Woman's Club of Muncie records

The Woman’s Club of Muncie, Indiana, was founded in 1876, the second Woman’s Club to be founded in Indiana. The Club was “an association for mutual improvement” and its object was “the advancement of woman in every direction pertaining to her intellectual, moral and physical good.” Among its 36 charter members was Ida Husted Harper, who would become a nationally known writer and suffragist. Club members were active in founding the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs (1889) and the Indiana Federation of Clubs (1900). The Club met every two weeks and developed programs centered on reading, recitations, charades, music, and general topics. By the 1890s the Club supported a variety of projects for “community betterment.” For a limited time the club hired teachers to hold classes on such subjects as German, Current Events, and Physical Culture. These classes were open to the public for $1.00 dollar for 10 lessons or fifteen cents for an individual class. The Woman’s Club also started to entertain other clubs in the 1920s. By the 1940s the Club had more than 200 members and met in a variety of departments. The Club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1976 and continues to meet.