Plumb, Alice

Alice Plumb was a Brooklyn resident who was both a member and officer of various Brooklyn-based women's societies and clubs. She served as treasurer of the Woman's Missionary Society of the First Reformed Church for a period of time including the years 1932 and 1944 to 1947. Plumb joined the Ex-Presidents' Club in 1947, having previously served as president of the Prospect Club. She served the Ex-Presidents' Club as executive chairman from 1956 to 1958 and was also on the executive board, as well as the hospitality committee, from 1965 to 1966. Plumb lived at 11 Polhemus Place located in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The Woman's Missionary Society of the First Reformed Church was organized in March of 1892. The First Reformed Church, now known as Old First Reformed Church, traces its roots in Brooklyn back to 1654. Its earliest services were conducted outdoors and later in a barn. The church is still in existence today and is located at 729 Carroll Street and Seventh Avenue in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Old First Reformed Church is a member of the Reformed Church in America. Prior to 1867, this denomination, the Reformed Church in America, was known by the name "The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in North America." As a result, the church was also referred to as The First Dutch Reformed Church or The Dutch Reformed Church. During the first half of the 20th century, the Woman's Missionary Society of the First Reformed Church was engaged in a variety of charitable activities, including support to a Hindu Girls School in India and "two beds in the Mason Memorial Hospital at Bahrain, Arabia."

The Ex-Presidents' Club was founded in 1910 and membership was limited to ex-presidents of the following Brooklyn organizations: women's literary clubs, women's American patriotic societies, Adelphi College alumnae, Packer Institute alumnae, and the Brooklyn Heights Seminary Club. The Ex-Presidents' Club was a socio-political forum for women of equivalent social rank, dedicated to "the conservation of friendship among the members and the presentation and discussion of vital topics of current interest." Proposed discussion topics spanned a range of subjects, including questions such as "Is marriage with the rearing of offspring a duty which the individual owes the state?"

The Prospect Club was a women's social club founded in 1897. Its annual report for March 14, 1905 notes that the club "…was founded as a study club, as a club for self-culture, self development, and to help each member to become more fully individualized." From 1907 to 1909, the Prospect Club made financial contributions to an organization called the Probation Officer Committee, which was composed of delegates from this and other women's clubs. The Probation Officer Committee successfully advocated securing "legislation authorizing magistrates to appoint women probation officers, their salaries to be paid by the city."

The Prospect Club in 1912 evinced its interest in urban social concerns as demonstrated by its choice of speakers for the club's Founder's Day Luncheon on May 7, 1912. One lecture was given by Judge Lewis L. Fawcett and was titled "Crime, its Causes and Cures." The other speaker that day was Mr. Don C. Seitz, who spoke on "A Better City." In 1938, Mrs. George Brewster Bretz compiled a brief pamphlet, A History of the Prospect Club . The Prospect Club disbanded in 1960.

From the guide to the Alice Plumb papers, 1892-1968, (Brooklyn Historical Society)