Historical Note

The Walla Walla Art Club was started on Nov. 13, 1898, when at the invitation of Miss Elizabeth Troeger, an accomplished artist and the director of the department of art at Whitman College, ten women were given a charter to organize a club for the study of art. Among these ten were Mrs. B.L. Sharpstein, Miss Grace Isaacs, Mrs. W.D. Lyman, and Mrs. S.B.L. Penrose. The Walla Walla Art Club is still an active organization.

From 1898 to 1905, the meetings of the Art Club were held at the Whitman College Studio or at the homes of its members. After 1905, with the building of the Walla Walla Public Library, the club met in a room in its basement and when the library expanded, the meetings were held at the Y.M.C.A. or the Marcus Whitman Hotel. In 1948, the club met again at the Carnegie Center.

The Walla Walla Art Club started as a program committee offering art related courses and enriching the art knowledge of its members. The club also played an active role in civic and public welfare, supporting the Red Cross, Whitman College, Y.W.C.A., and Y.M.C.A.. They also made their voices heard in front of city commissioners. They argued for more sanitary watering troughs for horses in the pre-gasoline age, brought to the public’s attention the conditions existing in the jail, and advocated for a police matron. The also worked with other groups to establish a park system in Walla Walla and advocated a public play-ground instructor, welfare work, art in rural schools, and instruction for expectant mothers in the care of babies.

The club has contributed extensively with books and magazines to the Public Library in Walla Walla. The club retains a membership with the Archeological Society and has been affiliated with the Washington State Federation since 1901. The club “supported the Children’s Home Society, the Educational Loan Fund, the Endowment Fund, a leper hospital in Japan, the Union Christian College in China and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.” (Beulah Lucas Crowe, Nov. 2, 1937).