WCC has had an impressive history, and its future is full of possibilities.
Founded back in 1915...
The Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati has been called one of the most influential organizations in the city. Established during an historic time when courageous public-spirited women were uniting in their fight to secure the right to vote, women sought out meeting spaces where their voices could be heard and where they could find support as they worked together to shape change in the city. In the early years of its formation, City Club organized itself to mirror the committees of City Council. WCC committees served as “watch dogs” for council committee and held them accountable. To report their findings, the club issued a Report Card for City Government, published in the Cincinnati Post. Over the years, the club became involved in charter reform and restructuring election methods for city and county government to ensure better representation.
In the early twentieth century...
WCC forums on city planning led to the first City Planning Department in the United States. WCC advocated for support for social work and human services in the city and county. WCC hosted weekly forums to raise public awareness about the need to target housing for low-income women. They advocated for women in building and property management trades. WCC’s work in city planning led to the development of housing projects to replace “shanties” and ”blight.” Members hosted a domestic violence prevention luncheon with the Rape Crisis & Abuse Center and the YWCA. WCC was a pioneer in race relations during the 1940s when Cincinnati (“a northern city with a southern exposure”) remained racially segregated even though legal restrictions had been lifted 30 years earlier.
Throughout the century...
WCC advocated for minorities, children, families, low-income women, and other victims of social and economic injustice. Fostering civic reform and social justice, inclusiveness and diversity, WCC worked hard to promote peace and harmony among the diverse cultures that make up our neighborhoods. We sought to empower those who are most vulnerable and facilitate productive dialogue between the socio-economic sectors of our community. Boosting the status of women provided a central focus of civic action. We were committed to providing fair and affordable housing, improving our schools, securing safety in the streets, enhancing the health and sustainability of the urban environment, and supporting the life of the arts.
As Andrea Kornbluh wrote in Lighting the Way, her history of WCC 1915-1965, "... as in so many of its civic concerns, the Woman's City Club based its program on its vision of a better world, rather than on the contemporary status quo." (p. 71)
In the twenty first century and today...
We remain dedicated to the vision and commitment of our first members over a hundred years
L-R Back Row S. Gideonse, A. Schneider, B. Myers, C. Donnelly, J. Buening, N. Walters, M. Davis, H. Reines, K. Smith, S. Noonan, Front Row L-R J.Anderson, M. Wells, and national speaker Martha Raddatz
ago. Through our educational programs, leadership workshops, annual national speaker forums, city council monitoring, and town hall meetings, we continue to see our role in the city as a catalyst for community participation and connection. The timeline below illustrates WCC’s dedication and commitment to shaping change in our region for more than a century.
To learn more about our history and accomplishments, consider consulting histories WCC commissioned that document the century of its service. Both are available in the public library.
Andrea Tuttle Kornbluh, 1986. Lighting the Way: The Woman’s City Club of Cincinnati, 1915-1965, Young & Klein, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rachel E. Powell, 2015. Lighting the Fire, Leading the Way: Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati 1965-2015, Woman's City Club of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
WCC's archived newsletters ("The Bulletin") are also resources.
Timeline
Use the plus "+" to expand and show the events for the time period.
Supported the Civic Garden Center’s Urban Garden Project.
Participated in Civic Confederation led by Louise Spiegel.
Published A Hillside Protection Strategy for Greater Cincinnati
Major citizen engagement workshop funded by Seasongood Foundation in 1993, attended by 1,000.
Proposed Hamilton County home rule to increase in the number of County Commissioners (1994).
Circulated ballot petition to change top vote-getter method of election for Mayor in Council elections.
Collaborated with other civic organizations to for Citizens for Civic Renewal, to provide a coordinated response to issues facing the city.
Improved the status of women through educating the community about issues affecting women and empowering women through leadership training workshops open to all women in the community (1990-2010).
Worked in coalition to reform the city budget and the method of electing council, election financing, and election of the mayor.
Held first Annual Seasongood Luncheon (1995).
Established Seasongood Luncheon as an annual event with local female speaker.
Presented major public forum on “Gentrification and Integration: Partners for Purpose.”
Inaugurated annual Agnes Seasongood Education Awards Program (2001) for graduating high school women.
Helped establish Study Circles in response to civil unrest (2001).
Joined Mayor’s Community Action Commission in response to the unrest.
Led a Mill Creek cleanup campaign in 2002.
Led a collaboration to present an ongoing series of monthly community forums – Changing Co2urce – 2005-2019) on environmental issues at St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church for concerned citizens to exchange ideas, embrace worries about the global crisis of climate change, and to create locally more resilient, sustainable, and equitable communities
Through educational forums and other activities, supported the implementation of the Collaborative Agreement as Cincinnati’s best chance to engage the community in mending racial relations and reducing crime.
Formed Action Groups for greater impact in 2005: Status of Women; Environmental Education; Collaborative Agreement Action Group (CAAG).
Facilitated adoption of LEED/Green schools standards in 2007 by Cincinnati Public Schools and Ohio School Facilities Commission to improve academic performance and increase ecological awareness.
Began kindergarten tutoring program at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy, with volunteers at Rothenberg and Winton Hills Academy (where program was ongoing), using the Making Sense of Language Arts curriculum developed by Linda Wihl.
Instrumental in Cincinnati Public Schools’ adoption of LEED design in its new buildings (2005) to improve academic performance and increase ecological awareness.
Updated club mission and vision statements, our impacts and call to action (2005).
Initiated Rookwood Group in 2005, a collaboration of civic organizations, started by former WCC president, Ruth Cronenberg that presented major forum, such as a debate between County Commissioners David Pepper and Pat DeWine on a county sales tax to build a new jail with increase rehabilitation services.
Initiated In-Home Conversations for members (2008).
Continued to contribute to public education and discourse by presenting National Speaker forums: highlights include author Naomi Tutu, American foreign policy expert Robin Wright, historian Isabel Wilkerson, ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz, and author Helen Thorpe.
Held first annual Feist-Tea event to honor our “feisty” members (2010).
Held series of programs on the themes, “Building Community: Addressing Disparities” and “Building Just and Sustainable Communities.”
Supported defeat of Senate Bill 5, anti-union legislation in 2011 after holding a town hall panel representing supporters and opponents.
Joined support for moratorium/ban on fracking waste injection wells in the City (2012).
Initiated “City Conversations,” a regular interactive gathering for members and friends.
Initiated Act One Joint Junior Membership program with League of Women Voters (2013).
Began Woman’s City Club bi-monthly book club.
Held several forums on criminal justice issues.
Held a series of educational programs on issues related to immigrants and refugees.
Organized first annual Women’s Economic, Mental, and Physical Health Expo in 2014.
Endorsed council resolution formulated in part by WCC members to strengthen the culture of citizen engagement (2014).
100th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: Held Centennial Gala Dinner at the historic Netherland Hotel Hall of Mirrors, March 6, 2015.Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati celebrated its 100th birthday in March 2015 with a gala dinner and entertainment. Click this Centennial Celebration Video link to share in the festivities. Click here to join WCC!
Published an update of WCC history 1966-2015 by Rachel Powell: Lighting the Fire, Leading the Way: Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati, 1965-2015.
Published Stirring the Pot, in the Kitchen & the Community for 100 Years, a Centennial cookbook with Club members’ recipes, include selections from our 1917 and 1952 cookbooks.
Inaugurated a new initiative – Thriving Cincinnati– to address inequity, injustice, and exclusion — issues that negatively impact all sectors of our community– with the goal of moving Greater Cincinnati from surviving to thriving.
Educated the public about the importance of early childhood education and worked to pass the levy to subsidize low-income children to attend high quality preschool program in Cincinnati, to increase the number of such programs, and to pay teachers a living wage.
Sponsored a panel of experts and practitioners working on addressing childhood trauma
Cosponsored a public forum on a state constitutional amendment to reduce penalties for low-level drug possession and use (2018).
Endorsed city policy recommendation to ban the sale of single-use plastic bags as a measure to reduce plastic pollution.
Cosponsored programs on finding balance in neighborhood development.
Commissioned the first named statue of a woman, civil rights icon Marian Spencer, in Smale Park. Tom Tsuchiya and Gina Erardi are the sculptors (2018) installed in June 2021.
In August 2019, the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati (MARCC ), the League of Women Voters (LWVCA), and Woman’s City Club piloted its first Hamilton County Court Watch
Woman’s City Club established the Second Century Endowment Fund. Begun with the appreciated proceeds of an historic gift of $30,000, originally referred to as the Seasongood Fund, this fund is intended to sustain WCC for its next one hundred years.
Under the leadership of Alice Schneider, WCC raised funds to create a statue of civil rights icon Marian Spencer in Smale Park, the first statue of a named women in Cincinnati. It was dedicated on June 27, 2020.
Nearly 70 people attended the Tenth Annual Feist-Tea on December 8, 2019. Held once again at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center Lindner Annex. We honored four feisty WCC members: Mary Asbury, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati; Ethel Guttenberg, advocate for sensible gun laws; Arzell Nelson, former Executive Director of the Cincinnati Human Relations Council; and Future Vincent-Hicks,
2020-21: Woman’s City Club responded to the Coronavirus pandemic with verve and started holding its meetings and events via Zoom within a few months of lockdown..
Because of the pandemic Woman’s City Club postponed the 2020 National Speaker Forum featuring award-winning and best-selling author Denise Keirnan. It is taking place via Zoom on May 18, 2021.
The 2020 Seasongood Luncheon and Education Awards was scheduled for May 16, 2020, cancelled because of pandemic, will take place virtually June 3, 2021.
2020: WCC start a Social Justice Action Group, incorporating the Thriving Cincinnati Project.
2020-2021: WCC held a series of forums on criminal justice: reform of pretrial bail, the Collaborative Agreement refresh, recommendations of the Ohio Justice and Peace Center for reform, perspectives of Hamilton County’s polices leadership, and a conversation with Gabe Davis, Executive Director of the Citizens Complain Authority.
2020: WCC participated in the Cincinnati Voter Collaborative to promote voting in the November 2020 elections in a safe manner.
2021: WCC contributed donations made for its in-person tutoring program featuring the Making Sense of Language Arts curriculum (in abeyance because of the epidemic) to its digitalization.
2021: The Program Committee collaborated with multiple organizations to present a forum with candidates for Cincinnati Mayor, over 200 viewers..
2021: The Program Committee held two programs on the lack of affordable housing, a pressing issue facing the city and county.
2021: The Board demonstrated civic leadership by endorsing Issue 7, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) to improve transportation in our city and county; the 2000 levy for the Cincinnati Public Schools; criminal justice reform recommendations put forward by Ohio Justice and Peace Center; the demands of the Fair Sewer Rates Coalition to institute equity and fairness in the sewer rate structure; federal legislation to tackle plastic pollution.
Board also issued statements supporting tax abatement reform, the effort of Cincinnati City Council to assess and consider the impacts of the Cincinnati Police Gun Range on people and property in Lincoln Heights, Evendale, and Woodlawn, and the Hamilton County Commissioners’ declaration of racism as a public health crisis.