Civic Club of Philadelphia

The Civic Club of Philadelphia, organized in 1894, consisted of prominent Philadelphia women who sought to promote "by education and active cooperation a higher public spirit and better public order." Initially the Club was organized into four departments: Municipal Government, Education, Social Service, and Art, each of which operated somewhat autonomously and created its own committees or task forces. For example, the Education Department had committees on public schools, free libraries, and free kindergartens and the Municipal Government Department included committees on sanitation, civil service reform, and police patrons. Despite its interest in social and political reform, the Club refused on several occassions to take part as "disfranchised citizens" in meetings of the Anti-Spoils League and the National Civil Service Reform Convention. By the 1920's, after the passage on the suffrage amendment, the Club structure changed, the Departments were abandoned, and the committees reduced in number and given new, more limited charges. In 1959, the membership voted the Club out of existence and transferred its assets to other civic organizations.