Celebrating 100 years of speech arts in Birmingham

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Women in flowing dresses and glittering cardigans filled the Virginia Samford Theater in Birmingham on a recent afternoon. They excitedly greeted, embraced and laughed with their friends as they made their way to their seats. Once there, they fell into a hushed anticipation.

The event was a celebration for the one hundredth anniversary of the Speech Arts Club of Birmingham.

The speaker, Ellise Mayor, opened the gathering in typical fashion: with a speech.

“What is speech arts?” Mayor asked the audience. “We are fellowship, friendship, forensics. We are grace and gatherings and gray hair.”

Not quite a secret society but certainly an exclusive club of distinguished women, each member of the club must be invited to join by an existing club member. 

“We are wrinkles and laugh lines and the occasional dirty joke,” Mayor said, as the audience chuckled. “We are parts of speech and pieces of lives and hopes for the future.”

The freshly minted League of Women Voters began the club in 1925, aiming to foster members’ communication and speech skills. Women come from the fields of public relations, media, speech and theater, whose common ground lies in a belief that spoken words can change lives and society.

“Speech arts is the best way for women to get together and talk about talking and performing,” club member April Miller said.

“When I think about speech arts, I think about speakers, thinkers and theater-makers,” Dana Porter said. “Sometimes it is a history lesson or an author or a poem or something or someone you’ve never heard of before and it makes you think.” 

“It’s wonderful to be surrounded by women that just want to know about your success and live vicariously through everybody’s joy and happiness,” Tamara DeBolt added.  

Each member performs at least once every four years. Since the club’s inception, club speakers began exploring time and place through theater and world literature interpretations. 

Some still hold lectures, others read aloud from books or their own works. Some members have performed Irish poetry in a thick brogue and others gave a full cabaret musical performance. 

“This is the hardest audience to get up and read to,” said Beverly Brasell, the main speaker at the anniversary celebration. “Because they are your peers who know good work from bad work. Of course, they’re the most loving, accepting audience you could possibly want.”

For her own speech, she presented the tale of Joan of Arc. 

“When she was 12, on January 6th, 1424, she heard sacred voices,” Brasell said. “Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, Saint Michael.” 

She presented the playwright George Bernard Shaw’s re-imagining of Joan convincing French officials to help her retake the country from the British..

“Good morning, Captain Squire,” Brasell said, reading Joan’s lines. “You are to give me a horse and armor and some soldiers and send me to the Dauphin. Those are your orders from God.”

Brasell recounted the entire tale of Joan’s short life. She said Joan did not have an official battle cry, but rather a phrase closely associated with her. The sentiment of that phrase is one that she believes the Speech Arts Club shares as it heads into its second century. 

“‘En avant, hardiment,’” Brasell said. “Forward! Boldly!”