The Fort Lauderdale Woman's Club is a women's club in downtown

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. They completed their clubhouse building in 1917 which the National Register of Historic Places listed in 2019 as part of a Multiple Property Submission.

History

Eighteen women founded what was then "Woman's Civic Improvement Association" in 1911, just before the city was incorporated. The group helped found a number of other civic organizations including Fort Lauderdale's first library, first Girl Scout troop, and first Red Cross office. After a fire destroyed much of downtown in 1912, they helped establish a volunteer fire department with the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. One of the founders was Ivy Julia Cromartie Stranahan, a prominent citizen dubbed the "mother of Fort Lauderdale". Stranahan was a strong proponent of rights for women, Native Americans, and African Americans. She was the first schoolteacher in Fort Lauderdale and the first president of the club. In 1913, Stranahan and her husband, business leader Frank Stranahan, donated the lot for the clubhouse's construction as well as the surrounding land for what's now named Stranahan Park. 1924, the club established a revolving loan to help women attend college. During World War II, the club bought enough war bonds that they had a bomber named after them. In 1969, former club president

Virginia S. Young Virginia Shuman Young (1917 – December 6, 1994) was a Fort Lauderdale politician, serving elected terms to the Broward County School Board, and the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. During her time on the City Commission, she served twice as Ma ...

became Fort Lauderdale's first and so far only female mayor. In 2007 the club elected Alice Sakhnovsky as the club's first African American president. A homeless encampment had been located at the adjacent Stranahan Park for years. In 2017, the city forcibly cleared the camp following club complaints. Today the Club rents out the building for wedding receptions and other events and markets the park as a botanical garden. Each January, city officials meet at the club for an informal goal-setting workshop for the year ahead.

Architecture

August Geiger designed the 1917 building in a Mediterranean Revival style. In 1949, the group built an addition on the back that nearly doubled the size. The exterior has gray stucco siding with a red barrel tile roof. The front entrance has a three-bay

arcaded An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or Pier (architecture), piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail s ...

porch while the side has an enclosed

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

that serves as an entrance off the parking lot. The interior consists of a large meeting hall, kitchen, restrooms, and a smaller meeting space. There is a brick fireplace with a copper hood and Dade County pine floors throughout.

References

{{Woman's club movement Buildings and structures in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mediterranean Revival architecture in Florida Organizations established in 1911 1911 establishments in Florida 1917 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures completed in 1917 Women's club buildings in Florida Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida National Register of Historic Places in Broward County, Florida Organizations based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida History of Fort Lauderdale, Florida

History

Architecture

See also

References