DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some stories sneak up on you. They start quiet — a room full of women, a church hall, January of 1923 — and by the time you realize what you're witnessing, something remarkable has already taken root.
This is one of those stories. The Blue Bird Circle is a non-denominational philanthropic women's organization, and from the very beginning, its purpose was clear: serving the needs of children. It came together under the auspices of First Methodist Church, and those volunteers did not waste a single moment.
They built a young women's co-operative home. They stood up a day nursery. And then — and here's where the story starts to deepen — they created something they called the Little Hospital, dedicated to crippled children.
Think about that. Think about what it takes, year after year, to keep showing up for kids who need you. Now fast-forward to 1949.
The Circle founded a clinic for children with cerebral disorders. Could they have known, back in that church hall in 1923, that this would be where the road was heading? That clinic grew — and I mean grew — into the renowned Blue Bird Circle Clinic for Pediatric Neurology.
The Circle didn't just build it and walk away, either. They kept supporting that clinic. They kept funding pediatric research at the Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory and the Rett Center at Baylor College of Medicine.
Started with volunteers and a shared conviction in January of 1923. Ends — well, it doesn't end. That's the whole point.
What the marker says
The Blue Bird Circle is a non-denominational philanthropic women's organization dedicated to serving the needs of children. Since its organization in January 1923 under the auspices of First Methodist Church, volunteers have committed time and money to create a young women's co-operative home, a day nursery and the "Little Hospital" for crippled children. In 1949 the Circle founded a clinic for children with cerebral disorders that grew into the renowned Blue Bird Circle Clinic for Pediatric Neurology. The Circle continues to support the clinic and fund pediatric research at the Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory and the Rett Center at Baylor College of Medicine. (2001)