THE ENDURING LEGACY OF THE WOMEN OF MIDDLETOWN Writer / Noelle Gulden Photography Provided
Driving up to the Middletown Woman’s Club feels like stepping back in time. Surrounded by big-name businesses like Dairy Queen, AutoZone and Stock Yards Bank & Trust, the quaint little building at 11719 Shelbyville Road would stick out like a sore thumb if it weren’t so easy to miss.
minds and communities by meeting regularly in order to learn about the great ideas of the past and contemporary urban problems together.” What started as two clubs in the late 1860s quickly grew into a national movement, and “in the years between the 1870s and 1920s, women’s clubs became the major vehicle by which American women could exercise their developing talents to shape the world beyond their homes.”
But it’s not only the club’s appearance that makes it seem outdated — its very existence feels anachronistic, better suited for a Membership in women’s clubs continued bygone era. to rise until 1926. As opportunities for women in the public sphere increased The first women’s clubs were established in throughout the twentieth century, the 1868 in New York and Boston. According need for women’s clubs decreased. to a brief history of women’s clubs on Despite this fact, “hundreds of clubs the National Women’s History Museum continued to function in this country into website, at that time, “political activism, modern times, providing members with civic reform, and community involvement regular meetings in order to network, were regarded as outside the realm of biglearn about social issues, identify civic hearted mothers and wives who should problems, and devise solutions through focus on loving their families and providing volunteer power.” a good example of moral behavior.” Women’s clubs directly challenged these norms, inviting women to develop “their
The Middletown Woman’s Club was established more than a decade after the end of the golden era of the women’s club
movement, in the wake of the Ohio River flood of 1937. The women of Middletown had come together to assist with flood relief for displaced Louisvillians who had been forced to flee the city. Once the crisis was over, the women decided to remain together and form a club. Thirtyfour charter members gathered for their first meeting at the home of Mrs. Joe Thormahlem on April 9, 1937. Once the club had been established, the women turned their attention to building a clubhouse. The land for the clubhouse was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Luther Wetherby and Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Bliss in July 1938. The building was funded in large part by a Works Progress Administration labor grant totaling $8,500. The club was responsible for contributing $3,000 for materials for the building. The women held many events in order to raise funds: bingo and bridge parties, luncheons selling chances on a ham, silver teas, donut sales, dinners, barbecues, dances, and a carnival. They collected dimes outside of the bank and rented dishes and silverware at ten cents a piece.
6 / MIDDLETOWN MAGAZINE / NOVEMBER 2020 / atMiddletown.com
