The Ideal Woman's Club

Mary Lee DePugh founded the Ideal Women’s Club in the summer of 1937. The inception of this club was inspired by the lack of communal meeting spaces in Hannibal Square. Most of the women that were a part of the Ideal Women’s Club had to work, but the majority of them would be off on Thursdays. This established Thursdays as the official meeting times for the club, and they met twice a month at members’ homes and in the local library. The Club had a strong connection to the religious community, and faith was in the foundation of its core principles.

The Club was initially built as a vehicle for social benefit, but it later developed strategies to help benefit the surrounding community. In the 1940’s the Club successfully raised the funds to build a nursing home for elderly people in Hannibal Square.