Deer Lodge in Powell County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Deer Lodge Women's League Chapter House
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 7, 2022
1. Deer Lodge Women's League Chapter House Marker
Inscription.
Woman suffrage was at the political forefront when Edward Gardner Lewis, a St. Louis promoter and publisher of women’s magazines, founded the American Women’s League in 1908. Lewis saw the League as the perfect means to promote American womanhood and among several League institutions he founded was a correspondence school called the People’s University. Chapter houses across the country served as University branches. League membership was achieved through magazine subscription sales or pledges of $52 worth of Lewis’ publications. In exchange, the League constructed 39 local chapter houses in 16 states including two in Montana at Avon and Deer Lodge. Deer Lodge women’s groups banded together to collect the requisite subscriptions and C. D. Terret donated the lot. This Prairie style bungalow, designed by St. Louis architects, was built according to one of five standardized chapter house plans. Wide bracketed eaves, heavy piers, and low side planters emphasize the horizontal orientation typical of the Prairie style, while exposed beams, dark moldings, and original stenciling highlight the Arts and Crafts interior. Financial
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reversals sent Lewis into bankruptcy as this house reached completion. Founding League member Alma Bielenberg Higgins appealed to her father, Nicholas J. Bielenberg, who purchased the mortgage. He donated the building to the women of Deer Lodge in memory of his daughter, Augusta, who died in 1901. The Deer Lodge Woman’s Club has since maintained the facility, which has always served its intended function as a women’s cultural, literary, and social center.
Location. 46° 23.907′ N, 112° 43.61′ W. Marker is in Deer Lodge, Montana, in Powell County. It is at the intersection of Missouri Avenue and Clagett Street, on the right when traveling east on Missouri Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 800 Missouri Avenue, Deer Lodge MT 59722, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 7, 2022
2. Deer Lodge Women's League Chapter House and Marker
The marker is near the left side of the steps.
marker is in andspecifically outhwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining Country. It is also in the American Mountain West and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 10, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 10, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 255 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on November 10, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
