the Oak Cliff Woman’s Club was founded on March 16, 1951, by nine women. Founding president Madie Glover lived at 2146 Leander Drive with husband William H. Glover and their two children, according to The Dallas Morning News.

When looking through the Dallas City Directory for 1955, Madie Glover was able to be identified based on the published address in the July 3, 1952 article.

In the same article, eight other women were identified as founding members of the new club: Mmes W.C. Buford, Edwin Royse, Ben Merritt, R.E. Starnes, Vernon Smith, James Smith, James McKinney and T.R. Edgar.

Soon after, the club grew to include 36 charter members, and by two months later, there were over 100 names on the roster. A majority of the members lived in Oak Cliff, but being a resident was not a requirement.

The club was founded as a social and cultural organization with a wide range of activities such as sessions and committees on gardening, interior decorating, crafts, bowling, golfing, self-improvement and homemaking. Annual events included the “Shower of Flowers” flower show and the annual Christmas Pilgrimage and Bazaar.

By September 1971, ceremonies took place for the groundbreaking of the clubhouse located on West Kiest Boulevard. The clubhouse was completed in May 1971 after decades of various fundraising events and 10 years of running the thrift shop Scotch Closet.

The clubhouse came with a parlor, dining area, kitchen and auditorium that doubled as craft room. A sitting area was named the Browder Room in honor of philanthropic contributors to the project, Marie Browder and her late husband Fred.

A sign for the clubhouse is located at 3555 W. Kiest Blvd. today.

The Southern Methodist University DeGolyer Library has an edition of the Savory-Fair 70 cookbook, which includes an array of recipes compiled and distributed by the Oak Cliff Woman’s Club of 1970-1971, the very members that were involved the year of the clubhouse groundbreaking. Here are three recipes listed within that book:

COURTESY: Oak Cliff Woman’s Club. Savory-Fair 70. Oak Cliff Woman’s Club, 1971. DeGolyer Library, SMU.