Founded in 1892, the club was non-sectarian and brought together women from all sections of Dorchester. The mission of the club was to foster positive values and the intellectual growth of the community. It began with twenty-eight members and quickly grew to three hundred with a waiting list for membership. In its formative years, the club held classes in local history and chorus and sixteen organized programs annually to stimulate “the thought, the sympathies, or the artistic sense of attending members.” Among the early members who helped establish the club as a successful institution were Clara Ripley and Ella Whiton.
Clara Ripley’s home was the site of the first gathering of the Dorchester Woman’s Club, and she was responsible for convening the early meetings. She served as one of the club’s first vice presidents. After its first few meetings, the club had outgrown its space and moved to a local church. Sufficient funds were raised by the group to purchase a lot and build a permanent headquarters on Centre Street. Designed by architect A. Warren Gould, the building’s left side was named Ripley Hall in Clara’s honor. The Club continued to be active until the 1960s.
Born Ella Rice in Brookline, Massachusetts, she was educated in the public schools of both Brookline and Boston. She married Royal Whiton in 1887 and became active in social and charitable causes in Dorchester. She was a charter member of the Dorchester Woman’s Club who helped advance the building of a permanent meeting place and later served as president of the organization. Her other associations included the Charity Club Hospital and the Aged Couples’ Home. In the1904 publication, Representative Women of New England, Whiton is described as “interested in all well-considered movements for the public good, and is a resourceful, unselfish, and conscientious worker.”
