The Monday Luncheon Club was created in 1909 as a social gathering for working Pittsburgh women. The club was started by social workers employed by the Allegheny County Civil Club who worked in the Juvenile Court. The club was created to encourage the "interchange of ideas and development of good fellowship" among professional women. The Monday Luncheon Club claimed to have been the oldest professional women's group in Pittsburgh.
The club's first president was Anne McCord, representing the Vocational Guidance Research of the Frick Education Commission. The Monday Luncheon Club was informally organized and initially did not have an official constitution or collect dues. The club solicited and voted on new members. The only requirement for new members was to be a working, self-supporting woman. Once a woman became a member of the club she remained one for life. Many of the members went on to create the Woman's City Club of Pittsburgh in 1921. The Monday Luncheon Club was active from 1909 until the 1980s.
The Monday Luncheon Club Records include material that documents the early history and origin of the club, correspondence, death notices for members, invitations to club meetings, menus, membership lists, and the 1921 application of the Woman's City Club of Pittsburgh for a charter. Although the club was founded in 1909, most of the documents are from the 1970s or 1980s. There are only a few documents from the early years of the club within this collection.
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Gift from R. Pecora in 1991.
Archives accession # 1991.x
Monday Luncheon Club Records, 1960s-1980s, MSS 993 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Preliminary processing by Melissa Conte on 09/18/2013.
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Monday Luncheon Club booklet and membership sheet, 1958, MFF 1311, Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center