Women Creating Change Explained

Women's City Club of New York
Size:250
Abbreviation:WCC
Type:Non-Profit
Purpose:Civic advocacy, Good government
Headquarters:110 W. 40th Street, Suite 1002, New York, NY 10018
Region Served:New York metropolitan area (United States)
Leader Title:Chief Executive Officer
Leader Name:Carole J. Wacey
Website:WCCNY.org

Women Creating Change (formerly Women's City Club) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1915 by suffragettes in New York City. WCC is still active in the New York community.

History

WCC was started in 1915 and in September of that year, the club had more than 1,500 members.[1] The founders were suffragettes and were interested in social issues,[2] especially those relating to women and children. The City Club of New York was only open to men at the time.

Founders had a great purpose in mind: "to consider various political problems...and to offer practical methods by which women may initiate, support, or oppose municipal movements." WCC held its first officer elections on January 31, 1916.[3] By 1917, there were 1,800 members,[4] and in 1919, 3,100 members.[5] Early on, WCC met on the 18th floor of the Vanderbilt Hotel, where members discussed topics of interest to the woman's club movement.[6] In 1918, the organization moved to an address on Park Avenue.[7] Mary Garrett Hay was nominated for president of WCC in 1918 and helped organize it to become more civically effective.[8] In 1924, Eleanor Roosevelt joined WCC and was elected to its board of directors.

Members wasted no time in tackling complex problems. WCC was organized into special committees which included those on education, welfare, children, the justice system and health issues.[9] During World War I, WCC created a special war committee where they raised money for the war effort. WCC raised $5,000 for war aid.[10]

WCC successfully lobbied Columbia University to admit women to its law school in 1917.[11] In the 1930s, members campaigned for a citywide Department of Sanitation. In 1935, they were involved with charter revision of the county government.[12] WCC was also involved in discussing worker's issues, in the late 1930s, such as minimum wage and eight-hour days for domestic workers. WCC educated the public in order to allow women to serve on juries in the mid-1940s.

Timeline

1915–1919

WCC is founded in 1915. On August 3, The New York Tribune reported that a group of seven "public spirited women formed the initiatory committee, which has invited one hundred representative New York women to compose the organizing committee" of WCC. That same year, WCC incorporates, forms an Organization Committee of 100, and holds its first official meeting on January 31, 1916.

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. News: Activities of Women. 21 September 1915. The Daily Notes. 28 February 2017. Newspapers.com.
  2. News: Women's City Club Celebrates 100 Years of Activism at 2016 Civic Spirit Awards Dinner. 23 April 2016. Broadway World. 28 February 2017.
  3. News: Women's City Club to Open. 23 January 1916. The New York Times. 28 February 2017.
  4. News: Women Elect Pacifists. 23 March 1917. The New York Times. 28 February 2017. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Liquors for Women. 20 August 1919. Harford Courant. 1 March 2017. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: 'In Little Old New York'. 8 March 1916. The Mt Sterling Advocate. 28 February 2017. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: War Savings Society a Woman's City Club Adjunct in War Work. 29 June 1918. The Evening World. 6 April 2017. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Women's City Club May Come Into its Own. Simmons. Eleanor Booth. 17 February 1918. New York Herald. 6 April 2017. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: $10,000 Fund Asked. 29 June 1919. The Atlanta Constitution. 1 March 2017. Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Gets $5,000 for War Aid. 10 January 1918. The New York Times. 28 February 2017.
  11. News: The Women's City Club of New York is push-. 10 June 1917. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 28 February 2017.
  12. News: Annual Political Meeting. 29 October 1940. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 6 April 2017. Newspapers.com.
  13. Book: Caro, Robert. Robert Caro

    . The Power Broker. 976. Robert Caro. 1974. Knopf. 0-394-72024-5. 1631862.

  14. Web site: Women's City Club of New York 2015 Citywide Guide to Services and Resources. resourceguide.wccny.org. en. 2018-08-02.
  15. News: Forest Hills' Wacey has big plans for WCC-. 11 April 2019. Queens Chronicle. 30 November 2021.
  16. News: Increasing Women's Civic Engagement in New York. City-. 17 January 2021. Gotham Gazette. 30 November 2021.