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For more than a century, a gathering of women inside a Craftsman-style building at 149 Clinton St. has been doing quiet work for good. On Oct. 25, they celebrated their 114th anniversary with a bash at their 112-year-old clubhouse, itself an icon that is on the California Register of Historical Resources and National Register of Historic Places.
The Redwood City Woman's Club, founded on Sept. 16, 1909, is the first local organization that wasn't an auxiliary of a men's fraternal organization such as the Elks. Throughout its history, it has been a beacon for social change and betterment, working to help the community through volunteerism and empowering its members through action, mutual support and socialization.
The Club's name attests to the organization's underlying identity: Woman's Club rather than Women's Club. It is a place to be an individual, not someone's wife, not someone's mother or sister, Woman's Club President Hilary Paulson said.
"It was a place where they could go to be themselves," she said.
Today's Woman's Club hasn't strayed from its early mission. Just as its founders envisioned, it continues to bring together women from all walks of life who empower each other and actively serve their communities.
It had an auspicious beginning. When the Woman's Club was founded, Redwood City had a population of about 3,000. Three of the city's most prominent women formed the organization.
Katherine Cumberson, who was the primary force behind the Club, was deeply involved in the progressive movement of the early 1900s and was an active member of Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive Party; Aileen Finkler, whose husband was secretary of the California Supreme Court, was a member of the West Union (now Woodside) School District Board of Trustees in 1913; Mary Beeger was the president of the Beeger Tannery; Woman's Club historian Elaine Park said.
The women started the organization, in part, out of boredom. Cumberson and Finkler had relocated from San Francisco to Redwood City after the 1906 earthquake and were used to more active social lives. The Club was formed after the women published an article in the local Redwood City Democrat.
"Club life teaches us that there are many kinds of wealth – wealth of ideas, of knowledge, of sympathy, of readiness to be put in any place and to be used in any way for public good," they wrote, according to the Club's online history.
Park said the Club's early days had other vital contributors to Redwood City. In 1919, Lizzie Nash, who signed the Club's incorporation documents, was elected county clerk – the first woman in California to hold elected office. By this time, she had remarried and used the name Elizabeth Kneese. She was also the first woman in San Mateo County to register to vote.
In 1938, club member Dove Beeger, daughter-in-law of Mary Beeger, initiated and drove the process to build what became Sequoia Hospital in 1950, Park said.
From about 20 women, the Club grew to more than 300 members at one point. Today, the Woman's Club has more than 160 members.
"Since 2000, we have counted among our members current City Council Member Kaia Eakin; current Redwood City School District trustees Alisa MacAvoy and Janet Lawson; former Redwood City mayors Barbara Pierce and Diane Howard; former Council member Shelly Masur; former RCSD trustees Margaret Marshall and Hilary Paulson; and former Sequoia United High School District trustee Georgia Jack," Park said.
Members have served on the Historic Resources Advisory Committee, Planning Commission and Library Board, the San Mateo County Historical Association, the Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation, and the Redwood City Library Foundation," Park said.
Membership also grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when people were looking for a way to connect and stay active, Paulson said.
The Club engaged in many volunteer activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Members packed test kits for Stanford Hospital and provided food to the Boys and Girls Club. They did drive-up food distribution, popping the packages directly into peoples' trunks, she said.
Outside of COVID, they have helped with Thanksgiving food drives, given backpacks filled with school supplies to needy children, and provided blankets and books to new mothers through Peninsula Family Services.
However, their largest annual fundraiser involves buying as much as $8,000 in gift cards for foster youth. The cards are directed to high school students who are getting ready to age out of the foster care system. For many, it's their first chance to purchase new clothes, Paulson said.
She recalled purchasing a large quantity of the cards at a local Target store one year. The cashier asked why she was buying so many. When Paulson explained, the cashier started to cry, Paulson recalled.
"I got one of those cards," the young woman said.
"It helped make a difference," Paulson said.
At the clubhouse, the women gather for lectures, training and events. Member-initiated subgroups include bridge, fiber arts, cooking, book swap and wine and talk, Mahjongg, and a league of widows ready for outings and socializing, yoga and volunteering.
The clubhouse boasts an auditorium, stage, projection screen, kitchen, parlor with period furniture, and landscaped side and backyards. All of the rooms are used for gatherings and are available to the public to rent.
Paulson said there are no requirements to join, only a yearly membership fee.
As the Redwood City Woman's Club looks toward its 115th year, it plans a big push to be even more inclusive: a fully ADA-accessible ramp in front of the building that will replace a metal one currently in use, Paulson said.
