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Historical photos courtesy of Akron Woman’s City Club archives, the Summit County Historical Society of Akron, OH, Summit Memory/Akron-Summit County Public Library and The University of Akron Archives & Special Collections
At a table bathed in natural light inside the Akron Woman’s City Club, Patricia Brown, Suzanne Shriber, Charlotte Buzzelli and Julie Randall munch on pancakes, eggs and bacon and sip coffee, reminiscing on the combined decades they’ve spent as members. The club is known for having persevered when others haven’t and for its status as one of the oldest social dining clubs for women in the country. It’s fighting to continue for 100 more years.
It got its start in 1923, just a few years after women gained the right to vote. Women were becoming more independent, and their roles were changing. With the addition of electricity to homes, household tasks took less time, so they had opportunities to embrace their education and interests. “When you look at the women who were prominent in the ’20s, most of them had college degrees, but they had no place to exercise their education,” says Akron historian Dave Lieberth. “They did that through women’s clubs.”
In 1923, the club was formed when about 50 women met at the home of Helen Wolle, who was F.A. Seiberling’s niece and the club’s first president. Supported by the women-led Tuesday Musical, the Woman’s City Club spent its early years focused on the arts, educating members about current events and community fundraising for food for children, camp opportunities for girls, wheelchairs for polio patients and more. Influential members included Ethel Seiberling, who was on the board, and Mabel Graham, who was president.
Patricia Brown (joined in 1960 and became president in 2013 and 2018): It was at a good time in history. Because in ’22, women were starting to get out, do things and be on their own more. … A group of very well-educated and well-traveled women … wanted a club just for women. … They started with 100 members. Their goal was to make 1,000 members, and they did that in a few years.
Suzanne Shriber (joined in 2019 and president since 2022): They met, … a very smart group of women that just didn’t want to stay home. They wanted to learn, provide arts for children and other people, and use their skills in the community.
Charlotte Buzzelli (joined in 1980): We had movers and shakers. Mrs. Graham started the Akron Symphony Orchestra. We had all sorts of women that were leaders in the community. And also, they were the wives of CEOs of rubber companies.
By 1946, World War II had ended, and the club became a nonprofit. Members were dedicated to it surviving the recession. They began searching for a clubhouse they could purchase to avoid renting as they did at their previous Akron locations, the Mason House and the Pythian Temple.
Known as the Grey Lodge, the Italian Renaissance Revival building they picked is as full of history as the club itself. Built in 1901, it was formerly owned by Bertram G. Work and then George M. Stadelman, the presidents of B.F. Goodrich Co. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. respectively. The club purchased it for about $30,000. “The economy was not that great,” Brown says. “That was a pretty daring thing for the women to do.” The leap of faith was worth it — the Grey Lodge remains the club’s home.
Social clubs gained popularity that peaked in the ’50s and ’60s, Lieberth says. Throughout the country, nearly every major industrial city had a social club. He added that there were dozens of social clubs in Akron for men and women, often of prominent social status. A common choice for men was Akron City Club, which operated from the ’20s through the late ’80s.
The Woman’s City Club paid off its mortgage in 1951 and held a mortgage burning ceremony in 1952. During the ’60s, it hosted events like member weddings and had thriving memberships for juniors starting at 20 years old and seniors starting at 30.
On a daily basis, seniors had section programs about art, music, poetry, travel, film, flowers, antique furniture, economics, history and more, and they had evening sections for working women. They also hosted tea parties, fashion shows, guest lectures, fundraisers and formal dances.
PB: When I joined in the ’60s, there was a two-year waiting list to become a member — 1,000 [senior] members and 100 junior members.
It was active all the time. … We had dinners. Every night it would be full.
[The juniors] had big Monte Carlo nights, and we filled the ballroom. … Our Christmas parties, because we all had children, … the ballroom was absolutely packed with kids.
SS: I remember reading about some bridge benefits with 250 people. And lots of speakers, doctors, politicians that would travel across states to speak here.
PB: As soon as you turn 30, you got at the top of the [senior] list.
SS: Most [juniors] did step up.
CB: A lot of them came from families that had generations belonging to this club.
During the ’70s, memberships in social clubs started to decline, Lieberth says. The women’s movement was in full force in the ’70s and ’80s, and more women were working full time, leaving less time for extracurriculars. Akron was changing too, with popular restaurants lessening the need for private dining clubs.
As of December 2022, the Woman’s City Club was at 88 members, including some male members and dining members, like Lieberth. There are some young female members, but most members are 60 and over.
The club is recruiting members and staying current — making changes that break tradition. Instead of having a private chef, the club hired Catering by Mark DiFeo in 2022. And Shriber teamed up with her husband and owner of Shriber Auto Parts, Scott, to devise a plan to lower debt the club accumulated.
PB: It was a real shock — the membership down.
I suggested that we needed a caterer. If I would have said that we wanted a house of prostitution on the second floor — it would’ve gone over just as well.
CB: [Shriber] came in and said, This is it. We need to change.
SS: The club wasn’t making enough revenue to be alone, to pay all the bills, and to operate by itself. … [Now we are] debt free.
The club has continued educational programs for members and partners with community organizations, hosting events like a tea party for elementary school girls and meals in its dining room for the Akron Police Department and donating to many local charities.
Members’ dedication to their causes, especially legacy members, is what has kept the club going as others have closed. “It’s the loyalty of members that has by and large saved it,” Lieberth says.
It’s the last social dining club for women in Akron, and one of few nationwide. With the future at stake, members are continuing to fight for the club’s existence. They’re celebrating the achievement of making it to 100 years with a Feb. 8 tea party and yearlong events. Above all, it’s about camaraderie and support. Members are often driving each other to doctors or checking in on each other if they miss events, and many have made lifelong friends.
PB: I moved … and there was women’s clubs, but they weren’t the same. You didn’t have that closeness. … I missed that.
I came back, and I had some of my friends that I had for 50 years. Jenny Thomas … I talk to her every couple of days. We go every place together. … Jenny spent every holiday and everything with us. … That’s the kind of friendships you develop here.
Julie Randall (joined in the 1960s): My mother … and most of her friends never worked outside of the home. So this became her friendship-building place. She learned how to play bridge. She and my dad would play bridge many nights of the week. … They made some of their best life friends here.
PB: B.J. Hittle, who was so active for so many years, … when she was dying, her helper would get her dressed up, and they would bring her to the club. … It’s sort of a safe haven.
CB: We call it the family of friendship.
We’re all survivors in this house and this community. And that’s our goal, to keep our Akron Woman’s City Club going — to survive in this beautiful community.
