A Storied Past: Denver Woman’s Press Club’s Architectural Legacy

Denver Woman’s Press Club (DWPC) clubhouse exterior today. | Photo: Amy Norton

Women writers had it rough back in the late 1800s, when working outside the home was frowned upon. Few had offices where they could work, and at the same time, many were involved in the suffrage movement, fighting for women’s rights. The Denver Woman’s Press Club (DWPC) was founded in 1898 by 19 charter members with Minnie J. Reynolds, an organizer and influential suffrage leader, as president.

Minnie J. Reynolds, Founder of Denver Woman’s Press Club, 1898. | Photo: History Colorado

As the club’s numbers grew, the members needed “a room of their own”—or, more accurately, a building of their own. In 1924 they purchased their own clubhouse: The Denver chapter is the only woman’s press club in America to own their own building. The DWPC clubhouse, at 1325 Logan Street, will be open to the public during Doors Open Denver, Saturday, September 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Members at the club’s 63rd birthday party. | Photo: Courtesy of DWPC

“People always wonder about the DWPC’s clubhouse, the lone building left standing on the west side of Logan Street between 13th and 14th Avenues in a sea of parking lots,” says Jenna Browning, Denver Woman’s Press Club president and former CH&L associate editor. “While the DWPC hosts community literary events throughout the year, Doors Open Denver offers a special occasion to showcase our historic landmark property.”

“Visitors can learn about the trailblazing women who founded our club as they observe eclectic English “craftsman” architecture with period details; journalistic artifacts such as typewriters and an Associated Press teletype machine; and a collection of nature etchings and watercolors by renowned artist George Elbert Burr, who built the brick building as his studio home and gifted the club with selected works when it purchased his house in 1924.”

Historic interior. | Photo: Courtesy of DWPC

The structure was built in 1910 in the architectural style of a 20th-century English Craftsman cottage by renowned American etching artist George Elbert Burr (1859-1939), who designed the residence as a combination art studio, salon and home.

He worked with the architectural firm Varian & Varian to help him design the house, living there with his wife Elizabeth until he sold it to the Denver Woman’s Press Club in 1924. Purchased for $9,000 with money raised through a series of socialite balls, the clubhouse was paid off in full after four years.

1924 Ball Program. | Photo: Courtesy of DWPC

Visitors to the DWPC will find a structure filled with historical pieces including etchings by Burr on display; a dumbwaiter that carries food from the tiny first-floor kitchen to the larger kitchen in the basement; brass fixtures; the original wood banisters, bookcase and skylight; an A.B. Chase piano purchased by the DWPC in 1935; and a large portrait of Mary Elitch Long hanging on the northwest wall.

In addition, mementos from the club’s history are on display, and the compact second-floor space that once served as the Burrs’ bedrooms now houses the DWPC archives. Photos of presidents and various documents line the walls.

Photo: Courtesy of DWPC

The club’s membership, throughout its history, has included numerous women leaders. Among them:

• Minnie J. Reynolds, DWPC’s first president, an organizer and influential suffrage leader 
• Mary Elizabeth Bates, one of the first woman doctors in Denver
• Mary Florence Lathrop, one of Denver’s first woman lawyers
• Helen Ring Robinson, Colorado’s first woman state senator
• Helen Marie Black, first woman business manager of a major symphony orchestra (she was instrumental in the founding of the Denver Symphony)
• Mary Coyle Chase, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the play Harvey
• Dottie Lamm, journalist, activist, former First Lady of Colorado and member of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame
• Sandra Dallas, renowned author and member, Colorado Authors Hall of Fame

Helen Marie Black. | Photo: Courtesy of DWPC

The Denver Woman’s Press Club is the oldest continuously operating woman’s press club in the U.S. For additional information, visit dwpconline.org. Doors Open Denver is the annual flagship event of the Denver Architecture Foundation. Free and open to the public, the event invites people to explore Denver’s built environment. For additional information, visit denverarchitecture.org.