Sorosis of Orlando

According to the Sorosis of Orlando web site, “In 1893, ten soft-spoken women of Orlando met at the home of Mrs. Robert Howe to organize a study club. Mrs. W. R. Anno, Miss Maud Anno, Miss Blanche Anno, Mrs. Annie Coleman, Miss Emily Dickenson, Mrs. H. W. Greetham, Mrs. Robert Howe, Miss Julia Pomeroy, Miss Lillian Shine, and Mrs. D. S. Shine became Charter Members. They adopted the name Sorosis from Latin meaning “sisterhood”. 

The women of Sorosis have impacted the lives of countless individuals and the community at large. 

In 1919, the Sorosis club of Orlando created a circulating library for its members. This collection was initially on the second floor of the Old Armory Building on Court Street and was subsequently moved to the Knox building at Pine and Court Streets. It remained the only library until the construction of the Albertson Public Library in. In early 1949, a proposal for the addition of a Bookmobile was presented to the board of the Albertson Public Library by the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. The ladies of Sorosis decided that a Bookmobile that would take books to people in the small communities of Orange County was a worthy venture, so they spearheaded a drive to raise $6,000 for the purchase of the vehicle. The Board of County Commissioners appropriated $10,000 for the staffing, books, and upkeep of the vehicle, and by November 1949 it was on the road serving the people of Orange County.

The 1975-1976 yearbook lists the former presidents of Sorosis.
*Mrs. Robert Howe, 1893
*Mrs. H. W. Greetham
*Mrs. F. A. Curtis
*Mrs. C. G. Browning
*Miss Kena Fries
*Miss Mollie Ray
*Mrs. T. P. Warlow
*Miss Marcia Johnson
*Mrs. Mahlon Gore
*Mrs. Helen Wright
*Mrs. A. B. Whitman, 1912-23
*Mrs. Robert M. Shearer, 1923-25
*Mrs. Alexander Akerman, 1925-27
  Mrs. C. D. Christ, 1927-29
  Mrs. Frederick E. Godfrey, 1929-30
*Mrs. Charles F. Batchelder, 1930-32
*Mrs. C. C. Daley, 1932-34
*Mrs. A. H. Reppard, 1934-36
  Mrs. A. T. MacKay, 1936-38
  Mrs. William M. Lane, 1938-40
  Mrs. Samuel F. Ricker, 1940-42
  Mrs. L. A. Blake, 1942-44
  Mrs. A. H. Smith, Jr., 1944-46
  Mrs. E. Harold Johnson, 1946-47
*Mrs. Robert J. Pleus, 1947-48
*Mrs. John B. Davis, 1948-50
  Mrs. Ruth McCullough Maguire, 1950-52
  Mrs. Floyd S. Batten, May-Nov. 1952
*Miss Warrene Piper, Dec. 1952-May 1954
  Mrs. R. L. Schacht, 1954-1956
  Mrs. L. C. Candedo, 1956-57
*Mrs. William P. Mullen, 1957-59
  Mrs. Ben Gammage, 1959-60
  Mrs. J. M. Collins, 1960-61
*Mrs. W. T. Chennell, 1961-62
  Mrs. W. Ivan Wilder, 1962-64
  Mrs. Gray A. Strain, Jr., 1964-66
  Mrs. Julian E. Laughinghouse, Sr., 1966-67
  Mrs. Robert H. Betts, 1967-68
  Mrs. James H. Harper, 1968-69
  Mrs. James A. Vincent, 1969-70
  Mrs. Allison F. Martin, 1970-72
  Mrs. Paul A. Dolezar, 1972-73
  Mrs. J. B. Lawton III, 1973-75

* Deceased

Read their history and then peruse their yearbooks under DOCUMENTS below. 

This item is part of the Orange County Associations files at the Orlando Public Library.