The desk in the corner of Room One at 72 Oak Street held some precious primary sources surrounding the Boothbay Harbor Monday Club, which was organized in 1895, Federated in 1899, and Incorporated in 1946. Several people with whom I have discussed the Monday Club have wondered if the club was a group of women sitting around having tea parties and partaking in small talk. 

Since diving into the desk and emptying its contents, I have successfully accessioned the Monday Club Collection and catalogued each of the items in the CatalogIt program. The items still need to be digitized at some point in the future, but some of them are on display in the current exhibit at the museum, and some glimpses of the exhibit will soon be up on the museum’s website. From what I have seen with these documents, the women involved in the Monday Club were serious thinkers and doers and enjoyed social activities with their club, as well as with other women’s clubs in the area. 

Julia Tupper Reed wrote a paper titled, History of the Monday Club 1895-1945, in which she gives a detailed accounting of the who, the what, the where, the why, and the how of the Club.  “On an afternoon in October 1895, five ladies met and discussed the feasibility of forming a literary club that would be of mutual improvement to its members, as well as an afternoon of social enjoyment.” One of the ladies remarked that, “Monday afternoon would be a good time to meet as that was wash day, and everyone felt like getting out in the afternoon.” 

One of the founding members of The Monday Club was Mrs. Annie Blair Kenniston (Mrs. George B.) who was elected as the first president from 1895-1897 and held a second term as president in 1902-1903. She had also been a member of another literary club in Boothbay Harbor. “The Kentowis Circle” was organized in 1886 with a prescribed course of study and connected with the National Chautauqua Society. “Aunt Annie” also helped to raise the Reed children - Kate Leslie, Fullerton Paul, and Elizabeth Freeman - following the death of their mother Elizabeth Fisher Blair Reed, who died soon after Elizabeth’s birth on Dec. 12, 1874, in the newly built house on Oak Street that the Museum now calls home. Other founding members, Mrs. Nellie Tupper and Mrs. Grace Hussey were members of the “Onaway Circle.” I found the beautifully hand-written minutes from these earlier women’s clubs from 1886-1894 at the back of a notebook of early Monday Club programs. I can’t wait to start reading them to see what we can discover about the minds of these nineteenth century women. 

According to Julia Tupper Reed’s History, Mrs. Mary Maddocks is credited with giving the club its motto – “There is only one proof of ability – Action.” The year that Miss Elizabeth Freeman Reed was the club’s president, the 1942-1943 program shows a broad stroke of “action” and involvement in the local community and beyond in its listing of contributions: Lincoln Home for the Aged, Educational Loan Fund, Prize Essay Contests, Regional Social Service Committee, Red Cross, Opportunity Farm, Town and Country Church Committee, United China Relief Incorporated, Tonsillectomies and Cod Liver Oil for School Children, Defense Bond, Maine Division Cancer Control, and the Society for Crippled Children.  

From what I am discovering, the Boothbay Harbor Monday Club was much more complicated and sophisticated than tea and crumpets. These documents provide valuable information to those folks curious about these fascinating women from our past. If anyone has information to share about a relative who was involved in The Monday Club, please reach out to us.  

Please note: We’re taking a break! 

The museum will be closed for February and March while volunteers take inventory and work on our collections. For more information or for research inquiries, please contact the office by email, phone, or by mail. We look forward to seeing you in April.

Contact Us: P.O. Box 272, 72 Oak Street , Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04538; Phone: (207)633-0820; Email: info@boothbayhistorical.org