Chicago Woman's Club

File:Chicago Woman's Club reading room.jpg

The Chicago Woman's Club was first formed in 1876, on May 17.{{Sfn|Croly|1898|p=62}} In 1885, the club incorporated,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8287235//|title=Opens Its New Home|date=4 October 1894|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and changed the name officially to the Chicago Woman's Club. The founder of the group was Caroline Brown, who suggested to friends that they form a group in order to socialize and associate.{{Cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1903/05/24/page/56/article/founder-of-chicago-womans-club|title=Founder of the Chicago Woman's Club|date=24 May 1903|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=7 January 2017}} By 1877, the club was written up in the Woman's Journal and had approximately thirty members, many of which were active in social reform and in literary and philanthropic circles.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8261253//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club|date=24 February 1877|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The kind of self-improvement study that the club was involved with was "often as demanding as a first year college curriculum."{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/womenofvalor/solomon|title=Hannah Greenebaum Solomon|website=Women of Valor|publisher=Jewish Women's Archive|access-date=9 January 2017}} The education provided by the club was, at the time, one of the only ways most women could pursue a "post graduate education."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8315812//|title=Superiority of Women's Clubs|last=Henrotin|first=Mrs. Charles|date=16 January 1904|work=St. Tammany Farmer|access-date=12 January 2017|via=newspapers.com}} The Chicago Woman's Club organized itself into six main committees: Reform, Philanthropy, Home, Education, Art and literature and Philosophy and science.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8266635//|title=Women's World and Work – The Chicago Woman's Club is one of the largest and most successful...|date=16 October 1887|work=The Times-Picayune|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Each member of the club was required to serve on at least one committee.{{Sfn|Croly|1898|p=62}} The club's officers were not all members of the Chicago Woman's Club. Instead, half of the officers were members and the other half came out of other Chicago club organizations.{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=465}} Membership was exclusive and new members had to be sponsored by current members, "and their acceptance into the club was often dependent on the importance of their sponsor."{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=23}}

The members of the club initially met at Brown's house. In 1877, they rented rooms in the Chicago Literary Club on Monroe Street.{{Sfn|Frank|Jerome|1916|p=17}} Later, they started to meet at the Palmer House,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8261898//|title=City in Brief|date=3 November 1881|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017}} and Grand Pacific.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8261955//|title=Around Town Points|date=3 February 1881|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1894, the club had moved into the Potter Building, and to mark the occasion, they held a reception, where for the first time men were also invited to attend. Later, in 1916, the club would vote against allowing an "Associate Membership" for men.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8435100//|title=Honor to Mrs. Cooley|date=30 April 1916|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club had a new location on Michigan Avenue in 1929, and also during that year again considered creating an "Associate Membership" for men.{{Cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1929/10/27/page/102/article/chicago-womans-club-plans-busy-winter|title=Chicago Woman's Club Plans Busy Winter|last=Nangle|first=Roberta|date=27 October 1929|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=7 January 2017}} The building on Michigan Ave. was six stories high and designed by Holabird & Roche along with engineer Frank E. Brown. This building is now part of Columbia College.{{Cite web|url=https://chicagology.com/skyscrapers/skyscrapers011/|title=Chicago Woman's Club|website=Chicagology|access-date=7 January 2017}} The group increased from 30 to 60 members in 1881. By 1894, there were 600 members. In 1896, the club had increased to 730 members.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299713//|title=Woman's Club Election|date=21 May 1896|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1901, there were 900 members,{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/12/28/119085867.pdf|title=Trouble Arising from an Accusation of Anonymous Letter Writing Causes Serious Dissension|date=28 December 1901|work=The New York Times|access-date=11 January 2017}} increasing to 1,000 by 1906,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8353304//|title=Mrs. Jessie Bolte, Famous as a Chicago Club Woman|date=10 June 1906|work=Star Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and to 1,200 members in 1921.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8436407//|title=At the Rainbow's End|date=3 April 1921|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Annually, the Chicago Woman's Club produced a large yearbook which described the activities of the club over the past year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8313613//|title=A Typical Club|date=10 July 1900|work=The Pantagraph|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club's motto was "Humani nihil a me alienum puto."{{Sfn|Croly|1898|p=63}} On May 25, 1892, they adopted the official colors for the club of ivory white and gold.{{Sfn|Frank|Jerome|1916|p=18}}

In 1876, the club admitted the first Jewish women, Henriette and Hannah Solomon. The first African American member of the club was Fannie Barrier Williams. She went through a difficult approval process which caused dissension in the club.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8297067//|title=Mrs. Henrotin, the President of the Gen-|date=23 December 1894|work=The New York Times|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8297108//|title=Color Versus Intelligence|last=Field|first=Kate|date=12 January 1895|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299378//|title=The Color Question|date=5 February 1896|work=Harrisburg Daily Independent|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1895, the club voted not to exclude anyone based on race.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8297156//|title=Against Race and Color Lines|date=24 January 1895|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} She was finally made a member in 1896.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299239//|title=Black Bats White|date=24 January 1896|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1894, a club for African American women which was based on the Chicago Woman's Club was organized.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8287082//|title=Club of Colored Women is Organized|date=18 February 1894|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1901, the club faced a difficult time when an anonymous letter was sent which accused member, Mrs. Robert Farson, of "financial dishonesty." Farson, and others accused, demanded an investigation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8314768//|title=Anonymous Letter Up Again|date=20 December 1901|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Handwriting analysis indicated that the person sending the letter was "No.75," a designation that would have been obvious to club members. Other possible members may have been those designated as "70 and 76."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8314833//|title=Letter Writer Still Unknown|date=28 December 1901|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The discovery committee later decided that the letter writer was Alice Bradford Wiles,{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/12/29/109771080.pdf|title=Handwriting Experts Differ|date=29 December 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=12 January 2017}} who both disputed the accusation and threatened to sue the club for "slander and damages."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8314955//|title=Squabble in Woman's Club|date=29 December 1901|work=The Times|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

File:Woman's Club Auditorium.jpg

The Chicago Woman's Club started engaging with various social reforms around the mid 80s.{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=465}} Club members were moved by families who endured difficult working conditions and by children who were forced to work for their families.{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=31}} Starting in January 1896, some club members held monthly meetings to study laws that affected or were about women and children.{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=38}}

The Chicago Woman's Club became involved in the Cook County Insane Hospital, where they supported Delia Howe become the assistant physician. The Chicago Women's Club also made the case that further appointments should be women after Howe left and asked them to appoint and maintain Harriet C. B. Alexander to the open position.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8261799//|title=Physician at the County Hospital|date=23 January 1885|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8263764//|title=Dr. Delia Howe|date=18 February 1885|work=The Columbus Journal|access-date=9 January 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8263891//|title=A couple of ladies representing the|date=20 August 1885|work=Sterling Standard|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club continued to work towards improvements for female inmates at the hospital, conducted visits and monitored the status of the hospital, reporting on violations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8264242//|title=If one-tenth of what Dr. Kiernan said of|date=21 October 1885|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8264348//|title=The County Insane|date=31 October 1885|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} They even submitted in 1886, a proposed amendment to the laws for the care of the insane and common criminals.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8266442//|title=The Woman's Club|date=21 December 1886|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Most of these duties were carried out by the club's Reform Committee.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8264052//|title=The Cook County Insane Asylum|date=17 October 1885|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1893, the Reform Committee was still involved with helping to improve the hospital.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286868//|title=Work of the Chicago Woman's Club|date=6 September 1893|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} It had secured enough food and clothing for those inside the Insane Hospital by 1904.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8315896//|title=Chicago Woman's Club|date=23 January 1904|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The Chicago Women's Club was also involved with asking for a general hospital to treat those with "infectious diseases."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286113//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club has been|date=25 March 1892|work=Shenandoah Herald|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club worked towards the establishment of such a hospital for many years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8314172//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club has been agitat-|date=10 January 1892|work=The Sun|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The Reform Committee also worked to create a Children's Hospital Society of Chicago. In 1909, the club suggested a way to improve medical staffing at the county jail.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8354128//|title=For New Jail Medical Staff|date=13 January 1909|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The Chicago Woman's Club was active in other health-related issues. The club promoted advertisements against spitting in the city of Chicago,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299595//|title=Through the efforts of the Chicago|date=9 May 1896|work=Harrisburg Daily Independent|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and were also in support of anti-cigarette legislation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300017//|title=Approve of the Bill|date=16 March 1897|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club pledged $11,343 to support the cancer seal campaign in 1930. The club was an early promoter of cancer education.{{Cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1930/03/13/page/31/article/chicago-womans-club-pledges-11-343-for-fight-against-cancer|title=Chicago Woman's Club Pledges $11,343 for Fight Against Cancer|date=13 March 1930|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=7 January 2017}}

They were involved with helping to appoint a night matron at the jail in 1884.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8263717//|title=The County Board|date=16 April 1884|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The night matron would look after women and children who were prisoners in the jail.{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=27-28}} Chicago Women's Club members, Ellen Henrotin and Sara Hackett Stevenson, were instrumental in creating a Protective Agency for Women and Children in 1886.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8266407//|title=The formation of a society having for its|date=27 March 1886|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} This Protective Agency was the first in the country to protect wives who were victims of assault and rape.{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=465}} The club provided legal aid for women facing various issues, provided lawyers to those who could not afford them, and often "appeared in court on behalf of rape victims."{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=466}} In 1897, the Protective Agency merged with the Bureau of Justice, but "the women asked for and received sole jurisdiction over the cases affecting women and children."{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=467}} The Protective Agency again moved into a different merger with the Legal Aid Society of Chicago in 1905.{{Sfn|Pleck|1983|p=467}} Also in 1905, the club petitioned Illinois state about a proposed amendment to protect children under the crimes act.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8352460//|title=City Catholic Church Notes|date=5 February 1905|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The work of committee members such as Julia Lathrop, Jane Addams and Lucy Flower influenced the creation of the Illinois Juvenile Court Law of 1899, creating the first juvenile court in the country. The club helped pay the salaries of the probation officers who would later work in the court.{{Sfn|Getis|2000|p=110}} Prior to creating a juvenile justice system, "bad kids" in Chicago were arrested on spurious charges and left in jails with adults with no legal recourse. In 1929, the Chicago Woman's Club, along with other organizations funded a study of "behavior problems of delinquent boys."{{Sfn|Getis|2000|p=84}}

In 1915, Rachelle Yarros convinced the Chicago Woman's Club to create a birth control committee.{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/444.html|title=Feminist Movements|last=Flanagan|first=Maureen|website=Encyclopedia of Chicago|publisher=Chicago Historical Society|access-date=18 January 2017}} By 1916, the club was addressing issues of birth control.{{Cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/1916/09/29/club-women-to-defy-law-and-preach-birth-control/|title=Club Women To Defy Law and Preach Birth Control|date=29 September 1916|work=The Denver Post|access-date=18 January 2017}} The discussion of contraceptives was controversial,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8433678//|title=Protests Move to Curb Birth|date=3 January 1917|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and also could have resulted in the arrest of those promoting it, since laws were still on the books preventing the dissemination of information about birth control. The club also held a birth control conference,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8435285//|title=Her Unborn Child|date=25 May 1917|work=The Evening News|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} where James A. Field presented information on the subject.{{Cite journal|last=Page|first=Grace A.|date=February 1917|title=Chicago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0IsAAAAYAAJ&q=%22birth+control%22+%22chicago+woman%27s+club%22&pg=PR4|journal=The Birth Control Review|volume=1|issue=1|pages=9}} Yarros was appointed by the Chicago Woman's Club as the chair of the Chicago Citizen's Committee which created the Illinois Birth Control League.{{Cite web|url=http://hullhouse.uic.edu/hull/urbanexp/main.cgi?file=new/show_doc.ptt&doc=164&chap=42|title=Rachelle Slobodinsky Yarros|last=Haslett|first=Diane C.|date=2001|website=Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House and Its Neighborhoods, 1889-1963|access-date=18 January 2017}} The league opened various clinics in Chicago in the 1920s, despite laws against allowing information about birth control in the city.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8436096//|title=Chicago Ordinance is Named Against Birth Control|date=8 November 1924|work=The Catholic Advance|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The Chicago Woman's Club was also involved in the woman's suffrage movement. In 1894, the group created the Chicago Political Equality League.{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1217.html|title=Suffrage|last=Flanagan|first=Maureen A.|website=The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago|publisher=The Newberry Library|access-date=21 January 2017}} The Political Equality League was considered a "conservative" group and it worked to "dispel the bogy of the anti-suffragists, to show the world that one can be a believer in votes for women and still be essentially feminine, be charming perhaps, and agreeable."{{Cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1910/09/18/page/25/article/recent-growth-of-suffrage-movement-in-chicago-indicated-by-the-many-equal-rights-clubs|title=Recent Growth of Suffrage Movement in Chicago Indicated by the Many 'Equal Rights' Clubs|last=Squire|first=Belle|date=18 September 1910|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=21 January 2017}} The group also hosted talks about suffrage, and had suffragists, such as Susan B. Anthony, speak at the club.

Environmental concerns were also important to the club. Members spoke out against the killing of wild birds for the feathers used in fashionable women's clothing.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300116//|title=Chicago Women in Behalf of Birds|date=16 April 1897|work=The St Johnsbury Caledonian|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300173//|title=A Black Canvas Frock, With Satin Bolero|date=29 April 1897|work=The National Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1905, they supported a measure to preserve natural areas in Illinois.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8353164//|title=Outer Park Act Gets Hard Jolts|date=26 October 1905|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The Chicago Woman's Club was involved in many educational efforts. Some of these, like advocating for children's schooling in prisons, were tied into their other reform efforts. Early on, the club petitioned Mayor Roche to appoint women to vacancies in the Board of Education in Chicago in 1887.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8266565//|title=The petition of the Chicago Woman's|date=18 May 1887|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Later, the club nominated five women to the school board in 1890.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8285906//|title=World's Fair and Public Schools|date=7 June 1890|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Ada Celeste Sweet was appointed to the Board of Education in 1892, and the club urged the confirmation of her appointment.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286191//|title=Urge Miss Sweet's Confirmation|date=22 September 1892|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} As an example to the Chicago Board of Education, in 1898 the club cleaned one of the schools from "attic to basement" as an example of what cleanliness and sanitation in a school building should look like.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300448//|title=Chicago Woman's Club's Lesson|date=17 May 1898|work=The Daily Republican|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1916, the club urged the school board to choose teachers based on educational merit alone.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8435171//|title=Chicago Woman's Club Opposes Loeb Rule 2|date=15 October 1916|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Club member, Lucy Flower, lobbied successfully for Illinois to have a compulsory education law.{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=40}}

The Chicago Woman's Club also helped, along with Rose Haas Alschuler and her cousin Charlotte Kuh, to set up the first public nursery school in the United States, which was affiliated with the Chicago Board of Education.{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/alschuler-rose-haas|title=Rose Haas Alschuler|last=Bornstein|first=Sandra K.|website=Jewish Women's Archives|access-date=14 January 2017}} The club was also the first to provide funds for a kindergarten in the public schools.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8353621//|title=Women and Club Culture|last=Stevenson|first=Mrs. Adlai|date=18 May 1907|work=Concordia Blade-Empire|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1905, the club created a fellowship for the John H. Hamline school which would provide funds for parents' and children's clubs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8352989//|title=Founds a School Fellowship|date=27 April 1905|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The Chicago Woman's Club also supported education for the blind beyond public schooling.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8353783//|title=Chicago Woman's Club Plans Educational Work for Blind|date=29 March 1908|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1906, members of the club taught the visually impaired in their homes, teaching Braille, shorthand, typewriting and weaving.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8354486//|title=Real Help for the Unfortunate|date=2 January 1911|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=14 January 2017}} The work had grown so much, that additional funds were needed and a proposed bill was introduced to provide it to the teachers.

In 1889, the club "adopted" Norwood Park School, donating funds and soliciting more for the school.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8269766//|title=No title|quote=With characteristic generosity and energy the Chicago Women's Club...|date=25 April 1889|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The school was both an orphanage for over 300 homeless boys and a training school.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8284626//|title=Illinois Industrial Training School|date=1 February 1890|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club also helped the School Children's Aid Society by donating time and "suitable new clothing" for poor students so they could attend school.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299190//|title=Children Aid One Another|date=1 January 1896|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club also created a school for boys who were inmates at the Chicago common jail.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299935//|title=A Strange School|date=11 January 1897|work=The Daily Republican|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The Chicago Women's Club ensured that boys in the county jail had a Thanksgiving dinner in 1898.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300580//|title=Woman's Clubs Visit Jail|date=25 November 1898|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1885, the club began a training school for domestic servants.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8263947//|title=Grappling With a Problem|date=9 October 1885|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=9 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club continued this work, creating a school, developing scholarships, providing housing for students and creating an employment agency.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8315300//|title=Would Train Girls for Work|date=4 January 1904|work=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1900, the club also advocated for boys to learn how to cook in public schools.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300893//|title=Want Boys to be Cooks|date=8 March 1900|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The idea also included teaching boys other domestic sciences, so that when they grew up, they would "make good husbands, able to help their wives in domestic economy."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300999//|title=Domestic Science for Boys|date=9 March 1900|work=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Vocational classes for interested students, which included scholarships, were started by the Chicago Woman's Club.{{Cite journal|last=Austrian|first=Delia|date=26 July 1917|title=How Chicago Schools Help Boys and Girls to Good Jobs|jstor=42877454|journal=The Journal of Education|volume=86|issue=4|pages=94|doi=10.1177/002205741708600406|s2cid=189457379}}

In 1892, the club helped finance women's dormitories at the University of Chicago.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286312//|title=Given an Equal Chance With Men|date=2 October 1892|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The dormitories cost $280,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8287494//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club|date=13 November 1894|work=Santa Cruz Sentinel|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1897, the Chicago Woman's Club helped raise money to add to the Egyptian collection at the Chicago University.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299880//|title=Egyptian Archeology|date=17 January 1897|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1898, the club created an information center for students, providing resources and information for 50 cents an inquiry. The club also kept records about what kinds of questions were asked, and encouraged and took only serious inquiries into a given topic.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8300214//|title=Information About Books|date=6 January 1898|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

In addition to working on reform and education, the club supported worker's rights. During the World's Colombian Exposition, the Chicago Woman's Club urged those planning the event to stay open on Sundays in order to allow the working class to have the opportunity to visit.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286648//|title=Thursday|date=17 December 1892|work=The Junction City Weekly Union|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286720//|title=Woman's Club Opposes Sunday Closing|date=11 December 1892|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The Chicago Woman's Club also supported conferences like "Women in Modern Industrialism" which reported on the status of women in different professions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8315739//|title=Women in Industrialism|date=2 January 1904|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Catherine Waugh McCulloch spoke affirmatively on the topic of whether married women should be involved in business at the Women in Modern Industrialism conference.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8317596//|title=The Woman in Business|date=10 April 1904|work=Arkansas Democrat|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1894, the club helped secure 200 jobs for women and girls.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8286942//|title=Work for Unemployed on Farms|date=22 January 1894|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Later the club started the Women's Emergency Association, which helped find employment for about 1,500 individuals.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8296242//|title=Ada C. Sweet Chosen|date=20 May 1894|work=The Chicago Tribune|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The organization was credited by The Daily Republican for "influencing all the laws for the improvement of the conditions surrounding the working women and children of Illinois."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8296622//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club has the credit...|date=28 May 1894|work=The Daily Republican|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The Chicago Woman's Club also developed an Employment Bureau.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8433869//|title=Housework Uncrowded Industry|date=5 January 1915|work=The Times Dispatch|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8434127//|title=Club Employment Center Moves|date=7 January 1915|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=18 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}

The club also worked with the Women's Trade Union and helped boycott factories where conditions for workers were poor.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8315579//|title=Club Women War Over Corset|date=18 March 1904|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=12 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club voted to send representatives to speak on behalf of clerks who were overworked in various stores, and to advocate for half-holidays for them.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8354385//|title=Ask Half Holiday in City's Stores|date=14 April 1910|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=14 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1912, the club created a committee to investigate women's working conditions in the industrial sector and had as its stated goal to create a minimum wage for working women.

File:Presidents of the Chicago Woman's Club.jpg

Many notable women were members of the club. Physician, Sara Hackett Stevenson was president from 1892 to 1894.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8296035//|title=For Dr. Stevenson|date=31 May 1894|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Ada Celeste Sweet was elected president in 1894. Novelist and preacher, Celia Parker Woolley,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8296726//|title=An Able Woman Preacher|date=17 August 1894|work=Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} reformer Lucy Flower,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8296819//|title=A Brilliant Woman|date=31 October 1894|work=The Belvidere Standard|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Lydia Avery Coonley,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8299312//|title=The Chicago Woman's Club held a reception|date=2 February 1896|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=11 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and Julia Holmes Smith,{{Sfn|Croly|1898|p=64}} also served as presidents. Many of the presidents of the Chicago Woman's Club had also been members of the Fortnightly Club.{{Sfn|Croly|1898|p=60}}

• Jane Addams
• Anna Blount
• Louise DeKoven Bowen{{Sfn|Getis|2000|p=98}}
• Myra Bradwell{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=23}}
• Lydia Avery Coonley
• Lucy Flower
• Ellen Martin Henrotin
• Mary Emma Holmes{{cite book |last1=Herringshaw |first1=Thomas William |title=Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits ... |date=1914 |publisher=American Publishers' Association |page=198 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjABAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA198 |access-date=14 October 2022 |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}
• Mary Lewis Langworthy{{cite book |title=The Biographical Cyclopaedia of American Women ... |year=1925 |publisher=Halvord Publishing Company |volume=2 |language=en |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalcycl0002unse/page/256 |pages=256–58 |chapter=LANGWORTHY, MARY LEWIS |access-date=4 November 2022 }} {{Source-attribution}}
• Julia Lathrop
• Emma Gilson Wallace{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03kqAAAAYAAJ&dq=Emma+Gilson+Wallace&pg=PA85|title = Annual Announcement of the Chicago Woman's Club: Organized 1876|year = 1901}}
• Lena B. Mathes{{cite book |last1=Gilman |first1=Agness Geneva |last2=Gilman |first2=Gertrude Marcelle |title=Who's who in Illinois, Women-makers of History |date=1927 |publisher=Eclectic publishers |pages=160-61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ImBPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA160 |access-date=18 February 2024 |chapter=Mrs. George McCown Mathes.}}
• Catharine Waugh McCulloch
• Mary McDowell{{Sfn|Clapp|1998|p=23}}
• Anna E. Nicholes
• Bertha Palmer{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/peopleevents/p_bpalmer.html|title=People & Events: Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918)|website=Chicago: City of the Century Home|publisher=PBS|access-date=7 January 2017}}
• Elia Peattie{{Cite web|url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/peattie/ep.biography.html|title=Biography of Elia Wilkinson Peattie1862-1935|website=Elia Peattie|access-date=9 January 2017}}
• Julia Holmes Smith{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8287384//|title=Nominees of the Democrats|date=5 November 1894|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}
• Hanna G. Solomon
• Sara Hackett Stevenson
• Ada Celeste Sweet
• Alice Bradford Wiles
• Frances Willard{{Cite web|url=http://www.northfordwomensclub.org/NotClubWomen.html|title=Notable Club Women|website=The Northford Women's Club|access-date=7 January 2017}}
• Fannie Barrier Williams
• Celia Parker Woolley{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8287141//|title=Mrs. Celia Parker Woolley|date=11 September 1894|work=Los Angeles Herald|access-date=10 January 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}
• Rachelle Yarros{{Cite journal|year=1917|title=Reform Department|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XsqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22birth+control%22+%22chicago+woman%27s+club%22&pg=PA1|journal=Forty-First Annual Announcement of the Chicago Woman's Club|volume=43|pages=53}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcEShGLoIXEC&q=%22chicago+woman%27s+club%22&pg=PA19|title=Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America|last=Clapp|first=Elizabeth Jane|publisher=Pennsylvania State Press|year=1998|isbn=0271017775|location=University Park, Pennsylvania}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historywomanscl00clubgoog|title=The History of the Woman's Club Movement in America|last=Croly|first=Jane Cunningham|publisher=Henry G. Allen & Co.|year=1898|location=New York}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsofchicagow00chic/annalsofchicagow00chic_djvu.txt|title=Annals of the Chicago Woman's Club for the First Forty Years of its Organization, 1876-1916|last1=Frank|first1=Henriette Greenebaum|last2=Jerome|first2=Amalie Hofer|publisher=Chicago Woman's Club|year=1916|location=Chicago}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ir7q7tyk_eYC&pg=PR4|title=The Juvenile Court and the Progressives|last=Getis|first=Victoria|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2000|isbn=0252025725|location=Chicago}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Pleck|first=Elizabeth|date=1983|title=Feminist Responses to 'Crimes Against Women,' 1865-1896|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249107280|journal=Signs|volume=8|issue=3|pages=451–470|doi=10.1086/493985|s2cid=143990086}}

• [http://explore.chicagocollections.org/marcxml/chicagohistory/31/ws8hr84/ Chicago Woman's Club records], 1876-1998
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=LHwqAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22chicago+woman%27s+club%22&pg=PA1 Chicago Woman's Club], Vol 43
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=m3kqAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22chicago+woman%27s+club%22&pg=PA1 Chicago Woman's Club], (1896-1897)
• [https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/437 Chicago Woman's Club Records] at [https://www.newberry.org the Newberry Library]

{{Woman's club movement}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1876 establishments in Illinois

Category:1999 disestablishments in Illinois

Category:Women's organizations based in the United States

Category:Progressive Era in the United States

Category:Progressive organizations in the United States

Category:Women's clubs in the United States

Category:History of women in Illinois

Category:Women in Chicago

Category:Clubs in Chicago