The Women’s Twentieth Century Club of Eagle Rock aims to create spaces for women to come together and help their local community through public service, according to club historian Linda Allen.
Ela Ros Jones, president since 2018, said the women’s club is the heart of the Eagle Rock community.
“We feel that the founding ladies are keeping an eye on us, making sure, ‘Hey, you guys continue the work we started,’ and I think we’re doing that,” Jones said.
According to Allen, when the club was founded in 1903, the women’s suffrage movement was picking up steam, and women’s clubs began popping up all over the country.
“I heard the story that one of the ladies who really started the suffragette thing, she wanted to go to hear Charles Dickens back East,” Allen said. “And they would not allow her to go in — because she was a woman — and listen to him. So she got pissed and said, ‘Well, we’re going to start a women’s thing and have our own speakers,’ so they started building clubs.”
The Women’s Twentieth Century Club is holding a Pub Quiz 5 p.m. Feb. 22, according to Erica Person Werner, one of the club’s four vice presidents. Werner said the event is a fundraiser intended to make their clubhouse a more accessible space for the community.
“It’s a really beautiful thing to just be able to gather with a group of people who have a common sense of purpose about community service and multi-generational friendships,” Werner said.
Jones said the future of the women’s club relies on expanding membership, especially with younger women.
“I want to bring in younger women so they can make a difference,” Jones said. “Because at some point, we have to step down and the younger women come in, [and] I want these younger women to come with new bright ideas.”
Inside the foyer of the Women’s Twentieth Century Clubhouse is a sign that reads “Knowledge is Power,” which Jones said she believes is almost a motto for the Club.
“If we don’t have the knowledge, we seek out for it,” Jones said. “It makes the club stronger […] plus [it] brings in the community, bringing in everyone,” Jones said.
According to Allen, when Occidental’s new Eagle Rock campus was built in 1912, there was a proposal to make it an all-male school. The college never accepted the proposal; however, Allen said the women’s club positioned itself against the idea. Later, the club helped raise money for the Occidental amphitheater, Allen said.
According to the club’s website, they have established a scholarship fund to support female Eagle Rock High School students pursuing higher education. The website said the club also had a childcare center, which was open for 35 years before it closed in 2007.
According to Jones, the women’s club does many different things for the community, such as hosting fundraisers, helping families during the holidays, supporting the local Eagle Rock High School Key Club and hosting Red Cross blood drives.
“Last year, during the fires […] [some organizations] helped organize a food and supply drive for people who had lost their homes in the fire,” Werner said. “So, the clubhouse was just packed full of things that had been donated for the residents of Altadena.”
According to Werner, she was searching for a service-minded sisterhood when she moved back to California after the death of her parents and experiences of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Werner said the Women’s Twentieth Century Club was the perfect match.
“The world can feel really overwhelming, and it’s a really beautiful thing to just be able to gather with a group of people who have a common sense of purpose about community service and multi-generational friendships,” Werner said.
Contact Emma Williams at ewilliams4@oxy.edu
