Santa Fe Woman's Club celebrating 130th anniversary

Jul. 10—Santa Fe residents in the late 1800s rode burros and horses to the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to work and gather firewood.

Many workers, soldiers and merchants would tie their animals to posts on the bustling Plaza, the city's center, and sometimes let them roam free — until nine well-to-do women decided to put some order to this chaos.

The women formed the Benevolent Association — now known as the Santa Fe Woman's Club and Library Association — in 1892 with a goal of improving the Plaza and establishing a library. Their mission later would expand to helping fulfill other community needs, such as providing milk and food to those in need, establishing the state's public health department and initiating Santa Fe's 911 system.

"They were just such movers and shakers," said Patricia Hodapp, a longtime member of the club who retired in 2019 from her position as director of the Santa Fe Public Library system. "They really saw to the needs of the community."

The Santa Fe Woman's Club is planning a celebration this month in honor of its 130th anniversary and the wide-ranging effects its members — more than 1,000 total — have had on the community in the past 13 decades.

It was named a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 2003 for being "one of this community's most enduring, most effective, most generous, most visionary, most far-reaching and most significant civic-minded organizations."

"The goal or mission of the club was to do what the community needs, to do whatever needed to be done," said Carol Rose, vice president of the club's board.

Two years after the Benevolent Association was founded, its members were named Guardians of the Plaza for their work repairing benches, fertilizing grass, creating pathways, installing a picket fence for the animals and ensuring water troughs were always full.

"You can imagine these women in 1894," Hodapp said. "They wore dresses that went down to their ankles, and they were out there making sure that there was water for the horses and the burros."

The club made a big step toward its second goal in 1896, opening a reading room with more than 400 books at the barracks on the corner of the Plaza.

Heather McClure, a librarian at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library & Photo Archive, operated by the the New Mexico History Museum, said club members have played important roles throughout history, whether it was supporting libraries, fighting for women's right to vote or taking part in World War II efforts.

"It seemed sort of like they were always a part of this movement for improvement," McClure said.

Today, the club continues to make an impact by collecting donations for La Familia Health, which serves low-income patients; libraries; Afghan refugees and other immigrants; and other charitable organizations and causes.

The club also has partnered with Santa Fe Community College to offer scholarships for women.

"We value education, especially for women, and we want to make it easier for them to afford to go to school," Rose said.

Every year the club hosts a "baby shower" in which members knit, crochet or sew blankets and hats for infants in low-income families.

"We give handmade items to La Familia so they can welcome the new babies that they see into Santa Fe," Rose said.

Hodapp said the club was formed before New Mexico became a part of the U.S. and did its early work with no government support.

In 1911, however, the city gave the club $500 — which would amount to more than $15,000 today — to pave San Francisco Street in downtown Santa Fe.

The women also convinced the Territory of New Mexico government to give them land to establish the city's first public library on Washington Avenue.

Construction on the Women's Board of Trade Library on Washington Avenue — which later would become the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library — began in 1907, and it opened in 1915 with 3,500 books. The collection had grown to 5,000 books by 1917, according to the library's historical records.

The city took over the library in 1930 and bought the building in 1962. The women donated their book collection, worth $100,000, ensuring the library remained stocked through the transition.

The library moved across the street to its current downtown location, 145 Washington Ave., in what was then the Berardinelli Building, designed by architect John Gaw Meem, in 1932. The city had first used the building as a courthouse and then as City Hall. The City Council met in the old judges chamber, which is now the Southwest Reading Room of the Santa Fe Main Library, according to its website.

"People were so appreciative of having the library for so many reasons, not just for books but media and activities," Rose said. "The library has been really important and, you know, they just continue to grow."

The Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, meanwhile, has grown to an expansive collection of books, newspapers, manuscripts, maps, periodicals and microfilm.

Another key project for the club was oversight of the Fairview Cemetery on Cerrillos Road, which was built in 1880 and was the only non-Catholic graveyard in Santa Fe for many years. The club maintained the property from 1899 until 1978, when it was given to Santa Fe County. About 30 years ago, however, the club again began providing maintenance of the grounds after members began to worry about its upkeep.

It is now managed by the Fairview Cemetery Preservation Association.

As part of its anniversary celebration, the club will take a step back in time to tell the stories of some of the people buried at Fairview Cemetery, including jeweler Solomon Ortiz; poet Alice Corbin Henderson; and Ina Cassidy, editor of the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers Project.

Rose said the club allows women of all ages to come together, build friendships and become a part of the community through civic action. At its peak, the club had about 80 members; now it down down to 55.

Hodapp and Rose said the coronavirus pandemic led to a decline in membership. Some members got sick, had to move away or simply weren't able to adapt to meeting remotely. The club now hopes to invite more women to join.

"We're more than a building that sitting on Old Pecos Trail," Rose said, speaking of the club's headquarters. "We're a fun group, and we do good things for the community."