association Minutes

The Mutual Improvement Association is a women's organization founded in Sandy Spring, Maryland in 1857 and is among the oldest, continually meeting groups of its kind in the United States. The original group was comprised of Quakers and thus meetings are modeled, in part, on a Quaker Meeting style. The hostess and presiding officer gives a "sentiment" that she feels may inspire the membership after which each individual contributes a comment or a question. Membership is limited to fifteen and they meet at the homes of each member in rotation.

IMAGE: Mutual Improvement Association, 1907 (SSM1989.0010.0041)