Woman's Club Meeting December 3, 1917

Minnie Rosenthal, president of the Woman's Club in 1917

The minutes of the Woman's Club meeting were transcribed by Co-Executive Director Jane Garver from a notebook of handwritten notes. All original spelling, capitalization, and punctuation has been preserved. Click the blue links for more information.

The Woman’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Quinlan. The meeting was called to order by the president, Mrs. Rosenthal. Minutes read and approved. A communication from Mrs. Hunsbarger was read, tendering her resignation from the Club. A motion was made to accept it- carried. Mrs. Bain was elected secretary to fill the vacancy left by Mrs. Hunsbarger. Mrs. Ferris was elected a member of the Club and the secretary instructed to notify her.
A motion was made that the Club have a committee to visit the sick- carried. It was moved that the officers of the Club constitute that committee- carried. The president appointed Mrs. Darling and Mrs. M. Rosenthal to act as the flower committee. A motion was made that the Club eliminate the program after the holidays and have articles from leading periodicals read by the chairman of the day, and do Red Cross work- carried. The president appointed Mrs. Levinson, Mrs. Nihart, and Mrs. Wilson to act as a committee for supplying the club with work from the Red Cross rooms. It was moved that the program be left over for the next year, the chairman of last year’s committee working with the new committee. Roll call was responded to with United States Presidents.
The ladies did red-cross work during the program which was in charge of Mrs. Nihart. The subject being American life since 1876.  Mrs. Rosenthal read a paper on Southern California showing some views of the places she visited while there. Mrs. Mesick gave the biography of her guest Miss Clara Grayson. Then followed current events about historical places, after which our hostess, Mrs. Quinlan, served tea and wafers.
Aileen S. Nihart, Sec. Pro Tem

Dues paid Mrs. Darling $1.00
Mrs. Barber $1.00

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The Woman's Club met weekly at the homes of its members. Each meeting consisted of committee reports, roll call with responses from each member, and a study session. During World War I, study sessions were changed to knitting/sewing sessions, with the member in charge of the program reading aloud from magazines and newspapers. The ladies raised money to support a French orphan, sewed layettes for babies, knit socks for soldiers, and much more.



​John and Grace Quinlan lived at 519 State Street in Petoskey. We can see from the Sanborn map that their home was 1 1/2 stories with a stuccoed exterior. They also had a 1 1/2 story garage with a cement floor and a 100 gallon gasoline tank.

Hoyt and Aileen Nihart lived just one block west on State Street. Mr. Nihart worked at a drug store. Alick and Minnie Rosenthal lived one block north on Michigan Street.

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