Ida Saunders Hall
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Old home of Wm. Edrington Scott (1899-1961), who gave to Fort Worth the unique Scott Theater for all the performing arts. Built in 1903 and bought by Woman's Club in 1929. Named for a leader in the Fort Worth Woman's Club.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1903, this residence was the home of William Edrington Scott (1899–1961), the Fort Worth benefactor who later gave the city its Scott Theater for the performing arts. The Woman's Club of Fort Worth acquired the house in 1929 and named it for Ida Saunders, a leader within the club. The building thus links private philanthropy with the civic life of the city's organized women.
Why it matters
It reflects the influential role of women's clubs in shaping the cultural and civic institutions of American cities in the early twentieth century.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · William Edrington Scott
- · Ida Saunders
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Margaret Meacham Hall
Fort Worth, TX
This Fort Worth building honors Mrs. H. C. Meacham, a charter member and longtime director of the Fort Worth Woman's Club. Built in 1905 by J. F. Moore, the house was sold in 1920 to Baptist Hospital for use as a nurses' residence, then purchased by the Woman's Club in 1949 — a acquisition that gave the club an entire city block.
William G. Newby Memorial Building
Fort Worth, TX
German cotton exporter Herman Frerichs built this grand house in 1910–1911, only to be stranded in Germany when World War I erupted in 1914. Branding him an enemy alien, the U.S. government seized the property under the Trading with the Enemy (Alien Property) Act and held it until the war's end. Frerichs sold it in 1923 to Mrs. William G. Newby, who gave it to the Fort Worth Woman's Club in her husband's memory.
Woman's Club of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX
In 1923, women from eleven social and study circles, some dating back before 1900, merged into the Woman's Club of Fort Worth under the leadership of Miss Anna Shelton, its first president. The charter members first gathered in a house donated by Etta O. Newby before the growing club acquired buildings of its own. Its members carried on civic, charitable, and educational work and built a Texana library, and by 1975 the club counted some 3,000 members.
Florence Shuman Hall
Fort Worth, TX
Named for a charter member of the Fort Worth Woman's Club, this building began as a 1905 cottage rebuilt in 1910 by civic leader W. R. Edrington. The Woman's Club, formed in 1923, purchased the house the next year as a home for its committees devoted to civic improvement.