Our Mission Statement
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The History of The Lakeside Club
Founded in 1885, our club has become a venerable Manistee institution, best known for its pivotal role in building Manistee’s Carnegie Library, our biennial Home Tour, biennial Tea & Fashion Show, Festival of Trees & Home Decor, and 1885 Come Alive!.
Less exclusive and less formal than at the start, our club still adheres to its founding principles of good works and good fellowship. Though we no longer have to pay 5 cents for tardiness, 10 cents for absence, and 25 cents for failing to perform work assigned, we do still share our personal "happy moments" at a price of $1 each at the end of every meeting.
Our Club began in 1885, when our town was just 44 years old. At that time, Manistee was a busy lumber town that could boast of having 34 lumber mills as well as salt plants, an iron works, five shipbuilding yards, and three large fleets of ships owned by Manistee interests, as our club history tells it. Manistee shipped the third largest amount of tonnage of any lake port, and most Manisteeans still traveled by water though one railroad had been built from Manistee to Grand Rapids four years previously. Having survived the disastrous fires of 1871, Manistee had rebuilt itself and was prospering. In fact, the Manistee population of 2,500, included several millionaires!
Still, something was missing. According to our club’s history, Manistee mothers were concerned. Their daughters were spending their leisure hours at a roller rink – a questionable place of amusement! What were the mothers to do? Well, in 1885, Mrs. Fairfield, the wife of the pastor of the Congregational Church, organized a women’s literary club -- a club dedicated to cultural enlightenment and service. To put Mrs. Fairfield’s action into context, you need to realize that by the end of the 19th century, women’s literary clubs were all the rage and very often had to do with the new perceptions of themselves that women were developing at that time. In fact, free black women along the Atlantic seaboard organized some of the first clubs with a purpose of “mutual aid and self-education.” Shortly thereafter, white women also began to form literary clubs, the oldest known being in Jacksonville, IL -- "The Ladies Association for Educating Females” -- a club that held its first meeting in 1833.
Interestingly enough, in the South, this movement paralleled a rise in higher education for women. Southern society had expected for young women to be educated in the arts, and those of the planter class were much more likely than their northern counterparts to spend time in academies of higher education that offered courses in religion, Latin, literature, and science—those same courses offered to men. As a result, women began exchanging ideas, and after the Civil War, growth in such opportunity paved the way for the women’s literary club movement, of which our Lakeside Club was a part.
Jane Cunningham Croly, a journalist and feminist, founded the Sorosis in 1868, as a result of a snub from male journalists who excluded her and other female writers from a dinner honoring Charles Dickens at the New York Press Club. Sorosis began as an organization to “improve women’s status”. For Croly, the work of the newly founded club was "municipal housekeeping": applying to municipal problems the same principles of housekeeping that a well-educated woman was expected to practice. In the beginning, these literary clubs were more exclusive than inclusive. However, that all changed when, in honor of the club’s 21st birthday, Croly called together as many of the literary clubs in the U.S. that she could find. Ninety-seven clubs were invited to come to New York City, and in April of 1890 this celebration became the first meeting of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. This Federation had as its mission, helping local clubs get better organized and encouraging clubs to work together on lobbying efforts for social reforms such as health, education, conservation, and government reforms.
Our club incorporated in 1889, and by 1890 was in full swing!! With a critic appointed at each meeting to criticize pronunciation and to produce answers to any weighty questions that arose, the club had already donated one fifth of the money in its treasury to charity and had purchased 40 books for circulating. Members had also taken instruction in French at $2 a lesson, bought a copy of Roberts Rules of Order, and studied many European countries.
In 1891 each member of the club gave 25 cents to Vassar College after an appeal from Vassar’s president for help in carrying out a plan to establish a chair of astronomy at the college.
By 1895 the club had voted to increase the membership to fifty active and fifty associate members, and in 1897 each of those members agreed to purchase one place setting of china for the club when it was discovered that the club didn’t have enough dishes to use when it entertained.
In 1898 the Club hosted the fourth annual convention of the Michigan State Federation of Women’s Clubs, and members raised all the money needed -- $493.34 – for expenses of the convention. When the bills were paid, there was $63.34 left.
As it turns out, that money, which they had designated for future special use, didn’t remain unspent long, for it provided the nucleus of the money the Club raised for its biggest venture to date – the creation of an Andrew Carnegie Library in Manistee.
The Lakeside Club is still affiliated with that library today! How proud our club is —as our history puts it—“to think that the idea originated with its members. The initiative steps were taken by the Lakeside Club, and had it not been for the stick-to-itiveness of the club women, the lot on the corner of Maple and First Streets, might have been covered with a luxurious growth of burdock and thistle for some years”.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, many good ideas and endeavors have sprung forth from within our club. The best of those being the service given to our town of Manistee, MI.
Among other things in the early years, Lakeside Ladies: ·
Later, during both World Wars, our Club was very active on the homefront. During the First World War, our club women raised and donated money for more Liberty Bonds, Red Cross Comfort Kits, furlough homes for soldiers, and in 1920, for the memorial tablet at the Library which read “in memory of the sons of Manistee County who gave their lives for the cause of humanity in the World War 1914-1918.”
During World War II, Lakeside Ladies served the Red Cross for 4,655 hours as nurses aides; 8,000 hours sewing; 1,808 hours as staff assistants; and 3,743 hours making surgical dressings. In fact, one year every other meeting of the club was given over to the making of these surgical dressings. Members also sold bonds, baked cookies, raised money, and coordinated volunteers. We were good citizens then, and we remain good citizens now.
Today, Manistee is over 175 years old. It is still a busy town that can boast of having 34 manufacturing and industrial firms as well as good schools, a modern medical community, a large casino resort, and its own airport. In the last decade, Manistee has created for itself a busy tourist trade based on its abundant natural resources and unique history. Its residents, who number some 6,500, and its visitors alike enjoy Manistee’s downtown shopping district, its beautiful mile and a half long riverwalk, and two restored historic theaters.
The lives of women here in Manistee in the 21st century are more complicated than those of our club’s founders. Still, we come together in friendship and a mutual desire to share our resources and our knowledge and to serve and improve our community.
This is who we are. The Lakeside Club of Manistee County - "Women coming together for good since 1885."
Less exclusive and less formal than at the start, our club still adheres to its founding principles of good works and good fellowship. Though we no longer have to pay 5 cents for tardiness, 10 cents for absence, and 25 cents for failing to perform work assigned, we do still share our personal "happy moments" at a price of $1 each at the end of every meeting.
Our Club began in 1885, when our town was just 44 years old. At that time, Manistee was a busy lumber town that could boast of having 34 lumber mills as well as salt plants, an iron works, five shipbuilding yards, and three large fleets of ships owned by Manistee interests, as our club history tells it. Manistee shipped the third largest amount of tonnage of any lake port, and most Manisteeans still traveled by water though one railroad had been built from Manistee to Grand Rapids four years previously. Having survived the disastrous fires of 1871, Manistee had rebuilt itself and was prospering. In fact, the Manistee population of 2,500, included several millionaires!
Still, something was missing. According to our club’s history, Manistee mothers were concerned. Their daughters were spending their leisure hours at a roller rink – a questionable place of amusement! What were the mothers to do? Well, in 1885, Mrs. Fairfield, the wife of the pastor of the Congregational Church, organized a women’s literary club -- a club dedicated to cultural enlightenment and service. To put Mrs. Fairfield’s action into context, you need to realize that by the end of the 19th century, women’s literary clubs were all the rage and very often had to do with the new perceptions of themselves that women were developing at that time. In fact, free black women along the Atlantic seaboard organized some of the first clubs with a purpose of “mutual aid and self-education.” Shortly thereafter, white women also began to form literary clubs, the oldest known being in Jacksonville, IL -- "The Ladies Association for Educating Females” -- a club that held its first meeting in 1833.
Interestingly enough, in the South, this movement paralleled a rise in higher education for women. Southern society had expected for young women to be educated in the arts, and those of the planter class were much more likely than their northern counterparts to spend time in academies of higher education that offered courses in religion, Latin, literature, and science—those same courses offered to men. As a result, women began exchanging ideas, and after the Civil War, growth in such opportunity paved the way for the women’s literary club movement, of which our Lakeside Club was a part.
Jane Cunningham Croly, a journalist and feminist, founded the Sorosis in 1868, as a result of a snub from male journalists who excluded her and other female writers from a dinner honoring Charles Dickens at the New York Press Club. Sorosis began as an organization to “improve women’s status”. For Croly, the work of the newly founded club was "municipal housekeeping": applying to municipal problems the same principles of housekeeping that a well-educated woman was expected to practice. In the beginning, these literary clubs were more exclusive than inclusive. However, that all changed when, in honor of the club’s 21st birthday, Croly called together as many of the literary clubs in the U.S. that she could find. Ninety-seven clubs were invited to come to New York City, and in April of 1890 this celebration became the first meeting of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. This Federation had as its mission, helping local clubs get better organized and encouraging clubs to work together on lobbying efforts for social reforms such as health, education, conservation, and government reforms.
Our club incorporated in 1889, and by 1890 was in full swing!! With a critic appointed at each meeting to criticize pronunciation and to produce answers to any weighty questions that arose, the club had already donated one fifth of the money in its treasury to charity and had purchased 40 books for circulating. Members had also taken instruction in French at $2 a lesson, bought a copy of Roberts Rules of Order, and studied many European countries.
In 1891 each member of the club gave 25 cents to Vassar College after an appeal from Vassar’s president for help in carrying out a plan to establish a chair of astronomy at the college.
By 1895 the club had voted to increase the membership to fifty active and fifty associate members, and in 1897 each of those members agreed to purchase one place setting of china for the club when it was discovered that the club didn’t have enough dishes to use when it entertained.
In 1898 the Club hosted the fourth annual convention of the Michigan State Federation of Women’s Clubs, and members raised all the money needed -- $493.34 – for expenses of the convention. When the bills were paid, there was $63.34 left.
As it turns out, that money, which they had designated for future special use, didn’t remain unspent long, for it provided the nucleus of the money the Club raised for its biggest venture to date – the creation of an Andrew Carnegie Library in Manistee.
The Lakeside Club is still affiliated with that library today! How proud our club is —as our history puts it—“to think that the idea originated with its members. The initiative steps were taken by the Lakeside Club, and had it not been for the stick-to-itiveness of the club women, the lot on the corner of Maple and First Streets, might have been covered with a luxurious growth of burdock and thistle for some years”.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, many good ideas and endeavors have sprung forth from within our club. The best of those being the service given to our town of Manistee, MI.
Among other things in the early years, Lakeside Ladies: ·
- Beautified many sections of our city protecting trees and planting trees.·
- Supplied school children with flower seeds and followed it with a flower show with prizes
- Purchased library books
- Supplied refuse cans around the city
- Put on a drive to keep sidewalks free from ice and snow
- Surveyed progress, conditions, and equipment of local schools
- Helped sponsor scholarships to Interlochen Music Camp
- Created a student loan fund
- Worked for Women’s Suffrage
- Purchased the first Liberty Bond in 1917
Later, during both World Wars, our Club was very active on the homefront. During the First World War, our club women raised and donated money for more Liberty Bonds, Red Cross Comfort Kits, furlough homes for soldiers, and in 1920, for the memorial tablet at the Library which read “in memory of the sons of Manistee County who gave their lives for the cause of humanity in the World War 1914-1918.”
During World War II, Lakeside Ladies served the Red Cross for 4,655 hours as nurses aides; 8,000 hours sewing; 1,808 hours as staff assistants; and 3,743 hours making surgical dressings. In fact, one year every other meeting of the club was given over to the making of these surgical dressings. Members also sold bonds, baked cookies, raised money, and coordinated volunteers. We were good citizens then, and we remain good citizens now.
Today, Manistee is over 175 years old. It is still a busy town that can boast of having 34 manufacturing and industrial firms as well as good schools, a modern medical community, a large casino resort, and its own airport. In the last decade, Manistee has created for itself a busy tourist trade based on its abundant natural resources and unique history. Its residents, who number some 6,500, and its visitors alike enjoy Manistee’s downtown shopping district, its beautiful mile and a half long riverwalk, and two restored historic theaters.
The lives of women here in Manistee in the 21st century are more complicated than those of our club’s founders. Still, we come together in friendship and a mutual desire to share our resources and our knowledge and to serve and improve our community.
This is who we are. The Lakeside Club of Manistee County - "Women coming together for good since 1885."