Archives West Finding Aid

The Bellingham PLF Club (Progressive, Literary Fraternal Club) was organized in 1900 as a community organization for educated Bellingham Women. The PLF Club was federated in Washington State in October, 1900, and throughout its 67 year history was an active member of the Washington Federation of Women’s Clubs. Founding members included Washington State poet laureate Ella Higginson, and the first president, Mrs. Frances Axtell. Originally, the main focus was to “establish and maintain a social club, provide reading rooms, provide and give instruction for the diffusion of scientific, artistic, musical or historical purposes.”*

Early activities of the PLF Club included sponsoring lectures by visiting notables, including actors, writers, and politicians. In 1904, the club raised 2200.00 dollars and built a club house, known as Garden Hall, at the corner of Holly and Garden streets in downtown Bellingham. This was the first women’s club house in Washington State. The club house served as a venue for lectures, readings, and other club events, and in June 1908, it hosted the annual meeting of the State Federation for the first time. The PLF Club also used the club house to generate revenue by renting it out for social occasions. However, in 1914 the club sold the house when it became too burdensome to maintain. Later, the building’s name was changed to Tabernacle Hall.

Over time, charitable and social causes came to dominate the club’s activities. The PLF Club worked for city improvements in the water supply, food sanitation, public parks, education, and libraries. The club raised and donated funds to local organizations such as the City Mission, the Y.W.C.A, the Red Cross Milk Fund, Campfire Girls, the Salvation Army, and the Orthopedic Hospital. Beginning in 1941, the PLF participated in WFWC efforts to acquire and preserve forested land along the Snoqualmie highway, near Enumclaw. The "Federation Forest", which came to include 619 acres of old growth forest, later became the Federation Forest State Park. In 1952, one parcel of forest was dedicated as the Ella Higginson Grove. In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the club’s primary causes was the museum fund, to support the renovation and modernization of the Whatcom Museum of History and Art. The club raised and donated thousands of dollars to the museum.

In 1933, the PLF Club spearheaded the formation of a Whatcom County Federation of Women’s Clubs. Many notable Bellingham women were members of the PLF Club, which started with a membership of twenty in 1900, and never experienced a roster of more than forty.

*from Lottie Roeder Roth's History of Whatcom County (Seattle: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 19260