The History of Our Club
In May, 1923, members of local sewing circles formed The Social Betterment Club at Rose Hill, Center Cross, VA, the ancestral home of the Hundley Family. The following year, the club joined the largest women's organization in the world, the General Federation of Women's Clubs chartered in Washington, D.C. The club was renamed The Woman's Club of Essex County and opened its membership to all women in the county. On May 16, 2013, WCEC celebrated it's 90th Anniversary of the founding of the Social Betterment Club at Rose Hill and will observe its long affiliation with the GFWC on April 24, 2014.
The Woman's Club has a long and distinguished record of service in Essex County. In 1927, with permission from the Board Of Supervisors and through the generosity of Mrs. A.I. DuPont and Mrs. Elsie Wright Bowley, it began restoration of the abandoned building located on the courthouse green which had been built in 1808 for the Essex County Clerk's Office. This building is still lovingly maintained by the club and is its home as well as the home of the Essex Junior Woman's Club which was established in 1949.
The club also established the first library in Essex County in 1930 and in 1938 opened the library in its clubhouse to the public with a full-time librarian. The organization's interest in the library has continued throughout its existence and when the School Board deeded a kindergarten building to Essex county to be used as a public library, the club raised $10,000 to convert the kindergarten building into a library. Members of the club have donated countless hours to the library, have served as directors and one member served as co-chair of the fundraising campaign which raised over a million dollars to construct the present library facility.
During World War II, club members made bandages, participated in bond drives, assisted in rationing and opened the clubhouse as a canteen and open house for US Service Personnel so that classmates and friends could meet, visit and pass messages.
The club has also supported the hospital since its founding and in the 1960s raised $10,000 to furnish a day room and landscaping for the new Extended Care Facility. Members volunteer many hours a year at the hospital.
The Woman's Club has a long and distinguished record of service in Essex County. In 1927, with permission from the Board Of Supervisors and through the generosity of Mrs. A.I. DuPont and Mrs. Elsie Wright Bowley, it began restoration of the abandoned building located on the courthouse green which had been built in 1808 for the Essex County Clerk's Office. This building is still lovingly maintained by the club and is its home as well as the home of the Essex Junior Woman's Club which was established in 1949.
The club also established the first library in Essex County in 1930 and in 1938 opened the library in its clubhouse to the public with a full-time librarian. The organization's interest in the library has continued throughout its existence and when the School Board deeded a kindergarten building to Essex county to be used as a public library, the club raised $10,000 to convert the kindergarten building into a library. Members of the club have donated countless hours to the library, have served as directors and one member served as co-chair of the fundraising campaign which raised over a million dollars to construct the present library facility.
During World War II, club members made bandages, participated in bond drives, assisted in rationing and opened the clubhouse as a canteen and open house for US Service Personnel so that classmates and friends could meet, visit and pass messages.
The club has also supported the hospital since its founding and in the 1960s raised $10,000 to furnish a day room and landscaping for the new Extended Care Facility. Members volunteer many hours a year at the hospital.
