The Princeton Chapter House is a historic building located at 1009 N. Main St. in Princeton, Illinois. The building was constructed between 1909 and 1910 as a meetinghouse for Princeton's chapter of the

American Woman's League The American Woman's League was created by the magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis in 1907. In part, it was a maneuver to lower History of United States postage rates, postal rates by appealing to educational and social opportunities that would ...

. The American Woman's League was a political and social organization founded by magazine publisher

Edward Gardner Lewis Edward Gardner Lewis (March 4, 1869 – August 10, 1950) was an American magazine publisher, land development promoter, and political activist. He was the founder of two planned communities that are now cities: University City, Missouri, and Ata ...

in 1908. The organization was created to promote

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

causes, particularly the

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 ...

movement; Lewis also intended for the organization to promote and sell his women's magazines. Lewis commissioned the St. Louis architectural firm of Helfensteller, Hirsch & Watson to design five classes of buildings which the League would use as meetinghouses. The Princeton Chapter House is the only Class IV chapter house ever built; the Class IV plan was one of the larger buildings and was designed for clubs with 140 to 200 members. The building was designed in the

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

style and cost $5,000. After the club disbanded, it served as a public library before being converted to a business. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on November 28, 1980. It is one of nine American Woman's League chapter houses on the National Register in Illinois.

References

Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Mission Revival architecture in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Bureau County, Illinois Women's club buildings in Illinois History of women in Illinois American Woman's League {{BureauCountyIL-NRHP-stub