Woman's Club of Fort Worth

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it its due. Now, Fort Worth has always been a city that knows how to get things done, but even by Texas standards, what happened in 1923 was something worth marking down. See, you had eleven separate social and study groups, some of them going all the way back before the turn of the century, and somebody finally said: enough of all this going it alone.

Let's build something bigger. That somebody was Miss Anna Shelton. She led the unification drive, pulled all eleven of those groups together, and when the dust settled, the Woman's Club of Fort Worth was born.

And naturally, Miss Anna Shelton became its first President. Fitting. Now, every organization's got to start somewhere, and this one started in a house (a house donated by Etta O.

Newby, Mrs. William G. Newby, who opened that door and said, come on in, this is where we begin).

The charter members held their first meetings right there. But here's the thing about an organization built on that kind of momentum: it doesn't stay in one house for long. The club grew.

It acquired other buildings along the way. And it kept right on working: civic activities, charitable work, educational programs. They even built up a Texana library collection, preserving the history of this state under one roof.

By 1975, membership had reached about three thousand strong. Eleven little groups, one unifying vision, and a woman named Anna Shelton with the drive to make it happen. Fort Worth's been the better for it ever since.

What the marker says

Women from eleven social and study groups, some formed before 1900, joined in 1923 to create the Woman's Club of Fort Worth. Miss Anna Shelton, who led the unification drive, served as the first President of the club. The charter members first met in a house donated by Etta O. (Mrs. William G.) Newby. As the club grew, it acquired other buildings. The organization performs many civic, charitable, and educational activities and maintains a Texana library collection. Membership in 1975 totaled about 3000.