By the early 1880s, the Czech civic women's organizations achieved considerable success in building up a network of girls' schools, but there was a serious need for a type of secondary school that would provide the possibility of special exams (maturita) to enter the university studies. In 1890, Eliska Krasnohorska established such a school, a 'gymnasium' connected with the Minerva Association, which was fully responsible for funding the school. The school had a private status and consequently, the students had to pay fees, contributions for books, various requisites, etc. The school received regular and considerable financial support from the Council of the Royal Capital City of Prague and from the Land Committee of the Diet of the Czech Kingdom. Other sources of funds for operational activities were the contributions of Minerva Association members, occasional donations from corporations (usually women's civic organizations), local governments, financial institutions, industrial enterprises, and private persons. The women's activities related to the public sector, and especially to girls' education, largely contributed to the process of democratization and to the gradual establishment of equal of rights for women in Czech society.