Have you ever been to a social club? A place where you can talk about your favorite books, meet with other community members, or just sit and gossip. Windsor had its fair share of social clubs over the last century, and one club in particular that made a vital improvement to the town.
Soon after the state of Colorado granted women the right to vote in 1893, women's clubs began to spring up all over the state, including Windsor's Improvement Club. You might ask, "What did they improve?" Well, it was the club's mission to "increase and diffuse knowledge amongst its members." The club valued the idea of sharing educational topics and learning to improve themselves along with their community. Members would meet to discuss community issues and the development of the town and hosted a series of public lectures that focused on contemporary topics such as women's pay and music theory.
The biggest improvement the club made to the town was helping establish the town's first library. In April 1906, the Improvement Club came together to discuss establishing a Windsor Library Association. The Library Association was promptly formed with the library being first housed in the Post Office on Main Street until the actual library building was constructed in 1922. The first books in the library were donated by members of the Improvement Club or were purchased with the money from library fundraisers.
Some of the notable women in the Improvement Club included Etta Osterhout, Ethel Ray, and Maude Cable.
The club ran until October 1922, when it reorganized and merged with the Windsor Social Science Club, becoming the Windsor Women's Club.
The Windsor Improvement Club's legacy and efforts in helping to establish the first library remain prominent. Their service to offering public education through literature was an incredible accomplishment to the town's development during the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, some of the library's first books are among the oldest in the Clearview Library Collection.
Image 1: Windsor Improvement Club, circa 1904.
Image 2: Post Office on Main Street where the library was first housed, circa 1910s.
Image 3: Clipping from the Windsor Beacon, February 11, 1911.