Peoria Women's Club Fundraiser 1920s Jazz Holiday Dinner

Contact Name:
Lynette Steger
Phone:
3096422688
E-mail:
info@peoriawomensclub.com
Filed in:
Things to do near Peoria, IL » Benefits or Fundraisers » Other

On December 4, 2022, the Peoria Women's Club (PWC) will open their doors at 2PM for a special afternoon of dining, dance, and music to aid in their historic building restoration efforts. Connie Randall from A Matter of Taste catering will be recreating a four-course menu and recipes from the club's archives. Only 36 tickets will be available at a cost of $125 per person. Registration is available on the Peoria Women's Club Facebook events site at: https://www.facebook.com/PWC301/events/.

In 2021, a generous gift from entrepreneur and philanthropist Kim Blickenstaff kicked off renovations at the PWC. The exterior work to dry-in the building has been recently completed including a new roof, tuck-pointing, window restoration, cornice work, and dormer repair. Restroom upgrades, plumbing, and additional first floor interior upgrades are expected to start in the summer of 2023. Additional funds must be raised to upgrade the first-floor kitchen and to reopen the second-floor theater, which has been closed to the public for 52 years.

PWC is the second oldest continuously occupied clubhouse in the United States and the only one in the country with a theater. Erected in 1893 with the support of Lydia Moss Bradley, members sold shares of stock to construct the distinctive 11,000-square-foot red brick clubhouse located at 301 NE Madison Avenue. The clubhouse was built for a sum of $45,000 and designed in collaboration with famed architect William Le Baron Jenney considered to be the "father of the American skyscraper." Tours will be available before the dinner.

Founded in the late 1800s, the mission of Women's Clubs across the United States was to educate their fellow women, serve the community, and gain the trust of the community to ensure economic, spiritual, and cultural vitality. Their strong tie to the women's suffrage movement was the reason they supported the field of home economics. Suffragists intentionally played into gender expectations that said women possessed an inherent interest and skill in crafting meals. Cookery rhetoric was a purposeful political tactic meant to combat perennial images of suffragists as "unwomanly women." Women's Clubs across the country created Domestic Science Clubs like the one the Peoria Women's Club had in 1926 when the PWC printed a hardback copy of their recommended dinner menus and tested recipes.

Clara Parsons Bourland chartered the PWC on January 20, 1886, as a means for women in the region to study art, literature, music, and culture. Initially the club had four main departments: Art and Literature, Home and Education, Philanthropy and Reform, and Music. The women launched significant programs for the betterment of Peoria, championed national, state, and local political and social reforms to better the lives of women and children, and established funds to finance their causes. The club is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization.


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Time: 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM

http://www.eventsnearhere.com/find-events/IL/PEORIA/Benefits-or-Fundraisers/Other/addetail/205177/Peoria-Women's-Club-Fundraiser-1920s-Jazz-Holiday-Dinner

Street Address

Peoria Women's Club, 301 Northeast Madison Avenue
Peoria, IL 61603

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