By Beth Johnson
In the 1880s, Aurora women lived much different lives than they do today. Most didn’t have the opportunity to travel far from their homes in the horse-and-buggy time, and it was rare for women to continue their formal education past high school.
Because they felt a need to cultivate an intellectual life outside marriage, home and child-rearing, a group of 11 Aurora women founded the Minerva Coterie in 1882 as a society organized for the purpose of mutual improvement in English literature, art, science and social customs.
Founding members included Mrs. Samuel McCarty, Mrs. A.C. Little, Mrs. R.D. Shepherd, Mrs. Willis Hawkins, Mrs. Wilber, Mrs. Judd, and others.
Mrs. Eva McCarty Johnson, daughter of Mrs. McCarty, was one of the charter members and her daughter, Mrs. Ward Downs, was president of Minerva Coterie in 1952. Another granddaughter of the McCarty’s, Mrs. Robert Roy, was a president.
The society took its name from Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, and is the guardian of life, intellect, and spiritual principles. The women wrote a constitution which is still used today with a few revisions.
Instead of discussing a common reading, members gathered to listen to a review of a selected book chosen by the reporting member. In the 1890s, the Minerva Coterie took on the study of European nations, and at the end-of-the year meeting, members read plays aloud and took various parts.
Early members often referred to the society as “Coterie College”.
Today, the 35 members of the Coterie continue to meet twice a month from the first week of October until the first week of May. Although the range of material reviewed and discussed is wider than in the early years, the society’s book selections still focus on nonfiction topics, including history, philosophy, women’s issues, and memoirs. Members take turns meeting at each other’s homes. Even during COVID with lockdowns, members met on the online Zoom forum.
To celebrate their 140th anniversary in October, the Minerva Coterie Literary Society will hold a luncheon at the Aurora Country Club. The theme of the luncheon will be “Coterie Through the Ages”. Members will report on the activities of the society from 1882 to 2022 and relate the activities to what was going on in the community and in the world during those times in history.
The Aurora Historical Society will have on display at the David L. Pierce Art and History Center, 20 West Downer, Aurora, historical mementos of the Minerva Coterie during the months of November and December.
—Beth Johnson is historian of Minerva Coterie