THE OSMUNDA CLUB
The Osmunda Club was founded in 1918 by writer Edna Wadsworth Moody wife of chemistry professor Herbert R Moody. The Moodys came up to the Richville area every summer to spend time at their summer place on Sebago Lake. The purpose of the Osmunda club was to expose the local Richville girls to the great thinkers, from Plato and Epictetus to Emerson and Whitman and to discuss the meaning of life.
In 1922 Edna Moody published the book “We Are Here – Why?” According to a reviewer who had interviewed Edna Moody, “Her book grew from a desire to put into permanent form … lessons of life prepared for a camp of girls at Sebago Lake, Me.” [The reviewer misunderstood Edna Moody’s use of the term “camp”. Moody was obviously referring to the girls of the Osmunda Club, named after her summer place, ‘camp’ on Sebago Lake.] Edna Moody dedicated the book to “The Osmunda Club of Richville – Standish at Sebago Lake, Maine”
Mrs. Moody (behind the wheel) and the Osmunda girls [see below for more Osmunda Club Photos]
THE RICHVILLE LIBRARY
In 1918 Mrs. Moody with her group of girls began collecting books for the people of Richville and the surrounding area. In 1923 a structure was built to hold these books. It became the Richville Library.
By 1935 the Library had 3,517 books; circulating:1,032 books. The librarian was Gertrude E. Swift, a former Osmunda Club member who lived nearby on Cole Hill Road.
In 1970 the original library burned down. It was replace by the present building in 1976. The current librarian is Karen McNutt. Her husband Dave McNutt is the son of Osmunda Club member Dorothea Cole.
Edna Wadsworth Moody, the founder of the Osmunda Club standing next to
Gertrude Swift, Osmunda Club member and future librarian of the Richville Library
