WNDC Happy New Year! - Woman's National Democratic Club
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Happy New Year!
January 2023
WNDC
Celebrating 100 years of making history
CONGRESSIONAL
EVENTS TO START 2023 POLICY ANALYSIS
WELCOME RECEPTION
P. 4 P. 5
p. 3
JANUARY 2023
President's Letter Dear WNDC Members,
Twice annually, the members of the Woman’s National Democratic Club are
called to meet with the Board of Directors. Votes are taken in these sessions
(electing officers, ratifying Bylaws amendments) and briefings are given. There
WNDC OFFICERS
is an opportunity to acknowledge contributions of effort and resources— President: Laura Whitaker
whether the arrangement of a gala, the structuring of a policy, the loyalty of Vice President: Rosalyn Coates
staff, or gifts by generous donors. It’s a valuable occasion for non-officers to Treasurer: Carol Baer Mott
Secretary: Michelle Radecki
have a full view of the past 6 months, as well as for the Board to take the
Directors:
temperature of (a subset of) the members. Public Policy: Karen Pataky
Programs: Karyl Cafiero
At the December 13th, 2022, meeting, the Club officers provided longer written reports (available in
Membership: Lilly Strieder
the Meeting Booklet, available to members upon request) and summarized them in efficient verbal
Visual Arts & Museum Affairs: Nuzhat Sultan
remarks—and also provided a succinct list of projects for early 2023. Some highlights are presented Communications: Winfield Swanson &
below; I hope that you will scan it. It will give you a sense of where the efforts are being channeled. Madeline Stilley
Development: Courtney Phelan
As you’re thinking about your 2023 energies, perhaps go down the rows and bullets … see if there Building & Grounds: Michael Lee Beidler
are ways that you can help in these efforts with advice, participation, or leadership—here are many Human Resources: Mindy Burrell
EF President: Pamela Johnson
committees and project teams at WNDC, and we are eager to welcome your gifts.
Previous President: Nuchhi Currier
Committee Early 2023 priorities & projects
- Membership rewards program—help shape it and roll out features
Membership - Amenities committee—envision an even better membership (what’s needed? Could be Next WNDC Meetings
menus, merchandise, physical space, hours, etc.)
Executive Committee
- Recruit marquee speakers Wednesday, Jan. 11
Programs/Events - Organize quarterly outings for members
- Leverage Centennial Gala energy into 2023 social events 10:30 am via Zoom
Buildings & - Categorize maintenance and repair projects
Grounds - Participate in the preservation project in partnership with Educational Foundation
- Plan and execute Sisterhood in Democracy event (March ’23)
EDUCATIONAL
Public Liaison - Help WNDC re-knit ties with the DNC FOUNDATION BOARD
- Strategize on connecting with non-DC local Dem women’s clubs
President: Pamela R. Johnson
Visual Arts & - Shape the evolution of the Pub/First Ladies Lounge Vice President: Rosalyn Overstreet-Gonzalez
Museum Affairs - Continue building docent/tour capabilities
Financial Secretary: Bonnie Heather McCabe
- Produce quality articles for outside media Secretary: Winfield Swanson
Public Policy - Restart dormant policy Task Forces Board Members: Michael Lee Beidler,
- Continue the completion of personnel records system Elizabeth Clark, Marilyn Nevy Cruz,
Human Resources - Create systems/templates to smooth future hiring Anna Fierst, Suzanne Finney, Sandra Kay,
Bylaws - Standing Rules need updating—bring them into the present day! Nuzhat Sultan, Judy Hubbard,
Toni-Michelle Travis, LaCrisha Butler,
Development - Launch a major donor program WNDC President: Laura Whitaker (ex officio),
- Draft Development’s business plan for goals, events, communications
WNDC Treasurer: Carol Baer Mott (ex officio)
Communications - Expand social media capabilities and presence
- Market membership to potential new joins, boost engagement with current members
- Boost the viewership of recently digitized archival programs Next EF Board Meeting
Archives - Continue the inventory of WNDC archives (cool stuff is in there!) Thursday, Jan. 12, 2:30–3:30 pm
GOTV - Make a plan to support Dem’s re-taking the VA Assembly in 2023
- Use feedback from ’22 activists to shape future actions
Young Dems - Resuscitate this committee!
Laura Whitaker, WNDC President
contents
UPDATED COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY
3 Congressional Reception & Archives
WNDC encourages and expects all visitors to the Club to be up-to-date on vaccinations and
4 Programs & Membership
boosters for COVID-19, and to exercise responsible judgment in decisions regarding masking,
distancing, and remote participation. The WNDC will follow recommendations from the CDC and 5 WNDC EF
District of Columbia and will update these requirements as needed. 6 GOTV & VAMA
7 PD Digest
February Newsletter Deadline: January 10, 2022
We cannot guarantee printing items submitted after the deadline. Send your information or photos to winfieldswanson@gmail.com. 8 Calendar At-A-Glance
Publisher Information: Anna Fierst, Newsletter Editor; Winfield Swanson & Maddie Stilley, Co-Directors of Communications
You are cordially invited to be a part of our bi-
annual tradition, the Welcome to Congress
Reception for Democratic Women. Please join us
for an evening of celebratory socializing with the
honorees of the night, the Democratic women of
the 118th congress, with a special spotlight on
those newly elected! Attendees will get to hear a
brief speech from each distinguished
congresswoman on her vision for the 118th
congress while mingling with fellow Democrats
and enjoying refreshments (cash bar will be
available). All members ($45) and their guests
($65) are invited to help us celebrate our strength
and support our incoming leaders while we plan
for a bountiful future together!
REGISTER BY
CLICKING HERE OR
WITH THE QR CODE
ARCHIVES GOING FORWARD WITH GRATITUDE
Our three interns, Maddie Robbins, Lilly-Beth Nelson, Thanks to a grant from Humanities DC, 67 VHS tapes are
and Andrea Brudniak-Berrocal, have been helping with being digitized currently, and will be a valuable resource
the reorganization and inventory of the Archives Room, for future Club events. Thanks also to our member and
as well as cataloging materials into the Omeka System one non-member contributors, we were able to digitize
to make them accessible to our members and the and preserve 46 of the 139 reels of speakers, an
public. We are grateful. invaluable Club resource. 11 of the digitized reels,
including Eleanor Roosevelt, Bella Abzug, and Marian
Wright Edelman, can be accessed at
democraticwoman.org/wndc-programs-archive/.
Our ongoing goal is to gather $2,000 to send 23 more
reels. Questions can be addressed to the Chair, Conceiçao
Andrade (candrade789@gmail.com). Any tax-deductible
contributions are very welcome to WNDC Educational
Foundation, @Donate, Archives.
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MEMBERSHIP Next Membership Committee Meeting:
Monday, Jan. 9, 5:30–6:30 pm via Zoom
Lilly Strieder, Director | lstrieder@wellesley.edu
MEMBER SOCIAL HOUR + FIND YOUR NAME FOR A
WELCOME FOR NEW FREE DRINK
MEMBERS Like last month, search and find the name of one
Thursday, January 26 at 5:30–6:30 pm member inside a wine bottle (pictured right)
somewhere within the newsletter. If you find your
All WNDC members are invited to join us for a fun name, you will get a complimentary drink (alcoholic or
evening of conversation and refreshments—including non) at any event at the Club that month. The winner
hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary drink. must attend an event at the Club that month to claim it.
New members will be given the
opportunity to learn more about
the work and fun of WNDC. Remember to tag @democraticwoman on
Facebook and Instagram with your club pictures
REGISTER HERE OR WITH QR CODE and you may be featured on our accounts!
JANUARY EVENTS
REGISTER FOR ALL EVENTS AT DEMOCRATICWOMAN.ORG/EVENTS/ OR WITH QR CODE BELOW
RAY MCGOVERN: UKRAINE, NATO, & THE WAR, ONE YEAR ON
Thursday, January 12 at 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Hear from Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst (from John F. Kennedy to George H. W. Bush) turned
whistleblower, political activist, and professor on the state of Ukraine and the implications of NATO activity, nearly
one year on from the Russian invasion that began the war in Ukraine. Along with his 27 years as a CIA analyst, in
the 1980s Ray chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared The President’s Daily Brief. Ray is an expert in
Russian history and policy and appears on networks such as Democracy Now! to offer his insight on intelligence and
foreign policy.
Ray will be speaking via Zoom. Register here!
In-person participation (includes lunch): $30 for members; $35 for non-members
In-person program only (no lunch) & Zoom only: $10 for members & non-members
CONGRESSIONAL WELCOME RECEPTION FOR DEMOCRAT WOMEN
Tuesday, January 17 at 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Details on page 3.
ANDERSON HOUSE TOUR AND LUNCH
Wednesday, January 25 at 10:30 am to 1:00 pm
Details on page 6.
MEMBER SOCIAL HOUR + NEW MEMBER WELCOME
Thursday, January 26 at 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Details above.
Program Committee • Director: Karyl Cafiero | programs@democraticwoman.org • Next Program Committee Meeting: Friday, Jan. 6, 12:00–1:30 pm
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WNDC EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
Kathleen
Harrington
EF got ready for the new year with
Women Firsts!, our 2023 organizer. This
collage (left) features women who broke
barriers in the arts and sports; the planner
also includes pioneering women in law &
justice, STEM, government, business, etc.
Planners are still available ($20) and we
are accepting donations to place planners
in social studies classrooms in high
schools across DC.
Buy Now!
FRIENDS OF THE WHITTEMORE HOUSE
The Friends of the Whittemore House closed out 2022 with more than
$100,000 donated and pledged to match our Save America’s Treasures
$313,000 grant from the National Parks Service and help preserve our
American Treasure! Our generous donors are featured on the Giving Tree
(right) at a reception in their honor with flutist Joseph Cunliffe.
Thank you in advance for your donations
as we raise the balance of the match and
start the most urgent work. Become a Donate
Friend of the Whittemore House by Now!
donating today! Click the link or scan the
QR code at right.
ONGOING EXHIBIT
WNDC: The First 100 Years continues on the second floor of The Whittemore
House throughout the Centennial Year. The exhibit, drawn from the Archives, is
a walk through each of the first 10 decades of the Woman’s National
Democratic Club, highlighting a century of extraordinary women and events.
Come for lunch and share our history with a friend! Joseph Cunliffe with the Giving Tree.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Intimate Sinatra
January 26th, 6:30–8:30 pm: The Steve Washington Quartet returns to the Whittemore House to kick
off the New Year with the mellifluous melodies of the 1940s and 1950s, bringing back “Ol’ Blue Eyes”—
the “Sultan of Swoon”—Frank Sinatra. Register by clicking here or with the QR code.
EF President: Pamela Johnson • wndceducationalfoundation.org • Next EF Board Meeting: Thursday, Jan. 12, 2:30–3:30 pm 5
Get Out The Vote
Mindy Burrell & Michelle Radecki GOTV
Committee Co-Chairs
gotv@democraticwoman.org
Next Meeting: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 6 pm via Zoom
TIME TO CELEBRATE!
We did it! Even after an extraordinary push the last two weeks of the midterm election—canvassing, phone banking, writing,
staffing hotlines, and donating—our activists took up the GA special election challenge. We held three "Tiebreaker Tuesday"
events in November for postcarding, letter writing, and phone banking and reached over a thousand Georgia voters. "I don't want
to leave!" wailed one of our activists at the end of the last Tiebreaker Tuesday. "I've loved being with everyone every week!" We
agree, and will look for ways to reconvene our activist community in the new year to evaluate our 2022 work together and plan
for 2023 and beyond.
Nuzhat Sultan, Director | vama@democraticwoman.org
Enjoy a tour of the Anderson House Museum, a stunning Beaux Arts mansion, the home
of The American Revolution Institute and The Society of Cincinnati in Dupont Circle. Built
for Larz and Isabel Anderson, it is a symbol of Gilded Age splendor in Washington DC.
The Anderson’s commissioned the Boston firm of Little and Browne to build their 50-
room winter home on Massachusetts Avenue in 1905. Mr. Anderson was a diplomat who
served in Belgium, London, Rome, and Japan where he, and his wife Isabel, acquired a
fabulous art collection.
The house is rich with European and Asian decorative arts as well as portraits by leading
American artist such as Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart and Samuel F.B. Morse and
Cecillia Beaux. Built to showcase their collection and for entertainment, the mansion has a
ballroom with a musicians gallery where many concerts and performances took place. The
Andersons were one of the capital’s most sought-after hosts from 1905–1937. Among
their prominent guests were Presidents Taft and Coolidge, General Pershing, the
Vanderbilt family and diplomats.
Walk back from the tour and enjoy a special lunch at our Club. Cost for an elegant two-
course lunch with a glass of sparkling wine and tour is $50.00 for members and $60.00
for non-members. This includes lunch, a donation to Anderson House and the WNDC.
Registration is limited to 25 individuals.
At the moment masks are optional and vaccination proof is not required but depending on
local conditions and recommendations this may change. Please state your dietary
restrictions when registering. Please register by clicking here or with the QR code above.
LOCAL COLOR —by Cathy Abramson
Our Ballroom Gallery currently hosts Local Color, an exhibition featuring
the work of artist Cathy Abramson. Abramson captures the often-
overlooked beauty and mystery in everyday scenes in her series of
works, which feature familiar locales such as Fletcher’s Boat House and
the Phillips Collection. The paintings make the everyday extraordinary
and prompt the viewer to reconsider the ordinary moments in their
own lives and the beauty within them. The exhibition will be on display
through February 21. All works are available for purchase.
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PUBLIC POLICY
& POLITICAL
POLITICAL Next PPC Meeting Date:
Monday Jan. 2, 5:00 pm
DISPATCH DIGEST
Karen Pataky, Director
ACTION kjpataky@comcast.net
COMMITTEE Find full articles and calls to action at democraticwoman.org/category/ppc,
or with QR code (right).
Director: Karen Pataky
Secretary: Jean Stewart
Task Force Chairs
KAMALA HARRIS SCORES FOR THE UNITED STATES
DC Metro: Patricia Bitondo
IN FOREIGN POLICY
Earth & Environment: Jean Stewart by Cynthia Efird, Member, Foreign Policy & National Security Task Force
Education & Children's Issues Harry S. Truman once said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care
Foreign Policy & National Security who gets the credit.” If proof of the wisdom of this remark is needed, just note the
Temitope Fajingbesi
strong results racked up by Vice President Harris; and, unfortunately, also the lack of
Gun Violence Prevention
public recognition of her strong contribution to the furtherance of the United States’
Health Policy: Karen Pataky
security, prosperity, and values. Over the months of November and December alone,
Human Rights & Democracy
she has traveled around the world, reaching agreements and understandings that will
Elizabeth Clark
Racial Equity: Rosalyn Coates
underpin US security, prosperity, and leadership for decades, while forthrightly
confronting and warning those who would challenge a peaceful world future.
Read the full article at democraticwoman.org/kamala-harris-scores-for-the-united-states-in-foreign-policy/
THE REPUBLICAN HOUSE LEADERSHIP IN THE 118TH CONGRESS—WHAT CAN
AMERICA’S MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES EXPECT FROM THEM?
by Rosalyn Coates, Chair, Racial Equity Task Force
What does the incoming Republican House leadership portend for protecting and advancing the interests of
America’s marginalized people and communities when it gavels in the first session of the 118th Congress on
January 3, 2023? An American who identifies as a liberal or progressive might first respond to this question with a
resounding: “Nothing good!” That reaction might be understandable given the demographics of the districts
represented by the three Republicans who are discussed in this article. On December 7, 2022, Rep. James Comer
(R-KY) was selected to serve as chair of the House Oversight Committee and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) was
selected to serve as chair of the House Financial Services Committee. On December 8, 2022, Kevin McCarthy
announced that Rep. James Jordan (R-OH) will chair the House Judiciary Committee. All three of these Members
represent districts with majority White populations (Comer 83%, McHenry 75%, and Jordan 87%). The response is
also justified given their past and recent pronouncements.
Read the full article at democraticwoman.org/the-republican-house-leadership-in-the-118th-congress
ABORTION RIGHTS ARE NOT JUST ABOUT BABIES
by Karen Pataky, Director, Public Policy & Political Action Committee; Chair, Health Policy Task Force
The midterm elections and the Georgia runoff have been more about Democracy and the human rights of women
than inflation and the price of gas.
The recent SCOTUS decision stripped away the rights of American women to have an abortion and to use birth
control to plan their families. The three new judges appointed by Donald Trump were specifically vetted by the
Federalist Society to be anti-abortion, with the assumption that they would reverse a half century of the established
law of Roe v Wade.
SCOTUS further states that all medical methods of contraception have been deemed “abortifacients” by religious
leaders. Accordingly their use is banned, although medical experts point out that contraceptives only prevent
ovulation (i.e., production of an egg by a woman’s ovary) so the pregnancy is prevented, not aborted. But, religious
dictates have overtaken science.
Read the full article at democraticwoman.org/abortion-rights-are-not-just-about-babies
Note: The preceding commentary may not represent the precise positions of every member of WNDC. We welcome feedback.
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Club Hours: Tues.–Fri., 9:00 am–5:00 pm.
JANUARY 2023
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY
WNDC staff members are available Mon.–Fri., 9:00 am–5:00 pm
THURSDAY
Lunch Reservations Wed.–Fri., 12:00–2:00 pm:
democraticwoman.org/lunch_rez
FRIDAY
2 3 4 5 6
Club Closed
9 10 11 12 13
Ray McGovern on Ukraine
& NATO
12:00–2:00 pm
16 17 18 19 20
Congressional Welcome
Reception
Martin Luther King Jr. Day 6:30–8:30 pm
23 24 25 Social Hour + New 26 27
Member Welcome
Anderson House Tour 5:30–6:30 pm
& Lunch Educational Foundation:
10:30–1:30 pm Intimate Sinatra
6:30–8:30 pm
30 31 1 2 3
REGISTER FOR PROGRAMS AT DEMOCRATICWOMAN.ORG/EVENTS/
WNDC
Woman's National Democratic Club
1526 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.232.7363 | democraticwoman.org
Find event registration links in your weekly event emails or on our Facebook page at
facebook.com/WNDCLUB or on the Club website at democraticwoman.org/events.
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