Meeting Place:

6204 Cholleta #26
P.O. Box 684
Joshua Tree Village, CA 92252
Telephone No.: (760) 366-8934 or 366-8815

Board Meeting:

1st Wed. Sept. to May at 1:00PM

Regular Meeting:

3rd Wed. Sept. to May at 1:00PM

Guest Always Welcome - Join Us

History and Mission:

In 1890 an act of Congress established the first Federated Women's Club. It was done on the condition that the new organization locate its headquarters in Washington D.C. for reasons that have been lost to history. The founders compiled and the fledging club sunk its roots in the American soil and began the work of growing into the unknown future.

Since then the federation has spread worldwide and became the largest women's service organization in the world, having more than 10 million members. In the process, a small group of civic-minded Women in a small Southern California community called Joshua Tree organized itself loosely on the federation's model in 1944. Four years later, in 1948 it was accepted into membership as a full affiliate and, like the parent club had done almost 60 years previously, began the work of growing into an unknown future.

They would build and equip a full kitchen in the old community center on Park Blvd., not an inconsiderable ambition in economically depressed Joshua Tree of 1948.

There was the drinking fountain they funded and built in Joshua Tree; the land scraping they did for the town square; the bus transportation they arranged and paid for that took children to the nearest swimming pool in Twentynine Palms.

They contributed to building the first church in town; they contributed to buying the first ambulance in the Morongo Basin.

Donations have always been and remain a main focus for the club since philanthropy, along with education and civic service, are the three primary principles in the federation's mission.

One impressive achievement of the organization was the financing of the opening of 14,000 libraries nationwide.

In 1906, it provided funds for the establishment of a juvenile court system in the entire state of California and for many years paid the salries of all the probation officers in the agency.

Philanthropy could not have a better example than the one in a story told by Leota Bell. She is the Joshua Tree club's member of longest standing. She moved to the area in 1959. One of the very early presidents. Henrietta Pepper, was in failing health and lived alone. Leota took her in and cared for her for 20 years until she died in 1994.

Presently, donations go to the following organizations: