Origins

The idea for a women’s club originated in 1894 with Mary McKeen, a Camden native who lived at Second and Cooper Streets (on the northeast corner, now the site of the dormitory opposite Johnson Park). As a single woman from a well-to-do family, McKeen devoted her time to a wide array of voluntary civic activities. By 1895, in her mid-30s, she was serving as president of the new Woman’s Club of Camden as well as the Women’s Parks Association. Both organizations were pivotal in saving the square known as Johnson Park from industrial development. McKeen herself may have negotiated the deal for the city to acquire the square.

The stated purpose of the Woman’s Club was “the intellectual and literary culture of its members.” With a membership of middle- and upper-class white women, who were liberated from housework by hired domestic servants, the organization soon expanded its horizons. The club maintained a calendar of enlightening speakers and social activities, but under McKeen’s leadership the women also delved into civic affairs. The Woman’s Club of Camden founded Camden’s first public library and persuaded the city government to improve the water supply by switching from Delaware River water to artesian wells. They successfully campaigned for the hiring of female matrons for the county and city jails, and they raised enough money to start free kindergartens at three city locations.

The Woman’s Club of Camden also took an interest in national and international affairs. During World War I and World War II, members joined multiple committees of the Red Cross, sewed medical supplies, sent children’s clothing to Europe, and volunteered at Camp Dix. As waves of European immigrants settled in Camden and other American cities, during the 1920s the Woman’s Club devoted time and energy to “Americanization” programs for immigrants. For a time, the club had an auxiliary committee for Italian women in Camden. 

Demise

The Woman’s Club of Camden maintained a presence on Linden Terrace until the late 1950s. However, like many of the most affluent Camden residents at mid-century, by that time most of its members had moved to the suburbs. Whatever dedication to Camden remained was defeated by their distance from headquarters, the presence of other women’s clubs throughout the suburbs, and especially by the difficulty of finding places to park.

The club headquarters on Linden Terrace transferred to Rutgers University, which was acquiring property to expand the Camden campus. For a time, the former home of the Woman’s Club became part of the campus as “Linden Hall.” However, after a fire in 1964 damaged this and other buildings, urban renewal removed all of the remaining houses of Linden Terrace and erased the connection between this block and the Woman’s Club of Camden.

--By Charlene Mires, posted September 24, 2026.

PLEDGE

From the Yearbook of the Woman’s Club of Camden, 1926:

Believing in government by the people, for the people, I will do my best –

First—To inform myself about public questions, the principles and policies of political parties, and the qualifications of candidates for public office.

Second—To vote according to my conscience in every election, primary or final, at which I am entitled to vote.

Third—To obey the law even when I am not in sympathy with all its provisions.

Fourth—To support by all fair means the policies that I approve of.

Fifth—To respect the right of others to uphold convictions that may differ from my own.

Sixth—To regard my citizenship as a public trust.