Woman's Club of Olympia - Olympia, WA
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 02.396 W 122° 53.980
10T E 507622 N 5209606
The Woman's Club of Olympia, founded in 1883, is considered to be one of the oldest women's clubs in the western United States. This clubhouse was built by the club in 1908. The club still meets at this location.
Waymark Code: WM3MP2
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2008
Views: 43
The Woman's Club of Olympia, founded in 1883, is considered to be one of the oldest women's clubs in the western United States. This clubhouse was built by the club for $6,000 in 1908. The club still meets at this location.
The following text is from the Olympia's Historic Places Website:
The Woman's Club of Olympia is arguably the oldest Woman's Club in the West. It was formed in 1883 when a group of nine local women met in the home of Clara and Edmund Sylvester for the purpose of mutual improvement. Original club members included Pamela Case Hale, first woman superintendent of Thurston County schools, and schoolteacher Janet Moore. In the beginning club members focused on literature, travel, music and education. Later they expanded their interests to issues of women's and children's rights.
When the club's rented quarters caught fire in the early years of this century, the group set about building its own clubhouse on the burned-out site. Their new meetinghouse, built circa 1908, was specifically meant to blend in with what was then a residential neighborhood. Its dignified design is primarily Colonial Revival with certain decorative elements-three-part windows, a low-slung shape, shingle siding upstairs and clapboard siding down-of the emerging Craftsman style.
The Woman's Club was instrumental in establishing a public library in Olympia. In 1896 the club began acquiring and lending out books, eventually turning over its 900-volume collection to the City in 1909. It was largely through the efforts of club member Janet Moore that Olympia received a grant from industrialist Andrew Carnegie to build its first real library building in 1914.
The clubhouse is listed on both the State of Washington and National Historic Registers, as well as on the Olympia Heritage Register.
For some great information on women's clubs link to the "Washington Women's History Consortium" Webpage, where they have several articles and also a podcast of a lecture by Dr. Karen Blair, noted authority on Women's Clubs nationally and in the Northwest.