Friday Morning Club

The Friday Morning Club was a Los Angeles women's organization founded in 1891 by Caroline Severance, an abolitionist, suffragist, and pioneer of the American women's-club movement. The club began with Severance and 87 other women meeting in the reading room of the Hollenbeck Hotel at Second Street and Broadway. Its objectives combined self-education, discussion of literature and the arts, cultural programming, community improvement, and the political and social advancement of women. In an era when women had limited access to many mainstream professional, educational, and political institutions, clubs such as the Friday Morning Club provided important spaces for organized intellectual life and public action. Severance brought substantial experience to the organization. In 1868 she had founded the New England Women's Club in Boston, one of the earliest organizations of its kind in the United States. Under the Friday Morning Club's leadership, the organization developed a reputation for active engagement with Los Angeles civic issues and became one of the most influential women's clubs in California. Its membership exceeded 1,800 women by the 1920s, making it the state's largest women's club according to historical accounts. The club's physical headquarters evolved with its growing membership and ambitions. Its first purpose-built clubhouse was a two-story Mission Revival building completed in 1900 at the club's original site. The building reportedly cost $25,000. Membership growth during and after World War I soon made the structure inadequate. The club dismantled the first clubhouse, sold it with its furnishings to the Catholic Woman's Club, and commissioned a much larger replacement. Completed in 1923, the second clubhouse was designed by Allison & Allison in an Italian Renaissance Revival style. The six-story building contained two auditoriums and seating for nearly 2,000 people, allowing the club to stage major lectures, arts events, theatrical programs, and other public gatherings. Its programming was especially active during the 1920s and 1930s. The clubhouse formed part of a broader story about women's changing roles in Los Angeles. The Figueroa Hotel, financed and managed by women and completed across the street in 1925, served business, professional, and traveling women. Together, the hotel and Friday Morning Club represented the expanding institutional, cultural, and economic participation of women in the city during the interwar period. The Friday Morning Club later separated from ownership of its historic building. In 1977 it sold the building's title to the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts. The organization continued to meet and conduct community activities through a leaseback arrangement involving the fifth floor and later from rented quarters on Wilshire Boulevard. The Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts operated the auditorium as the Variety Arts Theater, presenting plays, cabaret, meals, revivals of early stage and radio dramas, filming, and special events. It also maintained theater-arts collections and a research library. The building changed hands again in the twenty-first century. It was sold to AEG in 2004 and subsequently to property developer David Houk in 2007. In October 2015, Hillsong Church Los Angeles announced a 15-year lease with two five-year extension options, intending to use the renovated building for worship services and offices. The church expected to move into the property in early 2017. The Friday Morning Club itself continued to be associated with the building's historical identity, although the organization's later operational status is not fully established in the available reference material. The clubhouse remains significant as an example of women's organizational history, civic activism, and early twentieth-century Los Angeles architecture. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for both its social-history and architectural importance.

The Friday Morning Club was established in Los Angeles in 1891 by Caroline Severance, a nationally recognized reformer whose earlier work included founding the New England Women's Club in Boston in 1868. Severance and 87 women organized the new club in the reading room of the Hollenbeck Hotel. The club's mission reflected the broader nineteenth-century women's-club movement: members sought intellectual development, study of literature and the arts, social connection, civic improvement, and greater political and social opportunities for women. The organization became an important institution in Los Angeles civic life. Its political associations and reform interests gave it a reputation as an influential community organization, while its educational and cultural activities helped create a public role for women outside the home. By the 1920s, membership had grown beyond 1,800, making the Friday Morning Club the largest women's club in California according to the available historical account. The club initially operated from a two-story Mission Revival clubhouse built in 1900 at the same Downtown location. The building cost $25,000 and was intended to provide a permanent base for meetings and programming. Rapid membership growth, particularly during World War I, eventually exceeded its capacity. The club dismantled the original structure, sold it with its furnishings to the Catholic Woman's Club, and replaced it with a six-story clubhouse completed in 1923. Designed by Allison & Allison in an Italian Renaissance Revival style, the second clubhouse was a substantial cultural venue as well as a private membership facility. Two auditoriums and seating for almost 2,000 people supported lectures, theater, music, arts events, and other programs. The building was particularly active during the 1920s and 1930s, when women's organizations played a major role in providing educational and cultural opportunities. Its location across from the Figueroa Hotel, a women-financed and women-managed hotel completed in 1925, illustrated the growing presence of women in Los Angeles's civic, professional, and institutional life. The national women's-club movement declined during the middle of the twentieth century as women gained wider access to universities, professions, political organizations, and mainstream social institutions. The Friday Morning Club's own institutional history followed this broader pattern. In 1977, the club sold the title to its historic building to the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts. The club retained a presence through a leaseback of the fifth floor and later worked from rented quarters on Wilshire Boulevard. Its members continued to meet and serve the community into the 1990s, although the available material does not establish the organization's subsequent formal status. The Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts used the building's auditorium as the Variety Arts Theater. Its activities included live plays, cabaret, meals, revivals of early stage and radio dramas, filming, and special-event rentals. It also maintained theater-related collections and a research library intended for serious students of the performing arts. The building's later property history included a sale to AEG in 2004 and a subsequent sale to developer David Houk in 2007. In October 2015, Hillsong Church Los Angeles announced a 15-year lease with two five-year extension options. Following renovations, the church planned to use the structure for worship services and offices and expected to move in during early 2017. The Friday Morning Club building was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and entered the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Its listing recognized both the architecture of the Allison & Allison clubhouse and its association with the history of women's organization, civic engagement, and cultural life in Los Angeles.

• 2015

  Hillsong Church announced a long-term lease

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  Hillsong Church Los Angeles announced plans to occupy the renovated building under a 15-year lease with extension options.

• 2007

  Building sold to David Houk

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The property was subsequently acquired by developer David Houk.

• 2004

  Building sold to AEG

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  AEG became the owner of the historic property.

• 1984

  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The building was recognized for architectural significance and its importance to social history.

• 1977

  Clubhouse title sold to the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club transferred ownership of the building while retaining an ongoing presence through leased space.

• 1925

  Figueroa Hotel opened across the street

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The women-financed and women-managed Figueroa Hotel opened opposite the Friday Morning Club, reinforcing the area's association with women's professional and civic activity.

• 1923

  Second clubhouse completed

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  A six-story Italian Renaissance Revival clubhouse designed by Allison & Allison replaced the smaller first building.

• 1900

  First clubhouse completed

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  The club opened a two-story Mission Revival clubhouse at its original site.

• 1891

  Friday Morning Club founded in Los Angeles

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  Caroline Severance and 87 other women formed the club at the Hollenbeck Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

• 1868

  Caroline Severance founded the New England Women's Club

  [1]Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org

  Before establishing the Los Angeles organization, Caroline Severance founded the New England Women's Club in Boston, one of the early American women's clubs.

A civic, educational, cultural, and social organization for women, combining intellectual self-improvement with community activism and public programming.

• Membership organization programs · 1891

  Women's civic and educational programs

  The club's central offering was a program of member education, discussion, self-improvement, and civic engagement. Activities addressed literature, the arts, culture, community improvement, and the political and social advancement of women. These programs made the organization both a social network and a platform for public participation.

• Cultural programming · 1923

  Arts, theater, and lecture events

  The large 1923 clubhouse supported lectures, arts presentations, theatrical performances, and other public cultural events. Its two auditoriums and capacity of nearly 2,000 people allowed the club to offer programming on a scale uncommon for a women's membership organization in Los Angeles.

• Historic clubhouse · 1923

  Friday Morning Club clubhouse

  The club's principal physical facility was a six-story Italian Renaissance Revival building designed by Allison & Allison and completed in 1923. It served as a meeting place, cultural venue, and civic institution before later becoming a theater and event property under other operators.

• 1891Women's education and civic improvement program

  Los Angeles · California

  From its foundation, the Friday Morning Club organized around women's self-education, cultural study, community improvement, and advancement in public life. The club's civic orientation helped establish its reputation as a politically active Los Angeles women's organization.

  Outcome. The organization grew into California's largest women's club by the 1920s, with reported membership above 1,800.

  Source

• 2015

  Lease the landmark building for religious and administrative useStrategy

  Background

  After later changes in property ownership, the building required renovation and a new long-term occupant.

  Action taken

  Hillsong Church Los Angeles announced a 15-year lease with two five-year extension options for services and offices.

  Aftermath

  The church planned to occupy the renovated property in early 2017; later occupancy details are not established by the available material.

  Source

• 1977

  Transfer ownership of the clubhouseM&A

  Background

  The organization no longer retained the same institutional position it had held during the height of the women's-club movement.

  Action taken

  The club sold the building's title to the Society for the Preservation of Variety Arts and continued meeting through leased space.

  Aftermath

  The building became associated with the Variety Arts Theater, while the club continued its activities from the leased fifth floor and later from Wilshire Boulevard quarters.

  Source

• 1923

  Replace the original clubhouse with a larger cultural complexGeneration change

  Background

  Membership growth during and after World War I exceeded the capacity of the 1900 clubhouse.

  Action taken

  The club dismantled the first building, sold it with its furnishings to the Catholic Woman's Club, and completed a six-story Allison & Allison clubhouse with two auditoriums.

  Aftermath

  The new building accommodated nearly 2,000 people and supported expanded arts, theater, lecture, and community programming.

  Source

• 1900

  Build a permanent clubhouseStrategy

  Background

  The newly founded organization needed a stable venue for meetings, education, and civic programming.

  Action taken

  The club developed a two-story Mission Revival clubhouse at its original Downtown Los Angeles site.

  Aftermath

  The facility provided an institutional base until membership growth made it too small.

  Construction cost. $25,000 (1900)

  Source

1. 1Friday Morning Cluben.wikipedia.org
2. 2Los Angeles Times history of the Friday Morning Clublatimes.com
3. 3Historic American Buildings Survey: Friday Morning Clubloc.gov