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Congratulations to the Greensboro Woman’s Club as it celebrates its 100th anniversary of devoted service to Greensboro and Guilford County.

“There is no doubt that the city of Greensboro is a better place due to the efforts of GWC,” said Vanessa Lowder, chairwoman of the club’s centennial committee.

Thanks to historical records kept by longtime member Emma Ruth Barnes and research by Lowder, the club has a historical record of some of its accomplishments.

The GWC was founded in 1909 with the purpose of helping provide better schools and learning to Guilford County. One of the first projects was providing regular reading hours for children at the public library. This began a century of communitywide efforts to ensure that all residents have resources and opportunities for lifelong learning. The General Federation of Women’s Clubs of North Carolina is credited with establishing 53 percent of the libraries in the state.

During the 1930s the GWC and state federation worked hard on child welfare causes. They endorsed and promoted legislation that would require children ages 14 to 16 to complete the sixth grade before leaving school to work. They also worked to prohibit children younger than 16 from working in certain hazardous occupations and all-night work for minors.

The club also has a tradition of providing student scholarship awards to high school and college students, as well as teachers, nursing students and people at McIver Special Education School for challenged students.

GWC has also provided educational support for many years to Boys and Girls Homes in the state and to Samarcand Manor, a school for troubled girls that the state organization helped to establish.
From its inception, the club has been a strong force in bringing better health to the Greensboro community.

In 1914 the club pushed hard for more sanitary conditions in local grocery stores, and these efforts resulted in a new ordinance prohibiting street displays of produce and crates of live poultry.

In 1917, GWC helped establish the Greensboro chapter of the American Red Cross. This was very timely — the following year the Spanish flu swept across North Carolina, with 1,200 cases reported in Greensboro.

The war on cancer was an early challenge to the club. In 1939, GWC sponsored a public forum to educate citizens about early cancer detection. For decades, club members made dressings for cancer patients from discarded linens the club collected. In 1957, club members made 6,622 cancer dressings.

There were many opportunities to work with the Red Cross during World War II. Women sewed garments and assembled toiletry kits for enlisted men, worked as hostesses for the United Service Organizations and planted “victory gardens.”

In 1948, the United States experienced a polio epidemic, and Greensboro became a regional medical center for 16 counties. Club members volunteered time and money in support of a new convalescent hospital.

The GWC’s interest in health continues now with projects such as walks to fight breast cancer and support of Operation Smile, which provides surgery around the world for people with facial deformities. The club also assists Victory Junction and the Alzheimer’s Association.

In 1944, the GFWC promoted the “Buy a Bomber” campaign by which state federations were asked to sell war bonds. GWC members were each asked to sell $208 worth of bonds. GWC members were successful, and club members across America sold $154,459,132 worth of bonds, enough to purchase 431 bombers.

The GWC’s major historical preservation project has been the Weir-Jordan House at 223 N. Edgeworth St., where the club meets. This lovely antebellum house is one of a handful of surviving frame houses built in Greensboro before 1880. The club bought the house in 1921, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

In 1990, the Greensboro Junior Woman’s Club began meeting at the clubhouse and partnering with the senior women on renovation and repair projects. By 1999, they’d raised $100,000 for necessary renovations. Now the Weir-Jordan House continues to thrive with many functions held there.

“Over the last 100 years, GWC member activities have evolved from daytime luncheons and afternoon teas to evening socials and dinner meetings to more readily accommodate the schedules of today’s active woman,” said Jennifer Sawyer, club president.

“Although times have changed, one factor remains constant and that is the desire of our members to give something back to our community through volunteer service,” she said.

Membership in the Greensboro Woman’s Club is open to any woman older than 21 and requires annual dues and a desire to serve the community.

Members meet for dinner and a business session on the first Wednesday evening of each month from September through May.
There will be an anniversary program at the club’s Oct. 7 meeting. For information call 272-1337.

To suggest a person or organization who is “Making a Difference” or has in the past, in Guilford County, contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.rr.com or 288-9040.