The Era Club of New Orleans was a
woman's club
The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a part ...
in
. It was one of the largest woman's clubs in the
southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. The club did charitable works, advocated for reform and for
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
.
History
The Era Club was founded in 1896 by
Evelyn W. Ordway and was affiliated with the Portia Club. The name was really an acronym, standing for the "Equal Rights for All." The Era Club worked for women's suffrage in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and also towards improvements in education, sanitation and other civic matters. The club also raised money for charities and was involved in campaigning against
child labor
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
.
The Era Club was also the only organization in New Orleans advocating for women's suffrage between 1900 and 1913.
Notable members
*
Elizabeth Bass
Mary Elizabeth Bass (April 5, 1876 – January 26, 1956) was an American physician, educator and suffragist. She was the first of two women to become faculty members at the medical school of Tulane University along with Edith Ballard. Bass worked ...
*
Jean Gordon
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
*
Kate M. Gordon
Kate M. Gordon (14 July 1861– 24 August 1932) was an American suffragist, civic leader, and one of the leading advocates of women's voting rights in the Southern United States. Gordon was the organizer of the Southern States Woman Suffrage Conf ...
, served as president
*Dr.
Sara T. Mayo
Sara Tew Mayo, M.D., (1869-1930) was a physician and humanitarian reformer in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She served the underprivileged and advanced the cause of women as physicians at a time and place when few women were practicing physicians ...
*
Evelyn Walton Ordway
References
{{Authority control
1896 establishments in Louisiana
Women's clubs in the United States
Organizations based in New Orleans
History of women in Louisiana