Begin Your Holidays With Christmas in the Mansion House Tour and Boutique

TChree floors of furniture, linens, lamps, jewelry, bedding, glassware, holiday decorations, books, puzzles, dinnerware, silverware, mirrors, Department 56, and much

The Woman’s Club is now accepting new members!

We invite you to join us to become a part of our philanthropic ventures meeting the needs of the Erie Community.

Contact Peggy Laughlin at 814-450-4702 for more information. You may also print out a membership application from the membership page.

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A Brief History of the Organization

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) is an international women’s organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service. GFWC members are in every state and more than a dozen countries. Their goal is to promote civic involvement in their communities, advancing education as well as preservation of the arts and culture all the while promoting healthy lifestyles.

The GFWC owes its beginnings to Jane Cunningham Croly, a professional journalist who in 1890, due to her gender, was denied admittance to a dinner at an all-male press club honoring Charles Dickens. This spurred her to form the famous women’s club, Sorosis – a “centre of unity” that had neither a charitable nor socio-economic purpose, but sought “collective elevation and advancement.” As women’s clubs began forming across the country, they became a center of educational advocacy and a sort of college for older women who wanted to learn.  Croly formed the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1890, to support clubs throughout the nation and further their efforts at providing education, improved working conditions, health care, scholarships and other reforms.

Today the GFWC boasts over 100,000 members.

Among the many accomplishments of the GFWC are:

• Founding more than 75 percent of our national libraries
• Developing Kindergarten programs in public schools
• Working for food and drug regulation
• Leading the drive for emergency relief support for efforts from World War I

The Woman’s Club of Erie is a 501c3 philanthropic organization that aims, through its various fund raisers, dinner and speaker series, to improve the lives of women and children in the Erie community.

The Woman’s Club of Erie began in 1897 and was federated in 1898. Since its beginnings, the organization has been a champion  to numerous civic causes in the Erie community, i.e., the  founding of the Visiting Nurses Association and the Erie Unit of the American Cancer Society in 1945, donating to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Shriner’s Hospital, the Second Harvest Food Bank, House of Healing, Erie DAWN, Erie Zoological Society, Inner-City Neighborhood Art House, The Humane Society of NW PA, The Caring Place and Safe Net–a temporary shelter for abused and displaced women and their children–just to name a few. The mansion, purchased in 1921 from Winifred Galbraith, who was also a Woman’s Club member, is currently utilized as a meeting place for members and events. The Club House is also available for rental opportunities.