COUTERSY OF THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MATAWAN

The Woman’s Club of Matawan continues to assist the community

Helping residents with various projects has been the trademark of The Woman’s Club of Matawan for more than 100 years.

The Woman’s Club of Matawan is a non-profit organization and one of the 195 clubs who are members of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (NJSFWC) throughout the state. The club’s mission continues to be community service, according to the club’s House and Grounds Chairwoman Ann Quinn.

Quinn was the president of The Woman’s Club of Matawan for 13 years and was the NJSFWC state president from 2002 to 2004.

Quinn reviewed the history of the club.

“The call to form a federated woman’s club in Matawan was made by NJSFWC board member and Newark lawyer Beatrice Stern. On Oct. 9, 1915, Stern welcomed six ladies to her home on Morganville Road. A committee was appointed to prepare a constitution and bylaws, the object ‘to found and maintain an organized center of cooperation among the women of Matawan,’” Quinn said.

Quinn said at the Oct. 16, 1915, organization meeting, attended by 30 ladies, the bylaws were accepted and a nominating committee was appointed. The adjourned organization meeting continued at the home of Elizabeth Bruce, on Nov. 1, 1915, at which time the nominating committee reported. Florine Van Wickle was elected the first president and speakers were invited to give suggestions for improvements to the town.

“Motions to print a club yearbook at a cost of $10 per 100 and to join the state federation with 39 charter members were adopted on Nov. 8, 1915. The Woman’s Club was federated January of 1916. At the end of the first year, the club had a membership of 123 active members. Motto chosen was: ‘Love, Loyalty, Cooperation,’” Quinn said.

Members meet every first and third Monday during the months of September through May, excluding official holidays, at the clubhouse located at 199 Jackson St. in Matawan. The meeting is proceeded with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. with the meeting at 12.30 p.m., according to Quinn.

The club’s historic clubhouse was the lecture hall of the first Presbyterian church, which was built in 1876. Dinners, teas, special programs, theatre trips and rentals are the main source of income and maintenance for the house today, according to Quinn.

“In the summer of 2005, the meeting room was given a new, fresh look thanks to an Eagle Scout project and in 2006 as part of their Gold Award project, five Girl Scouts had the parking lot gravelled,” Quinn said. “Several community groups and many members have also donated items and money to help restore the building.”

The club’s national organization is the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), which was founded in 1890, according to Quinn. 

“The original founder was a pioneer newspaper woman, Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the name Jenny June. She was the first woman reporter employed by a metropolitan newspaper to write in the office on a daily basis and the first to serve as a regular correspondent for an out-of-town daily paper,” Quinn said.

Quinn said Croly formed the first Woman’s Club of note in New York City in 1868, when she and her fellow women reporters were denied admittance to the New York Press Club’s Dinner to honor Charles Dickens at the end of his second reading tour in the States, because they were women.
“[Croly’s] response to this sexist treatment was to found a club to unite women to reach their potential. Twenty-one years later she called for a celebratory convention of all women’s clubs known to exist. Sixty-one clubs sent delegates and letters were received from six other clubs,” Quinn said. “This meeting resulted in the formation of a federation of women’s clubs throughout the nation. The growth of membership and huge geographical area made practical work and assistance to clubs difficult so the idea of the state federation was born.”
With approximately 35 current members, Quinn said a resident can become a member by simply attending a meeting to see if they like the club. 
Quinn said from its inception, the club has a proud history.

During club President Florine Van Wickle’s term, from 1915-1917, the club reviewed school board and municipal ordinances, sponsored the first town Christmas tree lighting celebration, served the first of many lunches to visiting fire companies on Fireman’s Day and presented a resolution for a YMCA building, providing funds through father-and-son banquets, according to Quinn.
Throughout the club’s more than 100-year history, Quinn said the club has been credited with playing a prominent role in all campaigns for civic betterment.
The club’s contributions have included: starting the Public Health Association; sponsoring the Parents Teachers League; securing a school nurse and attendance officer; developing the library with a member serving as librarian; supporting the YMCA; sponsoring the first Girl Scout troop; purchasing items for the high school; procuring dental equipment for a dental clinic in the school; awarding scholarships; and bringing cultural programs to the borough, according to Quinn.  
The club also sponsored clean-up days, an annual flower mart, organized home decorating contests, sponsored window-decorating contests during Halloween and supplied food baskets for the needy, Quinn said.
“As leaders in the park movement in Matawan, members helped create a Memorial Park [by] planting weeping willow, Japanese cherry and black walnut trees, among others. They donated a granite bench and placed a sundial in memory of Elizabeth Clark, the only woman from Matawan to serve overseas in World War I,” Quinn said. “The club also built the steps and landing at the foot of Park Avenue on Lake Matawan, as well as planting shrubs and dogwoods in Terhune Park to honor club members.”

The club’s projects today includes: sponsoring a “Giving Tree” in the library for books for the homeless; assisting clients at 180 Turning Lives Around; supporting veterans at the Menlo Park facility; organizing food and clothing drives for the needy; and providing the “Girl of the Year” award, which is presented annually to a high school senior who has shown significant improvement in her grades and who volunteers, according to Quinn.

Quinn said residents can help support the club, “…by supporting our fundraisers [and] helping us collect items for the food bank, shelters, homeless, veterans, etc.”

For more information about The Woman’s Club of Matawan, visit www.njsfwc.org/clubs-view.php?id=Matawan.

Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].