Founded in 1890, The College Club of Boston is the first women’s college club in the United States and first to have its own clubhouse. From its earliest days, the College Club hosted many events, including some with celebrities from literature and the arts. Mark Twain was a guest; so were actress Julia Marlowe, feminist Lucy Stone, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, and more recently Stephen Puleo, author of Dark Tide, and William Martin, author of 12 historical thrillers, including Back Bay, Cape Cod, and most recently December 21.Â
In 1905, The College Club of Boston had an Old English drawing room and seven “sleeping rooms” – the delicate term of the time for “bedrooms.” These rooms were furnished and decorated in the colors of various women’s colleges: crimson rambler wallpaper for Radcliffe, blue silk curtains for Wellesley, a cherry and white scheme for Boston University, white with brass beds for Smith, dawn pink and gray for Vassar. More than a century later, The College Club of Boston remains a diverse and dynamic membership organization that more than fulfills the mission of its founders.
Our Brownstone
In 1905, The College Club of Boston at 40 Commonwealth Avenue had an Old English drawing room and seven “sleeping rooms” – the delicate term of the time for “bedrooms.” In the following two decades three adjacent brownstones were purchased, 38, 42 and 44. membership organization that more than fulfills the mission of its founders. The current clubhouse at 44 Commonwealth was built for Royal Robbins as a single family home in 1864 and purchased from his family in 1925. This beaux-arts townhouse is considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th century urban design.
Today only this house remains of the four houses once owned. Through generous donations and the efforts and talents of Club members and interior design professionals, our lovely clubhouse was fully restored in 2008. The beautiful Percy-Dauber Drawing Room is enjoyed by Members and non-members alike, as it is also available as a rentable event venue. Our twelve beautifully appointed bedrooms are run as a Bed & Breakfast, available to Members at a discount, and to the public visiting Boston. Our location in the “First Block” of Commonwealth Avenue, adjacent to Boston Public Garden, is prime.
The College Club of Boston Milestones
1864 – 44 Commonwealth Avenue, current clubhouse built
1869 - First woman suffrage law passed in Wyoming
1890 - The College Club of Boston is founded
1893 - 76 Marlborough St. is the Club’s first home
1895 - The College Club of Boston is incorporated
1896 - Club has 250 members prospective members waitlisted
1905 - 40 Commonwealth Ave. purchased, 600 members
1910 - 38 Commonwealth Ave. purchased
1915 - 25th Anniversary, Club had 1243 members
1917 - First woman elected to Congress
1919 - 42 Commonwealth Ave. purchased
1920 - 19th Amendment Passed – Right to Vote to all sexes
1924 - 44 Commonwealth Ave. purchased
1940 - Golden 50th Anniversary
1955 - Rosa Parks helps launch Civil Rights movement
1960 - FDA approves first birth control pill
1965 - Diamond Jubilee 75th Anniversary
1973 - Roe v Wade and Billie Jean King wins “Battle of the Sexes”
1974 - Clubhouse consolidation, sale of 38,40,42 Comm Ave
1985 - The College Club Scholarship Fund, Inc. founded
1990 - 100th Anniversary
1997 - First female US Secretary of State
2002 - The City of Boston certifies the Club as the Oldest Women’s College Club in America
2008 - Restoration of Clubhouse complete
Thinking About Joining?
Have further questions? Interested in a tour? Contact us and someone from our Membership Committee will respond to you as soon as possible.