City Federation of Women's Clubs

When Temple's first federation of women's clubs disbanded in 1902, its great work was a library. The clubs had bought about 800 books, and the federation's president, Mrs. W. S. Banks, wrote to Andrew Carnegie asking for a building. The Andrew Carnegie Public Library Association took over, and the Greek-cross building opened on February 12, 1904, with women's clubs from across Texas attending. Library rules published in 1912 limited the circulating department to white persons living in Temple, which shut Black residents out of the clubwomen's library.

What the plaque says

City Federation of Women's Clubs After Temple's first federation of women's clubs accomplished its goal of founding a library and disbanded in 1902, this organization was created in 1915 to coordinate the work of the city's women's clubs. Members met in a variety of locations until a clubhouse was built in 1947-48. The city federation of women's clubs has led efforts to beautify the city with landscaping; worked for health and safety issues; organized youth recreational programs; supported educational reforms and social service programs; and provided leadership for the creative arts in Temple. (1991)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum — 1.0 mi
  The Santa Fe depot of 1911 in a railroad town that began in 1880 as a construction camp, now a museum with locomotives and cars parked beside the active rail yard.
• Mother Neff State Park — 18 mi
  A Leon River park that grew from six acres Isabella Neff left the state in her 1921 will, where Civilian Conservation Corps Company 817 built a stone tower, a pavilion and roads in the 1930s.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 28 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• First Presbyterian Church of Temple — 0.4 mi
• Cyrus Maxwell Campbell — 0.5 mi
• Claudia Potter, M.D. — 0.5 mi
• 42nd Reunion of Hood's Texas Brigade — 0.6 mi