Houston Heights Woman's Club

The Houston Heights Woman's Club, located at 1846 Harvard Street in Houston, Texas, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1983. The Club provides meetings for women in the Houston Height's neighborhood to network and socialize. The club hosts events such as women's book club, arts and crafts meetings, and more. The clubs primary motto since the origin of the club is "Seek wisdom, and strive to do good."

Facade of the Houston Heights Woman's Club clubhouse, located on 1846 Harvard st.

History

The Houston Heights Woman’s Club was started in 1900 by the Women of the Houston Heights Community as well as by their original leader Mrs. C. R. Cummings . The first ever meeting of the club was on January 15th in 1905, in the home of Mrs. C. R. Cummings. The Original 16 women who held the first meeting of the club were inspired to start what would first be a literary club for woman in the neighborhood, by a trend of clubs that was sweeping the nation.

In the winter of 1905 the Club agreed to a constitution and set of by-laws. Part of the new agreement was to “aid and encourage charitable and educational interests of Houston Heights.” Throughout the history of the club some of the charitable acts included work during World War 1 in the Red Cross and creating a Heights Library at the Heights high school.

File:Houston Heights Woman's Historical Texas Landmark ,February 2016.jpeg

Sign put up by the Texas Historical Commission stating that the Houston Heights Woman's Club is a historical Texas landmark.

In 1911 the club had begun to branch out into activities other than literacy and would officially there afterward be called the Houston Heights Woman's Club. This branching out plus a growth in membership caused the club heads to recognize the need for a clubhouse.

In 1912 the Houston Heights Literary Club outgrew it’s original meeting place and moved to its new headquarters. These new headquarters are located at 1846 Harvard st., in the Houston Heights. The Women raised 1,500 dollars for the club house and payed the same amount for the grand piano inside. The members of the club call the headquarters the clubhouse and the Harvard location is still in use today.

President Name	Year	Notable Work
Mrs. C. R. Cummings	1900-Unk	First President of the Club. Started the club.
Kate McKinney	Unk- 1905	helped collect funds for a new clubhouse and wrote much about the club, as she was a historian.
Pearl Dexter	1905- Unk	Pushed the Club to create the Houston High school Library as well as raised funds for and helped purchase the Harvard st. clubhouse.
Mrs. A. B. Sheldon	during World War I	led the club through their plan to help the soldiers by creating bandages for them during World War I.
Mildred Grambling Dupuis	1951-1953	Recognized for winning the award of "Outstanding Pharmacist" in1938 as well being on of the first women in the state of Texas to become a pharmacist.
Mrs. O. F. Carroll	Unk	pushed the club to remember their original purpose of literature, and helped collect money and books for the new Houston Public Library on Heights Boulevard.
Shea Hill	Unk- Present	Work on the School uniform drive.

Membership

The anual fee for being a member of the club is one-hundred dollars in cash/check or online payment for one-hundred and three dollars. There is no requirement to be women or a member of the Heights community, but the majority of the members are female and members of the community and many events and activities are aimed towards women of the community.

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Achievements

Achievement	Year	Description
Work With the Red Cross	World War I	The HHWC worked with the Red Cross to help during the World War I by taking in soldiers and creating bandages to send to the troops
Creation of The Houston Heights High Reagan School Library	1905	This Achievement helped to raise funds and build the new library for the community.
Donation to the Houston Public Library on Heights Boulevard	1926	The women of the club raised money and books for the new library that had opened in the Heights neighborhood.
Assistance in the Creation of the Houston Public Library outdoor reading area	1939
Assistance to the Red Cross	World War II (1943- 1944)	A giant group of 2,669 people (members and non-members alike) worked tirelessly to provide 1,176,699 surgical bandages to the wounded soldiers during the second World War.
Created the Women's Studies Library Initiative	Present	The campaign is worked on in multiple libraries throughout the Heights and includes a collection of books of Women's studies.
Helped Regan High School Prom	2012	The HHWC helped Regan high school students in need. Many of the Kids could not afford what they needed to go to their Senior prom, the HHWC helped out by collecting and giving out dresses, tuxedos, accessories, and more.
School Uniform Drive	Present	Schools such as Hogg Middle School, Browning Elementary, Hamilton Middle School, Reagan High School, Field Elementary, Love Elementary, Harvard Elementary, Helms Elementary are being asked to help bring in new or slightly worn uniforms, these collections will benefit the needy students at the participating Heights schools.
Star of Hope Toiletry Bags	Present	The women in the Houston Heights Woman's Club have been creating toiletry bags containing things like toothpaste, soap, etc. All the toiletry bags created by the women of the club go to the impoverished woman and the Houston Star of Hope Organization.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Harris County, Texas