Member Eunice Force hosted a Scholarship Benefit Dessert at her home in Piedmont in October, 1931 (Oakland Tribune)

The Stanford Women’s Club of the East Bay was founded in 1921 in order to promote association and friendship among Stanford women residing in the East Bay. The Club also was founded to provide members with ongoing ties to Stanford University, to provide opportunities for education and personal growth in a social setting, and to maintain a scholarship fund.

In the early days of the Club, according to Laura Sizer, class of 1913, “There were very few of us, and we held infrequent meetings.” One early focus of the Club was creating a loan fund for local women students at Stanford. Collecting the loan repayments from student recipients actually fell on the shoulders of Club members, according to Marion Elliot, ‘22, Thea Hammill, ‘19 and Mabel Infram, ‘24.

In 1940, the Club’s loan fund was replaced with a scholarship fund, the East Bay Endowment Scholarship Fund, which is administered by the University. Each year, any monies remaining after Club program expenses go to the Fund, which provides partial scholarships to several East Bay female Stanford students. The Club’s Scholarship Fund today exceeds one million dollars.

The Club has been in continuous existence as a thriving organization for over 80 years. Today there are nearly 400 active members and an e-mailing list of over 700 members, alums and friends.

The Club provides a wide variety of intellectual, cultural, professional, and social offerings, many of which are open to the public. Activities include lectures, special events, excursions, receptions, and interest groups.