page_title: Chicago Woman's Club
section_title: Notable members
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago Woman's Club / Notable members
caption_attribution_description: English: Presidents of the Chicago Woman's Club.
context_page_description: The Chicago Woman's Club was formed in 1876 by women in Chicago who were interested in "self and social improvement." The club was notable for creating educational opportunities in the Chicago region and helped create the first juvenile court in the United States. The group was primarily made up of wealthy and middle-class white women, with physicians, lawyers and university professors playing "prominent roles." The club often worked towards social and educational reform in Chicago. It also hosted talks by prominent women, including artists and suffragists.
  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. The group was active in reform of the Cook County Insane Hospital and of other health reforms. They helped establish the first kindergartens and nursery schools in Chicago. Later, the club became involved with both the woman's suffrage movement and also with promoting birth control.
  The club met until 1999, when the group dissolved. Assets of the club went to support scholarships and other philanthropic endeavors.
context_section_description: Many notable women were members of the club. Physician, Sara Hackett Stevenson was president from 1892 to 1894. Ada Celeste Sweet was elected president in 1894. Novelist and preacher, Celia Parker Woolley, reformer Lucy Flower, Lydia Avery Coonley, and Julia Holmes Smith, also served as presidents. Many of the presidents of the Chicago Woman's Club had also been members of the Fortnightly Club.
  Jane Addams
  Anna Blount
  Louise DeKoven Bowen
  Myra Bradwell
  Lydia Avery Coonley
  Lucy Flower
  Ellen Martin Henrotin
  Julia Lathrop
  Catharine Waugh McCulloch
  Mary McDowell
  Bertha Palmer
  Elia Peattie
  Julia Holmes Smith
  Hanna G. Solomon
  Sara Hackett Stevenson
  Ada Celeste Sweet
  Alice Bradford Wiles
  Frances Willard
  Fannie Barrier Williams
  Celia Parker Woolley
  Rachelle Yarros
caption: Presidents of the Chicago Woman's Club.
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