19th Century Club highlights cultural history

Diane Pingle (left) and Georga Parchem are among the performers in “Snapshots from our Past” this Sunday. | Photo by the 19th Century Club

Though the organization was founded in 1891, many of us in the community still don’t understand the significance of the 19th Century Club. Like why wasn’t the name changed when the century turned?

The organization is now called the 19th Century Charitable Association, which clarifies the members’ dedication to generous community work, such as providing scholarships for local students. 

And nearly two decades ago, the original “19th Century Woman’s Club” title dropped the gender since men were becoming members as well. 

This last development would have been inconceivable to the founders, of course. But I’m sure those forward-thinking ladies would be thrilled to hear their club not only still exists but is active and thriving. 

The club’s 125th anniversary will be celebrated on Sunday, May 1, with two performances of a special home-grown pageant, “Snapshots from the Past,” a large-scale benefit production showcasing 30-some local actors, musicians, and personalities.

Two well-known 19th Century Club members, both educators and “theater people,” Georga Parchem and Diane Pingle, have combined their talents to create a narrated, 90-minute, two-act show that promises to be lively and fun and, of course, informative. 

Parchem & Pingle, who conceived the entire project, are the co-directors as well.

All of the characters portrayed in the upcoming production are connected to the historic 19th Century Club, including early founding members, local suffragists, activists, and even some infamous Oak Parkers. The list includes a wide variety of the many internationally-known speakers, poets, politicians, and performers who lectured at the club over many decades.

“It’s an amazing list,” said Pingle, “from Thornton Wilder to Indira Gandhi, Paul Robeson to Carl Sandburg — everybody from musician Bobby Short to TV personality Dorsey Connors, poet Gwendolyn Brooks to author James T. Farrell. We have actors playing poets Langston Hughes and Edna St. Vincent Millay, folk singer Ella Jenkins, Hull House social activist Jane Addams, and aviatrix Amelia Earhart. I’ll be portraying author Ernest’s mother Grace Hall Hemingway.” 

“When they established the club in 1891,” Parchem pointed out, “the founders were energetic women who realized that education and civic involvement were the keys to building a strong community. I’ll be portraying May Estelle Cook, one of the most active, enthusiastic, and energized women in Oak Park, and a founder of the club.”

This is the first time actors from all of the theater groups in our communities have participated in one large benefit production — from Open Door to the Free Readers Ensemble. And some of us are not actors. I’ll be playing British mathematician, philosopher and socialist Bertrand Russell who brought his message of pacifism to the club members during the Vietnam War when he was in his 90s.

Celebrated dancer and director of the Academy of Movement & Music, Stephanie Clemens, will be bring to life two legendary dancers, Ruth St. Denis and Maria Tallchief. 

“Snapshots from the Past” is a monumental project involving a great number of people. Several individuals will be portraying themselves: Virginia Cassin, former village clerk and fair housing activist, and Sherlynn Reid, director of Community Relations at village hall during the challenging decades during out transition to a diverse community. Reid eventually served as the first African American president of the 19th Century Club. 

“This massive project Georga and Diane have taken on is somewhere between the Oberammergau Passion Play, the parting of the Red Sea, and the Allied landing at Omaha Beach,” marveled Belinda Bremner of Festival Theatre, who is playing Frank Lloyd Wright’s mother, Anna Lloyd Wright.

Located at 158 Forest Ave., just a block north of Lake Street, across from Austin Gardens Park, the 19th Century Club is located on the south edge of the Frank Lloyd Wright historic district.

“We are especially excited that ‘Snapshots from the Past’ will allow hundreds of people to see our newly restored ballroom and acoustically-improved theater,” said Pingle.

“This is now the best performance space between Chicago and Oak Brook,” said Allen Parchem, lead volunteer in the building restoration and Georga’s husband. “It’s a venue like none other in our community.” 

Tickets for “Snapshots from the Past” costs $20. There will be two performances on Sunday, May 1 — at 1:30 and 4 p.m. Phone 708-386-2729 or contact info@nineteenthcentury.org.