CLUB TELLS HOLLYWOOD STORY
A history of Hollywood automatically brings to mind silent movies, glittering parties and premieres and film stars of by-gone days.
But figuring prominently in the growth and progress of Hollywood, as in every community in the country, are it’s citizens. And traditionally, the city’s women were always on the scene ready to help solve problems and to work hard for any improvement.
It was around 1908 that Mrs. Anstruther Davidson, second president of what is now the Woman’s Club of Hollywood, was after the City Fathers to enact ordinances to keep vacant lots clear of rubbish. She wanted -receptacles for trash placed at convenient corners. This demand for cleanliness resulted in the regular rubbish collections taken for granted today.
Early members of the club were active in every phase of community life - culture, politics, education, city beautification, home and family. When the clubhouse, then located on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea Ave., where a huge medical building is now under construction, was dedicated in 1914, Mrs. Cassius Smith, president, pledged, “This clubhouse is dedicated to every woman of Hollywood who stands for better homes, better schools, better district government and therefore, a better universe.”
The club, then called the “Hollywood Club,” was started in 1905. Its members were mostly wives of men who had made their fortunes, and having traveled around the world, had come to California to retire and enjoy the climate. Mrs. B.P. Chase and Mrs. M.R. Churchill, wife of the principal of Hollywood High School and first club president, was leading factors.
THE WOMEN would meet in each other’s home to play whist, the forerunner of auction and contract bridge, and to discuss the latest books and plays. When steel magnate Andrew Carnegie expressed his desire to establish libraries throughout the United States, the founding members decided to take advantage of his offer to establish a library in Hollywood and at the same time, to establish a meeting place for themselves.
Mrs. Dae Ida Wilcox-Beveridge offered a lot from her big ranch near the corner of Ivar on what is now Hollywood Blvd., then Prospect St. The lot was accepted, the building was constructed and the Hollywood Club met in the basement.
The club members managed the library, but, in the meantime adopted the slogan, “A Home of our Own,” and purchased 178 feet of frontage at 7078 Hollywood Blvd. for $4,500. Mrs. G.W. Meville was in charge of the fund and subscribers, representing pioneer names such as Tobewrman, Lippincott, Lane, Davis, McComber and Taft, donated anywhere from $100 toward the project.
In the meantime, the club transferred the library to the city and, in 1908, during Mrs S.P. Rhodes’ term as president, became a member of the Federation of Women’s Clubs. While the clubhouse was in the planning stages, members met in a bunglow supplies by Mrs. Wilcox-Bereridge and an architect started working on plans for a building to cost about $16,000 at the corner of Hollywood and La Brea. “To some, in those days, this seemed too far out,” noted Mrs. Herbert W. Booth in her notes about the club.
