Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll let the marker do the talkin'. The Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur, sixteen clubs strong, each one representing a different slice of interests and public service, all pulling together for the betterment of the community. That's a lot of horsepower in one harness.

But every big outfit starts somewhere small, and this one started with nine women. Nine charter members, gathered in February of 1898 at the home of Mrs. W.

D. Park. They called themselves the Women's Self-Improvement Club, and at the start it was a literary club, plain and simple.

Books, ideas, conversation. Then, as tends to happen with determined women, the mission grew. Social services got added to the mix.

By 1910, members with a love of music had started the Symphony Club. The very next year, the Reading Club came along and joined up with the Symphony Club to form what they called a department club. Then 1914 brought two more through the door, the Young Women's Culture Club and the Women's Self-Improvement Club, folding into the organization together.

For a good long while, these women met in homes. Parlors and sitting rooms, passed plates, passed ideas. That lasted until 1915, when the club moved into the Elks' Theater building.

Now here's where the story takes a turn. In 1923, a fire destroyed the clubrooms and all the furnishings inside. Everything gone.

But you don't build something from nine people into a real federation without having some grit in you. The members didn't scatter. They started planning.

A separate clubhouse, their own building, right here at this very site. And they got it done, completed the following year. The organization was renamed in 1977, and the Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur has since made what the marker calls significant contributions to the city, through civic activities, scholarships, and historic preservation.

Nine women in a parlor in 1898. Sixteen clubs and a clubhouse of their own. That's not a footnote in Port Arthur history.

That is the story.

What the marker says

The Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur is a league of sixteen individual clubs which represent a variety of interests and public service projects. Together, through the organization, they combine their efforts for the betterment of the community. The Federation developed from the Women's Self-improvement Club which was organized with nine charter members in February 1898 at the home of Mrs. W. D. Park. It was originally a literary club, but social services were soon added. In 1910 members interested in music started the Symphony Club. The following year they were joined by the Reading Club in the formation of a department club. In 1914 the Young Women's Culture Club and the Women's Self-Improvement Club joined the organization. Meetings were held in homes until 1915 when the club moved to the Elks' Theater building. After a 1923 fire destroyed clubrooms and furnishings, members began planning for a separate clubhouse at this site, which was completed the following year. Renamed in 1977, the Federated Women's Clubs of Port Arthur has made significant contributions to the city through sponsorship of such programs as civic activities, scholarships, and historic preservation.