Branch Information

The Cape Canaveral Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, Inc.

 is located in Brevard County, Florida, home of the nation’s space program and the Kennedy Space Center.  A membership of professional artists, writers and composers, this organization is one of 25 braches in Florida.

  The branch’s by-laws were signed on April 9, 1969 by the branch’s first executive board led by president Elaine Murray Stone.

 The most important reason for joining is the personal encouragement, contacts and educational benefits gained from association with professional peers.

 NLAPW has a membership of more than 4,000 writers, artists and composers in more than 200 branches throughout the United States and Panama. Members promote development of the creative talents of professional women in the arts, and competitions are held at Branch, State and National levels. 

 Membership in the League is comprised of Active, Associate, International Affiliate and Honorary members engaged in creative work in one or more of the three comprehensive membership classifications: Letters, Art, and Music.

In the Beginning

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s neice, Marian Longfellow O’Donohue, decided in 1897 that there was a need for an organization that would include women of the press.  She brought together 17 writers, novelists, newspaper women, a teacher, a poet and an artist for the first Pen Woman meeting.

 The Pen Women’s first National Convention was held in Washington D.C. in April, 1921. President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding received the 300 women in attendance.

Alice R. Morgan, an illustrator for  New York publishers, designed the League insignia, the owl, symbolic of wisdom, placed in a triangle formed by a red pen, a blue pencil and a white brush, colors of the American flag. A complete set of china painted with the owl insignia by Elizabeth Bentley is on display in the Pen Arts Building.

 Many First Ladies are honorary members of the League: Barbara Bush, Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt.  Other famous women to belong are Erma Bombeck, Janet Daily, Helen Keller, Georgia O’Keefe, Dale Evans, Helen Thomas, Eudora Welty.

How To Join

Cape Canaveral Branch meetings are held once a month at different locations in Brevard County. If you are interested in becoming a member, contact the Cape Canaveral Branch’s current membership chairwoman Mary Dall at marydall@bellsouth.net