On January 8, 1910, the Ithaca Woman’s Club banded together with the Political Study Group and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to form the City Federation of Women’s Organizations. The women passionately believed in expanding their interests beyond the home and into the cultural and civic realms. 15 women met in the home of Mrs. Frederick E. (Juanita) Bates and elected the first president. The women felt that they could speak with a stronger voice as a united group than they could as individual clubs.
The object of the CFWO was to “bring into relations of mutual helpfulness the various clubs and organizations of women throughout the city and to make combined action possible when deemed expedient.” Their range of concerns included education, recreation, philanthropy, health, safety and civic betterment.
At the second meeting of the CFWO, the Campus Club and the Child Study Club joined the affiliation. The Cornell Women’s Club, Congregational women, and the Unitarian women joined in 1911, and the Baptist Women and the Methodist Women joined in 1912. In the 1960’s there were more than 50 women’s organizations as members in the CFWO. (See the History for more details.)
Our current Board has Legacy members who are representatives of these previous member organizations. Other Board members are representative of the community at large. We continue to work in collaboration to support our mission of improving the lives of women and/or girls.
