TheDenver Woman's Press Club (DWPC) was founded in March 1898 inDenver, Colorado byMinnie J. Reynolds.[1][2] The Denver Woman's Press Club has served as a place where Colorado professional women writers, such asjournalists andnovelists, can gather, learn, and network.
The club was created in response to a request from theGeneral Federation of Women's Clubs. Minnie J. Reynolds, a writer for theRocky Mountain News, was contacted by the General Federation of Woman's Clubs about holding their biennial conference in Denver in July 1898.[3][4][5] Although a woman's press club did not truly exist in Denver yet, Minnie said there was such a club and that they could host the event. Minnie was known to use her position to advocate for women's rights[2] and she hurried and gathered some peers together to create a press club.[5] The founders rode their bicycles to a home in theCapitol Hill neighborhood[1][5] where they created guidelines for the organization. Some criteria for admittance included were as noted:
"No woman shall be admitted to the club who is . . .
A bore
Who holds out on news reporters
Who has not a proper respect for the power of the press
Who does not read your paper
Who cannot do something to drive dull care away.
Copy readers and proof readers are forever barred from membership of this club."[4][5][6]
The club served as a place for women to gather and promote empowering ideals, such as suffrage.[7] The organization is known for running contests for writers and aspiring writers.[3][8][9][10][11]
^abcKelly, Susan Croce (2023).Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks: The Life and Times of Lucile Morris Upton. Fayetteville, AK: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 37–38.ISBN9781610758017.
^abcdBurt, Elizabeth V. (2000).Woman's Press Organizations, 1881-1999. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 52–58.ISBN0-313-30661-3.
^abAbbott, Carl (2013).Colorado: A History of the Centennial State (5th ed.). Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. pp. 193–194.ISBN978-1-60732-227-6.
