Harriet Hanson Robinson, founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association of Massachusetts, and suffragist
Caroline Severance worked with
Julia Ward Howe to organize the club. In 1868, "club rooms were first secured in ... the rear of the popular
Tremont House. On May 30, 1868, the first meeting to introduce the New England Woman's Club to the public was held in Chickering Hall." Although the club was run by and for women, men were allowed to join. A few men had attended the initial meeting, including
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
James Freeman Clarke,
Octavius Brooks Frothingham,
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and
Amos Bronson Alcott. The goal of the New England Women's Club was to "provide a suitable place of meeting in Boston for the convenience of its members, and to promote social enjoyment and general improvement." Committees oversaw club activities with regard to "Art and Literature," "Discussions," "Education," and "Work." "Monday Teas" were held every week. In its first year, club members set about organizing a horticultural school. Lectures occurred frequently, given by both club members and invited speakers. Among the many lecturers in the club's first decades were:
Louis Agassiz, Amos Bronson Alcott,
George Thorndike Angell,
Richard Henry Dana Jr., Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Annie Adams Fields,
James T. Fields,
William Lloyd Garrison,
Edward Everett Hale, Thomas Wentworth Higginson,
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.,
Henry James, and
Mary Tyler Peabody Mann. ==Buildings==