The association of Swedish Women, which is a branch of the
International Council of Women, was organized in 1896, and has over
twelve thousand members, its object being to promote the welfare of
the sex, to educate them on all questions concerning their legal and
social rights, to enlarge their sphere of activity, and to assist
those who are thrown upon their own resources to earn their living.
The active, practical work is done by subordinate societies devoted to
particular interests, as, for example, the Fredrika Bremer Association
manages a sick relief fund for wage earners, assists students in the
universities and technical schools, finds employment for those who
need it, conducts schools for trained nurses, keeps a register of
women who are capable of performing various duties, and is continually
engaged in works of benevolence.

Another organization, known as the Swedish Woman's Association for the
Defense of Their Country, is purely patriotic, and was organized in
1884 in connection with the movement for the increase of the army, for
the purpose of educating public opinion. It has forty affiliated local
committees carrying on a propaganda of patriotism. There is a women's
club at Stockholm whose special purpose is to protect working women
from persecution by their employers and others, to educate them
concerning legal rights of women wage-earners, and to furnish legal
advice and counsel to those who are in trouble. The seamstresses have
an alliance, and the shop girls are organized into a union.

The advancement of women commenced under the leadership and
inspiration of the late Fredrika Bremer, the famous authoress, who is
well known in the United States because of her frequent visits here
and her literary works. She was the pioneer of the movement to improve