LUCRETIA H. STEVENS

By W. Harland Boyd 

Lucretia H. Stevens, an accomplished musician and experienced clubwoman, came to Bakersfield from Michigan in 1894. She quickly became identified with the social life of the community.  She hoped a change in climate would improve the health of her husband, Dr. Ransom H. Stevens.  Lucretia welcomed friends to her home, and out of these social visits came the impetus for the founding of the Woman’s Club of Bakersfield.

            Several ladies met in the parlors of the Southern Hotel in 1896 to discuss the feasibility of organizing a woman’s club.  Initially, they envisaged a club that would study art, literature, and science.  Later and better defined objectives included, among other things, improved education, philanthropic concerns, and community welfare. 

            Lucretia was elected president of the Woman’s Club of Bakersfield upon its founding in 1896, and she held that position for five years.  A further honor was accorded her in 1900, when she was elected president of the San Joaquin Valley Federation of Woman’s Clubs.  After holding its meeting in borrowed quarters, president Lucretia led the club in building its own meeting place.  The clubhouse was opened in 1900, and in that same year the organization became affiliated with the State Federation of Woman’s Clubs.

            Among the early community-related projects of the Bakersfield Woman’s Club under president Lucretia was the establishment of a reading room, with the ultimate objective of having it absorbed into a free library.  A free municipal library became a reality in 1900, with the opening of the Beale Memorial Library.  Besides their interest in the arts and literature, the women in the mid-1890s joined a movement to close businesses on Sundays, as well as the paving of the city streets.  They opposed a threatened removal of the Beale Clock Tower.

Among Lucretia’s proudest possessions was a sterling silver life membership card given to  her by the Bakersfield Woman’s Club when she left the city in 1901.  She and her husband moved to Carmel, where they operated an inn, followed by a move to Los Angeles.  Over the years she often visited Bakersfield.  She had been ill for several weeks when she died in 1934 in Los Angeles.