The Nineteenth Century Club

The Nineteenth Century Club is a historic philanthropic and cultural women's club based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Nineteenth Century Club adopted the idea that the community was an extended "household" that would benefit from the "gentler spirit" and "uplifting influence" of women, and shifted towards civic reform. The club primarily focused on the needs of women and children, addressing public problems such as sanitation, health, education, employment, and labor conditions.

The club was founded in May 1890 following an assembly of elite white women at the Gayoso Hotel in Memphis. The founding members included the women activists Elise Massey Selden, Elizabeth Fisher Johnson, Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, Elizabeth Lyle Saxon, Clara Conway, and Lide Meriwether. The stated objectives of the club were "to promote the female intellect by encouraging a spirit of research in literary fields and provide an intellectual center for the women of Memphis." The club was immediately successful, with membership steadily rising and peaking at around 1,400 members in 1926.

In 1891, one of the four committees in the club was "Philanthropy and Reform", which attempted to influence Memphis officials. The members wanted to participate in the development of the city and inject women's "gentler spirit" and more "loving wisdom" into municipal affairs. While the activities of the club empowered female influence in politics, members made many assurances that the goal was not radical political upheaval, cautioning against ambition and arguing that activism made was merely "housekeeping" that was extended to the "family" of the city community.

The activism promoted by the club was described as a very selfless and feminine brand of activism. Despite the many disclaimers, the movement did signal a "new sense of power and capacity among American women", particularly in the South. The club motto was "Influence is Responsibility", which epitomized their feelings of accountability for society.

In 1892, the Congress of the Association for the Advancement of Women congregated for the first time in a southern city at its 20th annual meeting with the Nineteenth Century Club. Founding member Clara Conway made the opening remarks, stating that women "were impatient with incompleteness" and were eager to move away from leisure to become productive members of society.

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