From Left, Paula McGee, Fortnightly Vice President; Laney Lewis; Megan Ciolli, Fortnightly Past President & Parliamentarian; Daijah Rodriguez; Melissa Benjamin. Photo by Angie Sellmeyer.
By Angie Sellmeyer, GFWC-OK McAlester Fortnightly Club Historian
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) of Oklahoma challenged each of the 18 Clubs across Oklahoma to prepare a map of Oklahoma celebrating each club’s unique area of Oklahoma. McAlester Fortnightly, a Federated volunteer Club within GFWC since 1904, collaborated with Melissa Spring Benjamin, McAlester High School Art Teacher, to prepare a lithograph map of Oklahoma. This map was created to celebrate the 120 years of volunteer service performed by Fortnightly Clubwomen in the Pittsburg County area. Laney Lewis and Daijah Rodriguez were the two MHS graduate art students who painted and ornamented the map.
The map was unveiled to GFWC during the South Central Region conference hosted by GFWC Oklahoma in Oklahoma City in October of 2024. The South Central Region is made up of GFWC Clubs in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Fortnightly has contributed items dated from 1904 to the Oklahoma Historical Society for historical preservation of pertinent documents, art, ceramics, and quilts by donating collected items every ten years. This map along with artifacts from 2014 to 2024 will be placed in climate controlled facilities, scanned and placed within the Society online database.
GFWC celebrates Club volunteer activities each year on April 24, Federated Club Day.
Fortnightly Clubwomen attended the 2025 annual GFWC Oklahoma State Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma held the last weekend of April.
As stated by GFWC International, GFWC club members are the heart of not only the Federation, but the communities in which they live and work. By Living the Volunteer Spirit, GFWC members transform lives each day, not simply with monetary donations, but with hands-on tangible projects that provide immediate impact. With a grassroots approach that often thinks locally but impacts globally, GFWC, its clubs and members remain committed to serving as a force for global good, as it has done since its formation in 1890.