Business and Professional Women's Club (Norfolk, Va.) | Sargeant Memorial Collection
Name: Business and Professional Women's Club (Norfolk, Va.)
Historical Note: The Business and Professional Women's Club of Norfolk, Virginia organized on February 27, 1918 as the Twentieth Century Club, an auxiliary group of the American Red Cross. They initially held their meetings at the YWCA building on College Place and at the Camp Community Service's clubrooms on Brooke Avenue, later moving to clubrooms at the Chamber of Commerce. The organization made surgical dressings, participated in the war fund and liberty bond campaigns, and entertained enlisted men with musical and literary programs. The club also supported two French orphans for several years. Following World War I, the club renamed itself the Business and Professional Women's Club. The organization then focused on local charitable work and educational endeavors. The Business and Professional Women's Club established a scholarship fund, operated a summer clubhouse at Willoughby Beach, assisted in organizing Little Theatre, and sponsored other Tidewater chapters of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.