McRae Club records and photographs

The McRae Club was organized March 2, 1894 by 14 women who met at the home of Mrs. John Bloor in Muncie, Indiana. The objectives of the club were both literary and social as the members sought self-improvement through the writing and presenting of papers on a wide variety of subjects. The McRae Club took its name from Mrs. Emma Montgomery McRae, a well-known Muncie educator, who personified to the members, the genteel qualities of a true lady.

Mrs. McRae was born at Loveland, Ohio, February 12, 1848. When she was five, her parents moved to Indiana. Mrs. McRae completed her education at Wooster College in Ohio, where she received a Master of Arts degree. Mrs. McRae served as principal of Muncie High School for six years, where she met and married the Superintendent of the Muncie Schools, Hamilton McRae. She eventually became professor of English literature at Purdue, serving also as Dean of Women for 26 years.

Club members held Mrs. McRae up as a model of intelligence and culture. They gave lengthy papers at each monthly meeting, usually five in an afternoon, followed by discussion. Once a year they gave an anniversary party and invited their husbands to join them. At various holidays, individual members entertained the group in their homes, seeking to outdo one another in the lavishness of their entertaining.

The organization also took pride in its civic contributions; assisting in the development of a free kindergarten, furnishing the Courthouse restroom and the manual training department in Muncie schools and distributing flower seeds to school children.