| Marker Text |
In 1868, Robert Calvert and other local farmers urged the Houston & Texas Central Railroad to build through the area. The city of Calvert became an agricultural trade center and attracted new residents from other area settlements. After the turn of the 20th century, women's clubs became a popular aspect of community life throughout the country. In 1907, Missouri-based businessman Edward G. Lewis founded the American Woman's League (AWL), an organization tied to selling league materials and magazines. Calvert women organized a chapter in 1908 and qualified for a chapter house built and furnished by the AWL. In May 1909, Ella Hamman donated this lot to the AWL, which built a Class I chapter house for the Calvert group. Lewis hired Helfensteller, Hirsch and Watson, a St. Louis firm, to design five classes of league chapter houses. The architects chose the Prairie style for their plans. Details of the Calvert chapter house include a low gabled roof and integrated planter boxes. For the interior, designed to resemble a home, Lewis commissioned George Julian Zolnay for a bas relief sculpture entitled "Woman's Mission." Lewis' AWL group did not last, but local women reorganized as the Calvert Woman's Club in the late 1930s and operated a community library from the chapter house, which continued to be used for local meetings and functions. Katy Hamman Stricker, a charter Calvert AWL member for whom the building is named, continued to donate to the library for many years, helping to ensure its long-standing role as a place for education and gathering in the Calvert community. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003 |
