It all began on Christmas Day in 1886, when a group of high-spirited and noble- minded women in Davenport decided to do something “toward making life better and brighter for working girls.”

The Lend-A-Hand Club thus was born. Now it's celebrating its 100 th anniversary with an open house from 2 to 4 pm Saturday at the club building at 105 S. Main Street in Davenport .

The club's focus has changed a bit. It's now serving the elderly, the needy and the handicapped, but it has a rich history to celebrate.

Lend-a-Hand also has an exciting future with plans for a new facility.

Catch up on the club's progress and plans.

Still Lending- Peg Hathaway, president of the Lend-A-Hand Club, says the club's fundamental mission hasn't changed since it began.

(Quad City Times photo by Don Jones)

Lend- a- Hand expands in 100th year
By Scott Grau
Quad City Times

It all began on a Christmas Day in 1886, when Dr. Jennie McGowan and a group of “high-spirited and noble-minded” women in Davenport decided to do something “toward making life better and brighter for working girls.”
That “something” was a club- the Lend-a-Hand Club- and it's celebrating its 100 th anniversary with an open house 2-4p.m. Saturday at the Lend-a-Hand Club building at 105 S. Main St. in Davenport .
The focus of the club has shifted to serving the elderly, the needy and the handicapped, but it has a rich history to celebrate.
It also has an exciting future ahead, with plans to build a new facility for the elderly and handicapped at 3 rd and Ripley streets using a $2.2 million federal grant.
The current building was built in 1923 by the club with the help of the entire community. But the private, non-profit organization had already been at work for a long time serving the community.
Beginning with a single room in 1887 at second and Brady streets, the Lend-a-Hand focused on the needs of working women, some as young as 14, who were often from out of town and had no place else to go.
In addition, the club provided a library and reading room, which held about 90 women and rented for $150 per year.
The club aimed at providing a safe, clean environment combined with a healthy moral influence that included self-help, counseling and recreation.
McCowen, a nationally known advocate of women's rights, said the purpose of the group was to “look up and not down; look forward and not back; look out and not in; lend a hand.”
The growth of the club meant more space was needed, and in 1901 Lend-a-Hand organized rooms for 12 women at 708 Brady Street . In 1902, the club moved its headquarters to 323 W. 2 nd St. More than 20,000 people a year used its facilities.
With this growth came more programs and services, including languages, music, homemaking and hot meals. The club provided a loan fund for education, an employment agency, an afternoon child -care nursery, a saving program and a committee to help those who became sick.
This growth, including many young women who moved to Davenport from the country, led to a demand for still more space, and in 1923 the club built the current building.
Programs were initiated to help transient women stranded without funds, and women who had been physically abused, and counseling and language instruction services were expanded.
Changes came in the 1930s, as the lounge, cafeteria, swimming pool and meeting rooms, which had always been restricted to women, were opened up for community use.
Times and society changed, and the needs the Lend-a-Hand was called on to address changed. New organizations came into existence to deal with some of the problems traditionally addressed by a Lend-a-Hand, but the club still found a role to play in community service.
The Lend-a-Hand now rents out the building to the city to help provide low-cost housing for elderly and handicapped men and women. The building also houses the Commission on Aging for Senior Iowans.
Peg Hathaway, current president of the Lend-a- Hand Club, points out that the changing role of the Lend-a Hand doesn't change the fundamental mission of the group, which is to “lend a hand,” and help those in need.
Lend-a-Hand will continue to do what it can to help others, and will continue to explore new ways of extending that help, she said.
“We are looking forward to serving the community for the next 100 years,” she said. There are definite needs in the community, and we are looking forward to doing bigger and better things.”

Lend-a-Hand founder kept an active community pace

Dr. Jennie Mc Cowen, the founder of the Lend – a – Hand Club in Davenport , was a woman ahead of her time. In an age where women were supposed to find “their place” at home and in the kitchen, Mc Cowen pursued a professional career in medicine. She graduated with honors in 1876 at the State University of Iowa and took a position on the medical staff of the State Hospital for the Insane at Mount Pleasant , Iowa .

In 1880 she moved to Davenport and was made secretary of the Scott County Medical Society. In 1883 she was elected president of that society.

In 1884 she became a member of a committee from the State Medical Society to lobby for better care for the mentally ill. In 1885 she was elected to membership in the New York Medico- Legal Society, which up to that time had admitted just two women out of a total membership of more than 400.

She was involved in a variety of local, national and international professional organizations, and served as president of several organizations devoted to medical, scientific and legal issues.

She also served for years as one of the directors of the national Children's Home Society and was one of the editors of that society's magazine. She was active in working with the rights of women and children, as well as the mentally ill, and achieved widespread professional recognition despite some opposition from those who were prejudiced against women.

She was also a member of the Association of the Advancement of Women in Iowa , served on the staff of the local hospitals in Davenport , and was chairman of the training school committee at St. Luke's Hospital.

She died at age 80 in 1924, just one year after the new Lend – a- Hand was built at 105 S. Main St .

Club Makes $1 Go A Long Way

The Lend-a-Hand Club no longer manages the building that bears its name at 105 S. Main St. in Davenport, but it still plays an active role in assisting those in need. The club leases the building to the city for $1 annually to provide housing for 48 elderly and handicapped residents of the downtown building.

In addition, the club contributes furniture and other items to the Commission on Aging for Senior Citizens, makes contributions to the Furniture and Appliance Warehouse and assists other charitable groups. The club received good news in September- learning that the Federal Government has approved a $2,235,000 Housing and Urban Development loan to build a new building on the south side of 3 rd Street at Ripley Street . That building could be completed by 1989.

The furniture of the existing building remains uncertain, but Peg Hathaway, club president, said the club plans to continue its work.

For the time being it will continue to focus on elderly and handicapped housing, she said, but the club plans to keep up with changing times and needs. The club has been a general community organization- no longer restricted to women- for a long time, and its commitment to helping others remains strong, she said.

The Lend-a-Hand 100 Year Celebration (Information)

Look up and not down,
Look forward and not back,
Look out and not in,
And lend a hand!

The Lend-a-Hand
100 Year Celebration
Open House
5 December 1987
2 to 4 o'clock on Saturday
Lend-a-Hand Building

The Lend-a-Hand Board Members
Mrs. Alan Hathaway, President
Mrs. A. Fred Berger, Sr., Vice President
Jack D. Schmidt, Treasurer
Rev. J. Christenson, Secretary
Hans Gerhts
Louis Larkin
Mrs. E. L. Manning
William Roseberg
Mrs. L. T. Sloane

Legal Advisors: Loren Ted Sloane, Scott Van Vooren

Investment Advisor & Manager: Thomas C. Lindberg

Architectural Advisor: Roman Scholz

Providing Excellence in Community Service Since 1887

The Lend-a-Hand … a story of growth…and service

One hundred years ago our founder, Dr. Jennie Mc Cowan, and her friends recognized an unfilled social need in our community and together pledged to,

… “Lend a hand in any way possible, to any who may be ill, out of employment, or otherwise in need of a friend; to comfort those in trouble, to help the lonely and friendless, to have a care for the young and inexperienced, especially those away from home, to avoid slander and evil speaking, and try to live by the “Golden Rule.”

During these early years the Lend-a-Hand Club focused on the needs of working women, women as young as 14 years of age, who worked twelve hours a day under stifling conditions. The aim of the club was to furnish these women with “physical, mental and moral training” through programs centered on self- help, mutual improvement, and social recreation of a desirable character. In addition the club provided quarters for a noon rest, a library and a reading room, which held about ninety women, and rented for $150 per year.

By 1901 the growing need for a “boarding home” for young women became evident and characteristically the Lend-a-Hand rose to answer the need by organizing rooms for twelve women at 708 Brady Street, separate from the club rooms which were rapidly becoming over crowded.

Thus… from a single room in 1887 on the corner of 2 nd and Brady Streets, the Lend-a-Hand moved to more spacious quarters at 323 W. 2 nd St. in 1902, where the club could better meet the changing needs of its 750 members and the community.

The programs offered to women of all ages were many and varied. Each noon 200 hot meals were served at an average cost of 12 cents in the club dining room. Lessons were given in language, music, homemaking, and hygiene. There was a loan fund available for education and for those temporarily in financial need, as well as a 5 cents saving program. The club sponsored an employment agency, a women's exchange where articles made by women at home could be sold, an afternoon childcare nursery and a be-friender committee to oversee sickness or distress of any kind.

An increasing number of young women from rural areas, emancipated by the sufferage movement, were moving to Davenport seeking education and employment. They needed a place to live which would be secure, clean, in-expensive and where they could share friendships and experiences with others like themselves.

Thus, in 1923 the Lend-a-Hand members, with the help of the entire community, built the Lend-a-Hand Club Building we know today for $200,000. The programs which continued were only for women, and were expanded to include: counseling and instruction for foreign women and children, and, at no cost, rooms and assistance to transient women without funds and for women who had been physically abused. A wide variety of problems concerning women's welfare were dealt by the Lend-a-Hand personnel.

By the 1930's the club whose premises had always been exclusively for women, invited community groups of both sexes to use the lounge, cafeteria, swimming pool and meeting rooms. Elderly women could now find a low cost home at the club.

For the next twenty years the public rooms were filled both day and night with meetings of civic and cultural organizations, student recitals, Boy and Girl Scout meetings, swimming lessons, social events, to mention a few.

The World War 2 years were especially busy for the Lend-a-Hand, as a special effort was extended to meet the needs of our armed forces personnel.

As times change, new needs are born. In 1970 the Lend-a-Hand recognized the shortage of low cost housing for Davenport 's elderly men and women. Once again the Club in cooperation with the city of Davenport and C.A.S.I., extended its helping hand to meet the new challenge; to house, feed and sponsor a host of new varied programs for Davenport 's Senior Citizens.