The Wednesday Club, a Manhattan-based women's group organized to discuss events, "topics of current interest and books of the day," first met on 17 November 1920 at the home of Miss Emily Sherman, 126 East 31st Street.

The Wednesday Club was born through the dissolution of the Discussion Club, a similarly-themed group formed around 1910 by women who had attended finishing classes conducted by one Mary Gass. Mrs. Gass suggested they meet regularly to learn to converse intelligently, and so appear more captivating at dinners and dances. A controversial topic of the day—the Baby Bollinger case, in which Harry J. Haiselden (1870–1919), a Chicago surgeon and eugenicist refused to perform life-saving surgery on the deformed newborn, John Bollinger (1915–1915)—led to the club's demise. In discussing the case, some members made "dreadful remarks," others giggled, so the officers decided to disband the club, citing impending war work as the reason.

In 1920, Lois Herrick, along with a few members of the original club, invited those who had given no offense at the Bollinger discussion to attend meetings of a new club to be held on alternate Wednesdays—hence the name—between November and May. Most meetings were to be led by members and given over to discussion or debate. Some dates were to feature professional speakers or discussion leaders. Meetings were to take place at members' homes, thus limiting the size of the club's roster. Sixteen members attended the first meeting to discuss "Modern Youth and Its Ways."

Topics in the ensuing 95 years of the Wednesday Club's existence have been chosen by committee from ideas submitted by the membership. At two or three meetings each year during the club's early existence, members were expected to express their views on a book they had each read. There were theater outings and site visits (e.g., the United Nations, the New York Stock Exchange). At some meetings members recited poems and read essays, or discussed hobbies and collecting interests. At others they were entertained by well-known speakers like the Algonquin Round Table wit Heywood Broun (1888–1939). Christopher Morley (1890–1957) refused their invitation by a humorous letter which must have generated discussion enough for a whole session: "My fee is One Hundred and Fifty dollars and if you say that is too much I shall be the first to agree!" (see Box 1, Folder 25).

[This note is drawn largely from "History of the Wednesday Club, 1920–1970" in Box 1, Folder 17.]