Chicago Woman's Club
[1] The group was primarily made up of wealthy and middle-class white women, with physicians, lawyers and university professors playing "prominent roles.
[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The Chicago Woman's Club was responsible for creating the first Protective Agency in the United States that dealt with assault and rape of women.
[12] 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.
"[17] The Chicago Woman's Club organized itself into six main committees: Reform, Philanthropy, Home, Education, Art and literature and Philosophy and science.
[23] 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.
[39] In 1901, the club faced a difficult time when an anonymous letter was sent which accused member, Mrs. Robert Farson, of "financial dishonesty.
"[41] The discovery committee later decided that the letter writer was Alice Bradford Wiles,[42] who both disputed the accusation and threatened to sue the club for "slander and damages.
[44] Starting in January 1896, some club members held monthly meetings to study laws that affected or were about women and children.
[45] The Chicago Woman's Club became involved in the Cook County Insane Hospital, where they supported Delia Howe become the assistant physician.
[54] The Chicago Women's Club was also involved with asking for a general hospital to treat those with "infectious diseases.
[65] Also in 1905, the club petitioned Illinois state about a proposed amendment to protect children under the crimes act.
[67] 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.
[11] In 1929, the Chicago Woman's Club, along with other organizations funded a study of "behavior problems of delinquent boys.
"[68] In 1915, Rachelle Yarros convinced the Chicago Woman's Club to create a birth control committee.
[70] The discussion of contraceptives was controversial,[71] 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.
[74] The league opened various clinics in Chicago in the 1920s, despite laws against allowing information about birth control in the city.
[76] 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.
Early on, the club petitioned Mayor Roche to appoint women to vacancies in the Board of Education in Chicago in 1887.
[85] Club member, Lucy Flower, lobbied successfully for Illinois to have a compulsory education law.
[90] In 1906, members of the club taught the visually impaired in their homes, teaching Braille, shorthand, typewriting and weaving.
[91] The work had grown so much, that additional funds were needed and a proposed bill was introduced to provide it to the teachers.
"[100] Vocational classes for interested students, which included scholarships, were started by the Chicago Woman's Club.
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.
[111] 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.
[113][114] The club also worked with the Women's Trade Union and helped boycott factories where conditions for workers were poor.
[115] 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.
[111] Novelist and preacher, Celia Parker Woolley,[118] reformer Lucy Flower,[119] Lydia Avery Coonley,[120] and Julia Holmes Smith,[121] also served as presidents.
