St. Petersburg Woman’s Club at 110 Remembering Year One

Saint Petersburg Woman’s Club - Saint Petersburg, Florida. 1951 (circa). State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

By Tina Stewart Brakebill

As St. Pete moved into the 1910s, local women proved they could be a force for change. The elite white women of the Women’s Town Improvement Society (WTIA), in particular, were vital in a variety of reform efforts, including a push for temperance and the establishment of a variety of “city beautification” statutes. When Mrs. Benjamin (Nancy) Greene relocated from Evanston, Illinois, however, she found the WTIA to be an insufficient outlet for her “wide intellectual and cultural interests.” She soon met other women seeking additional intellectual entertainment and civic engagement. Together, 14 charter members formed the St. Petersburg Woman’s Club in February 1913. With Greene as president, the new club joined a growing wave of women’s organizations that dated back to the mid-19th century.

The Club Movement

Initially, women’s organizations (or clubs, as they were commonly called) primarily pursued literary endeavors, self-improvement, or social opportunities. As membership grew, so did their focus. By the early 20th century, these clubs increasingly used their numbers to influence laws and policies affecting women and children, especially in matters of health and education. In 1890, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) united these individual clubs under a national umbrella as a way to strengthen their efforts to achieve common goals. GFWC’s affiliate clubs nearly always excluded non-white women. In 1896, Black women organized the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWC) to provide unified strength as they pursued their goals. Each of these national organizations offered ways to wield significant influence in a time when women still had no direct access to political power. The GFWC, in particular, was difficult to ignore. By 1914 its membership topped 2 million.

Season One: February – April 1913

From its first days, the St. Petersburg Woman’s Club (SPWC) was clear in its mission. “The object of the club is to instruct, to entertain and to follow along the lines prescribed by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. …” Meeting every Thursday afternoon, SPWC members socialized, shared refreshments, and enjoyed musical performances before engaging in a variety of programs “along the lines prescribed by the GFWC.” Like other GFWC-affiliated clubs, the SPWC focused on legislation and policies they saw as protecting the health and welfare of women and children, protecting and beautifying the natural world, and protecting and empowering the

Raleigh and Nancy Greene with Wm. Housner (r) at the Florida Exhibit, NY World’s Fair, 1964. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History

working classes (especially working women). SPWC’s weekly “instructions” addressed topics falling under that wide umbrella. For example, in early March, Dr. Charles Faber discussed Oklahoma Senator Robert Latham Owen Jr.’s proposed bill to establish a United States department of health. The next week, Mrs. Franklin W. (Carolyn) Johnson presented “How Immigration is Affecting our Civilization.” April’s topics included child labor and the Pope’s attitude regarding “the modernist movement.” In those first three months, the members also established a constitution, by-laws, and agreed on the importance of joining the Florida Federation of Woman’s Clubs (FFWC), which by this point had become the state’s most powerful women-led organization. By the end of their first short season, they had grown to 23 members and stood ready to begin the 1913-1914 season in full force.

Season Two: November 1913 - April 1914

When the SPWC met in November to begin the 1913-1914 season, club president Nancy Greene delivered a full report regarding her attendance at the recent FFWC’s Annual Meeting in Orlando. As it grew in numbers and influence, the FFWC produced progress reports and legislative recommendations on topics ranging from bird conservation to education, civil service, and health reforms. Women’s voting rights also were a priority, and the state’s Equal Suffrage association was organized “in the tearoom at the [November, 1913 annual] meeting of the FFWC.” The SPWC’s focus correlated with the FFWC. During the 1913-1914 season, both visiting speakers and club members spoke on topics pertaining to “Health in Home, City, and State,” including food-storage safety, vaccinations, and the dangers of “The Fly Family.” The club also championed efforts to fund and establish a “visiting nurse” to serve the health needs of the local Black community denied care at segregated white-only facilities. Local Audubon Society founder Katherine Tippetts spoke on the Migratory Bird Act she championed. Noted Florida writer Minnie Moore-Wilson presented “A Plea for the Seminoles.” Like the FFWC, Moore-Wilson advocated for a federally designated Seminole reservation in South Florida. Toward the statewide FFWC effort to provide books to the less fortunate, the SPWC established a donation-funded traveling library. Less-popular issues were also addressed, including support for “prohibition and right living” and “equal suffrage.” By the end of its second season, the club had celebrated its first anniversary, grown to 75 members, and once again stood ready to serve the community. One hundred and ten years after its founding, the St. Petersburg Woman’s Club is still here. Its influence and membership fluctuated over the decades, but the club proudly remains a “gathering place for women to chat, giggle and provide hands-on service in the community.”

Sources available on request.