DAYTON, Ohio — Women’s History Month is ending, but that’s not stopping one group from their mission to empower and educate women.


What You Need To Know

  • The Dayton Woman's Club is a nonprofit group that empowers and educates women 

  • The club is more than 100-years-old, housed in a historic home that's almost 200-years-old 

  • The club hosts events to keep it open and donations to keep the club running in the building where it first started 

Margaret Kruckemeyer is the president of the Dayton Woman’s Club.

When she gives tours, she dresses in a way that represents what she did when she served as a nurse in the military and the women’s history that still lives at the Dayton Woman's Club. 

The club hosts its meetings and events in a house that's been there since 1850. 

The club itself is a nonprofit group first formed in 1916 when many clubs and careers left out women.

“We were formed when women wanted to get together and talk about ideas and also expand,” said Kruckemeyer.

These days, the first floor of the house is used for event space and to hold club meetings on ways to help empower women through activities and education like their founders once did.

"Issues are very important and the issue of allowing women to have the right to vote, so the suffrage movement, 72 of our original founders were suffragettes,” said Kruckemeyer.

The history goes on up to the second floor.

“We had 21 sleeping rooms down this hallway, and this is like for when young ladies from the country would come in, and because of transportation issues back then, they’d stay the week in boarding rooms,” Kruckemeyer.

The house needs a lot more work now.

The Woman’s Club is trying to get funding to make improvements, expand the ways they help in the community, and save its history. 

“It’s gonna take a village to preserve like a building where this type of storytelling and history can be shared for future generations,” said Kruckemeyer.

To see their upcoming events or find out about ways you can help click here