Berea Business and Professional Women's Club Collection

Berea formed and chartered its Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPWC) in 1935.  There were twenty-two charter members and the first President was Ms. Lucille Gilbert.  The BPWC is affiliated with the Kentucky, National and International Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, which was established in 1919. The main purpose of the club was to evaluate the standards and promote the interests of business and professional women who formed its membership.  The club also looked for extended opportunities to educate and better both themselves and the surrounding community.  They did this through raising funds for projects. The Berea Club held annual fund-raisers.  Among these were calendar or magazine sales and “white elephant” sales, just to name a few.  The women of the Berea club donated funds each year to help people of all kinds.  These projects included sponsoring Girl Scout work, donating time and effort to the American Red Cross, cosponsoring a recreation center, bringing a “dental trailer” to a Berea public school, sponsoring a “health screening” program, sponsoring a local Hostel, supporting a student going to do work in Europe, sending Berea College students to Mexico to study, and supporting several local and foreign relief programs during the Second World War. The fiftieth anniversary of the Berea BPWC was celebrated in 1985, saluting the club’s many accomplishments over the years.  This collection represents those first fifty years.  The Berea BPWC is still an active part of the Berea community.