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Professional journalist Jane Cunningham Croly is denied entrance to an all-male press club event and responds by organizing a woman's club. Jennie June, as she is known, names the club Sorosis, a Greek word meaning "an aggregation; a sweet flavor of many fruits."
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The sorosis Club of New Your City convenes 61 women's clubs from around the country to arganize a federation. Sorosis President Ella Dietz Clymer articulates the goal, "We lokk for unity, but unity in diversity," which appears on the first GFWC pin in 1892.
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On April 24, at the Scottish Rite Hall in New Yourk City, 63 delegates from 17 states ratify the constitution of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Clubwoman Julia Ward Howe (Mass.) is one of the constitution's authors.
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The first GFWC council meets in West Orange, NJ. After a lunceon hosted by his wife Mina, Thomas A. Edison invited delegates to his lab for a demonstration of the kinetoscope, an early motion picture projection.
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Chicago Clubwom and social reformer Jane Addams heads GFWC's Child Labor Committee to advocate for legislation restricting child labor.
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Clubwoman Alice Lakey (NJ) initiates a letter-writing campaign to advocate for pure food legislation. Taking up Lakey's passion, GFWC promotes a nationwide outreach that leads to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
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GFWC's Art Committee assembles its first traveling art gallery of original works by American artists. Loaned to GFWC clubs nationwide for only the cost of postage, the exhibits expand the appreciation and collection of American art.
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U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft sends GFWC president EVa Perry Moore (1908-1912) to the Panama Canal Zone to organize women's clubs to improve the quality of life for workers and their families.
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President Taft appoints Chicago clubwoman Julia Lathrop as chief of the new Children's Bureau. GFWC works with the bureau to promote public healthcare for mothers and infants, resulting in the Sheppard-Towner Act of 1921.
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Mary Belle King Sherman (Colo.), GFWC Conservation Department Chairman (1914-1916), helps create the National Park Service and names six national parks later, as the sole woman on the National War Gardens Commission, she establishes National Garden Week.
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The Council of National Defense apooints GFWC President Ione V.H. Cowles (1916-1920) to is newly created Woman's Committee and GFWC establishes war service and editorial offices in Washington, D.C. Collaborating with the YMCA, GFWC creates the OverseasService Unity of about 100 young women to assist with the war effort
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GFWC creates the Indian Welfare Committee, reflecting a long history of advocacy for Native American Rights, including education and health care on reservations and the preservation of Native American culture
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The Federation purchases 1734 N Street NW in Washington D.C., for its headquarters. A junior Membership Committee is established at the 1922 Biennial in Chuatuaqua, NY.
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GFWC members lead a nationwide survey on household technology in American homes and produce a five part Home Equipment Primer to educate to educate families on using available utilities to maximize labor-saving. As a result of this campaign, "homemaker" is included as an identified occupation for the first time in the 1930 United States census.
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The GFWC Board meets with Herbert C. Hoover to express support for the peace initiatives of the London Naval Conference. GFWC establishes the Penny Art Fund to support American artists and art programs during the Great Depression.
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The first national meeting of the honorary educational society Epsilon Sigma Omicron is held at the GFWC convention in Seattle. Founded in 1928 by the Indiana Federation of CLubs, ESO promotes self-improvement through a planned reading program.
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The American Library Association credits GFWC with establishing 75% of U.S. public libraries.
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GFWC'a Committee on Public Health creates the Women's Field Army in partnership with The American Society for the Control of Cancer (now the American Cancer Society). The Successful initiative raised public awareness and funding to promote cancer prevention and early detection. GFWC begins a 10 year study to review the question of the Equal Rights Amendment, which results in a resolution supporting the ERA.
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GFWC converts the formal dining and drawing rooms ar Headquarters into war service offices. During the war, GFWC members, including first lady Eleanor Rossevelt, donate wedding gowns to British service women and GFWC's "Buy a Bomber" campaign generates funds to purchase 431 planes.
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U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius invites GFWC to participate as a consultant to the U.S. delegation at the United Nations Conference on International Organization; one of only five women's organizations so honored. GFWC representatives witness the signing of the U.N. charter in San Francisco on June 26.
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GFWC begins a partnership with the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), jointly distributing relief shipments to Korea in support on local families.
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GFWC members undertake a fundraising and education campaign to promote American history, culminating in 1954, with the donation of more than $200,000 to the National Park Service for restoration of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
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GFWC establishes the Community Achievement Program, later called the Community Improvement Contest and Community Improvement Program Award, which encourages and rewards clubs for completing improvement projects that meet the unique needs of their communities.
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GFWC partners with the Automatic Safety Foundation in the "Women's Crusade for Seat Belts" campaign, which results in the installation of one million seat belts during the year.
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GFWC Juniors are the first national group to support the work of Project Hope. Members raise funds and provide supplies for the peacetime hospital ship S.S. Hope, which provides assistance and training to developing countries.
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The United States Post Office awards GFWC a stamp in honor of the Federation's 75th anniversary.
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GFWC members adopt the motto of "Built withYouth for a Better World." Juniorettes, a special membership category for young women between 14 and 18 years old, debuts in March of 1968
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GFWC receives a major grant from the Law Enforcement Assitance Administration of the U.S. Department of Justice to activate "Hand Up," a national program to promote awareness of the citizen's role in preventing and combating crime.
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GFWC establishes a Trust Fund for the Arts in partnership with Affiliate Arts, Inc. The program supports nationwide young artists-in-residence programs.
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GFWC members participate in International Women's Year programs, meetings on women's issues, and the National Conference for Women held in Houston, Texas.
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In partnership with Owens-Corning, GFWC develops a nationwide "Home Energy Check" program to encourage energy conservation.
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On May 1, the Women's Histroy and Resource Center opens serving as a compelling venue for research, interactive workshops, lectures, and events highlighting the historical role of volunteers in the United States and the place of GFWC members in Women's history.
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GFWC International President Jeri Winger (1984-1986) is an official delegate for the U.S. to the U.N Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Good Housekeeping Magazine donates an archive of related collections to the WHRC. GFWC members renew their commitment to conservation through special programs and protect endangered species.
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The united States Secretary of the Interior designates GFWC Headquartes a National Historic Landmark
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Jane Cunningham Croly is inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Croly is noted for her pioneering work as a woman journalist and for mobolizing the "previously untapped and unorganized sisterhood of capable American women that would reshape American Society."
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GFWC begins "Libraries 2000" raising more than $13.5 million in donations and materials ro public libraries and public school libraries.
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GFWC members contribute $180,000 to purchase a fully-equiped ambulance for the New York City Fire Department, replacing equipment lost during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 1994.
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GFWC members are recognized on the floor of the United States Senate as "a gem in our midst" by then-semator Joseph Biden (Del.) for efforts in raising awareness of domestic violence and poviding assistance to domestic violence survivors.
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GFWC advocates for bipartisan pay equality bill based on the discrimination case of clubwoman Lilly Ledbetter (Ala.). President Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in January 2009
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Between 2010 and 2011, GFWC Haiti Disaster Relief Fund raised and donated more than $55,000 toward the rebuilding efforts following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
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On september 15, 2011, GFWCheld a grave site rededication ceremony for the recently refurbished Jane Cunningham Croly Grave site in Lakewood, N.J. The GFWC Disaster Relief-Library Replenishment Fund is established to restock collections for public libraries that have been affected by a disaster.
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GFWC establishes the "success for Survivors" Scholarship, an effort to highlight the importance of rebuilding one's life after experiencing violence. The scholarships help intimate partner survivors obtain a post-secondary education and reshape their future by securing employment and gaining independence.
