The Woman's Club, 900 Poyntz, Manhattan, Riley County, KS

1993 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Entry

Significance: The Manhattan Chapter of the American Woman's League held its first meeting August 30, 1909 at the Riley County Courthouse. In its constitution the group stated that its purpose was to associate the woman of Manhattan in intellectual, cultural, and civic activities. The most immediate concern of the local group, and in fact the catalyst that led to organization of the chapter, was the donation of a completely furnished chapter house to be constructed on a lot provided by the local group. The club house was to be the gift of the E.G. Lewis Publishing Company. This donation was the basis of a business promotion of the Lewis Company which capitalized on widespread popular interest in organizations for women devoted to charitable causes. The company offered membership Woman's League. Local chapters were required to secure 50-75 members; each member was then to solicit subscriptions worth at least $52.00 for some of the publications offered by the Lewis Publishing Company.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N138

Survey number: HABS KS-68

Building/structure dates: 1911 Initial Construction

clubhouses law offices women fraternal organizations adaptive reuse law and legal affairs manhattan kan woman club poyntz manhattan riley riley county kansas american women league john w bottorff richard e burgess brian cary kam chin eg lewis publishing company hirsch helfensteller eric t helgoth historic american buildings survey department of architecture kansas state university robert c littrell amy m lowenstein rod smalligan eugene g wendt jerry yoder photo woman club building plans architectural diagrams library of congress

1911 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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