The Civitas Club of Brooklyn, New York was founded in 1893 by Katherine Louise Maltby (d. 1948), an 1875 graduate of Vassar College and founder and director of Miss Katherine L. Maltby's School for Girls in Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn was home to two other women's clubs at the time, The Women's Club and Sorosis, both geared to more mature, often married women. Unlike these two clubs, Civitas was developed as a forum for the young women of the city. Miss Maltby, later Mrs. Darwin J. Meserole, founded the club "to awaken an interest in matters pertaining to municipal welfare, and to foster all movements within the circle of its influence that have for their end the improvement of any phase of civic life." This interest in civic matters was coupled with philanthropic support of social reform and a desire to make women's voices heard in political and social realms. Civitas, derived from the Latin for "citizenship," dedicated itself to the education and transformation of local women into active citizens of the city of Brooklyn and the nation, until the club's dissolution in 1993.
Founded by and for the upper-middle class social elite of Brooklyn Heights, the club was an important and influential institution. The 178 members of its inaugural year included such prominent Brooklynites as Mildred W. (b.1870) and Elizabeth H. Packard (b.1872), Caroline Bergen, wife of property developer Tunis G. Bergen, and suffragist Jeannie S. Dike Williams (1838-1920). Many early members of the Civitas Club were listed in the Brooklyn Blue Book, the city's social register, and the club's roster was included in the Brooklyn Blue Book from its first publication in 1896. The club grew to its maximum membership of 200 in 1902 and introduced a waiting list for membership. By 1933, Civitas had increased its maximum membership to 275. Members included many influential women, including Democratic National Committee Person Alice Campbell, City Councilperson Genevieve Beavers Earle (1883-1956), and community advocate Rachel Higgins Everson (1902-1993).
During its early years, the club supported numerous ventures modeled to address concerns of the period, such as education and public health. The club organized and ran a free kindergarten, vacation school, and social club for working girls, all of which were developed within a year of the club's founding. Civitas opened the School for Incapable Children in 1894. Members hired a teacher to instruct sixty children and volunteered their own time at the school.
Over the course of its existence, the club donated time and money to city beautification, The Red Cross, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and The Long Island Historical Society. The club maintained memberships with the United Nations Association; the Brooklyn Council of Social Planning, a coordinating body of health and welfare agencies; the Citizen's Union of the City of New York; and the League of Women Voters. Members also supported and worked for the establishment of a public library in Brooklyn, public transportation, and court reform. Civitas supported the Women's Overseas Hospital during World War I; concentrated on a program of education regarding issues concerning the war during World War II; and as environmental issues came to the forefront of politics in the 1970s and 1980s, members expressed vocal support of the Clean Air Act of 1977.
The Civitas Club also concerned itself with the education of its members. The club concentrated on the disbursement of knowledge and information through its bi-weekly meetings, which centered around debates and lectures by noted thinkers and members of the community. Jane Adams, W.E.B. DuBois, Emma Goldman, Alex Haley, Margaret Mead, Frances Perkins, and Upton Sinclair all spoke before the club. Civitas also sponsored debates centered around topics ranging from war, race relations, education, and the consolidation of Brooklyn and New York City.
The Civitas Club was organized into four committees, established in 1894, "representing [the Club's] different lines of work":
Government and Social Science
Education
Philanthropy
Art and City Improvement
Each committee was charged with visiting the various local institutions falling under its jurisdiction, such as courts, libraries, charities, and parks. Committee members then reported back to the club with suggestions on improvement, including ways in which the Civitas Club could further educate on a particular subject or aid a particular cause. By 1993, ten committees had replaced and augmented the original four, including a Program Committee, a Budget Committee, and a Legislative Committee. The sole purpose of the Legislative Committee was to follow impending national, state, and local legislation so the club could educate members as to its significance and relevance to their community, and garner support for or against particular legislation.
The club found that its membership dwindled as more women entered the work force in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Daytime meetings were less attractive to working women and program attendance dropped significantly during the 1980s. Making efforts to boost membership, the club allowed men to join in 1976, began to hold occasional evening meetings, and often held joint meetings with groups such as the Brooklyn Junior League. In 1993, recognizing that "the dissemination of information by television, the growing political influence of women… and the ready availability of accessible civic action [had] made [their] identification and mission as a women's group no longer necessary," and "impossible to sustain," the club was disbanded.