The Ladies' Literary Club also known as Wednesday Literary Club was built as a social club building located at 61 Sheldon Street SE in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1971. It is currently owned by Rye Venue Management and operated by The Penny Loafer, LLC.

History

In 1869, a group of Grand Rapids women organized a small history class. In 1870, this grew into the Ladies' Literary Association, which was formally organized as an association that year. The Association was influential in opening a public library in the city. In 1882, the group was re-incorporated at the Ladies' Literary Club to promote literary and scientific subjects. The club grew, and in 1887 they decided to construct their own building. The Club purchased a lot and hired local architect William G. Robinson to design a clubhouse. Ground was broken in 1887, and construction was completed by December of that year. Major additions and renovations were completed in 1931 and in 2005, the club disbanded due to declining membership. In 2006, the remaining members transferred ownership of the building to

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

, which made $1 million worth of improvements to the building. The college used the building as a music, theater and entertainment venue. However, in 2014, they decided to sell the building. In 2018, Rye Venue Management purchased the building and invested further into renovations, removing all theater seats, adding a passthrough permanent cocktail bar complete with a custom bar top that displays the hundreds of 3-inch gold plaques with the names of donors and contributors, that were affixed to the chairs in the original theater. The newly remodeled building would now be called, "The Lit event space". In March, 2020, the US CDC declared a national emergency in response to the Covid 19 pandemic and ordered a shut down of all nonessential businesses, forcing The Lit to cancel all events until it was allowed to reopen near the end of the year. Consequently, the venue never truly rebounded and Rye Venue Management was forced to close it's doors in 2024. It remained empty and unused until July 2025 when a locally based event company, "The Penny Loafer LLC" negotiated a usage agreement to take over operations of the building and restore it to a place for community to gather, utilizing the front parlor as, "The Parlor Cafe," returning the upstairs to a usable library and Bridal Suite, updating a Groom's Den in the lower level, and opening the theater to a variety of uses such as weddings and large events, concerts, vintage movie nights, dinner theater, comedy nights, open mic for upcoming local artists, dance classes, yoga, recitals, and space for local art groups to use for regular rehearsal and/or educational space, according to the owner of "The Penny Loafer LLC," Penny Hock.Entry made by the owner of The Penny Loafer, Penny Hock. Over the years, the club has hosted speeches by

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

, and

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

Description

The Ladies' Literary Club is a two-story brick structure with a tall single-story wing attached to the rear housing an auditorium. Bluestone trim is used around the doors and windows, and it has a slate roof. Although the building is substantially brick rather than stone, the design exhibits the massive

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

style. The building has French plane and stained glass windows. This includes a

Tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1929–1930 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northr ...

window appraised at $225,000.

Notable people

Loraine Immen Loraine Immen (, Pratt; August 3, 1840 – October 21, 1927) was an American philanthropist, elocutionist, author, and social leader. She was a life fellow of the Society of Science, Letters and Art. Immen was one of the most active and best kno ...

, president, Ladies' Literary Club (1890)

History

Description

Notable people

References

Further reading