The Haddon Fortnightly has spent more than 120 years encouraging Haddonfield women to have a voice in their community.
President of the Haddon Fortnightly Pat Underwood said as a kid she drove by the Fortnightly and wondered what people did in there. She said to this day, the Fortnightly still has an air of mystery, with people often asking her that very same question.
Founded in 1894, the Haddon Fortnightly has spent more than 120 years empowering Haddonfield women to have a voice in their community.
Deborah Mervine, Evening Membership Department chair, said that in 1894 12 women came together to “establish in Haddonfield a center for the promotion of the educational, literary and civic interests of the community.”
“When they first started meeting, you had to bring your own cup and saucer and spoon because people didn’t have enough to entertain beyond the family,” Mervine said. “Twelve would have been pushing the boundaries.”
The women meet every fortnight, or two weeks, thus they adopted the name Haddon Fortnightly. At some unknown point, the growing group of women began meeting in the Indian King Tavern, Mervine said. Around 1932, the women bought the building that is now the Haddon Fortnightly clubhouse, which was a “big deal” for women at the time, Mervine said.
Today, the Haddon Fortnightly focus is on culture and fundraising, Mervine said.
The organization consists of three autonomous divisions: the General Club, which meets during the day; the Evening Membership Department, which was formed for women who worked during the day and could only meet at night; and the Haddon League, which was formerly known as the Junior Women’s Club and consists of a younger demographic of women.
Mervine said all three groups fundraise for a variety of organizations such as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Distributing Dignity, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Alice Paul Institute. Mervine said the group’s fundraising efforts vary based on members’ interests, but many of the groups to which they donate are female-oriented organizations.
Denise Sellers, chair of the Education Committee of the Evening Department, said she thinks the Haddon Fortnightly has endured for so long, in part, due to its long history of women’s empowerment.
“We focus a lot on women’s issues and giving women a sense of agency, but also we’re open to anything,” Sellers said.
Underwood said much of the club’s purpose is to educate women on a variety of issues. She said the Haddon Fortnightly hosts guest speakers, book discussions and luncheons. In recent years, the Haddon Fortnightly has joined forces with a new generation of up-and-coming Haddonfield women by partnering with Haddonfield Memorial High School’s 50/50 Club, which is the school’s club fighting for gender equality and feminism around the world.
Last year, the 50/50 Club and the Haddon Fortnightly partnered on “Through A Woman’s Eyes,” which was an exhibition of local female artists’ work. Club advisor Margaret Gammie said the women of the Fortnightly stepped in to help make the students’ vision a reality by offering their clubhouse and helping the students to organize the exhibition.
“The Fortnightly women are very much leaders in the community showing the power of what women can do when they work together,” Gammie said. “The Fortnightly women really care about our students and helping give them opportunities to grow.”
Sellers said mentoring the girls was a fun experience for the women of the Haddon Fortnightly. She said their hope was that the collaboration might shine a positive light on women’s clubs and encourage this next generation of women to join one day.
Currently, membership at the Haddon Fortnightly is down. Mervine said in the 50s and 60s, membership in the Haddon Fortnightly was quite sizable, with more than 200 members in the General Club and more than 150 in the Evening Department. Today, each of those divisions boasts around 70 members each.
The General Club is charged with maintaining the historic building, which accounts for a “huge expense,” Mervine said.
“Maintenance of the building is a big deal,” Mervine said. “But we are losing money, and we don’t know how long we can keep it up.”
Underwood said the Clubhouse runs the club a yearly cost of between $80,0000 and $90,000. Mervine said in addition to fundraising, the club does rentals to support the building’s upkeep, but the club is still trying to find a way to maximize rentals as they are not generating sufficient income to cover the maintenance expenses.
“We still want to be able to be a charitable,” Sellers said. “It’s getting harder and harder to balance maintaining that beautiful, historical building while at the same time to help the organizations we want to help.”
Marie Dimatties, trustee of The Haddon Fortnightly, serves on the committee responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the clubhouse. She said the building plays an important role in the organization.
“For its members, The Haddon Fortnightly Clubhouse is synonymous with the Haddon Fortnightly women’s club; for many of us, it is one and the same,” Dimatties said. “We are very proud of being the stewards of this beautiful historic clubhouse.”
Sellers said dwindling membership is probably attributable to women’s increasingly busy schedules. However, she said part of the problem may be that people are just unsure of what the Haddon Fortnightly does.
“I do wish people knew more about us; I think it can sometimes have a mysterious quality to it,” Sellers said. “I encourage people to come out and hear the people that we bring in to speak.”
Both men and women are welcome to attend the Haddon Fortnightly’s meetings. In an effort to get the community engaged with the Haddon Fortnightly, the group is starting an author series. Starting on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m., the Haddon Fortnightly will host Dr. Kenneth Lacovera of Rowan University for a lecture and signing of his new book “Why Dinosaurs Matter.”
Underwood said the Haddon Fortnightly is always looking to recruit new members. She said women new to the club may be surprised by how rewarding an experience membership can be.
“I’ve been a member for almost 50 years,” Underwood said. “I take great pride in the fact that I’ve been able to help others and help each other in the club.”
Dimatties said she joined 43 years ago when she was new to Haddonfield to meet other women who also had young children. She said the experience proved to be more than she expected and became an opportunity to give back to the community in addition to making lifelong friends.
“Because of the warmth and friendship of its members who come together to learn and grow and serve the community,” Dimatties said. “It is a well kept secret which we would like to share with others.”
For more information on the Haddon Fortnightly, visit http://thehaddonfortnightly.org.
