Title
Clytean Club
Description
The Clytean Club began in 1897 as The Twelve, a ladies' literary society in Cleveland, Ohio, but it evolved to cover broader topics across history, current events, fiction, and nonfiction. Its name was later changed to The Clytean Club, after a brief time as the Kletian in 1898. “Clytean” was derived from a Greek myth in which Clytie, a water nymph, spent her days staring into the sun (Apollo) in unrequited love, until she was transformed into a flower so that she might continue to face the sun. The club interpreted Clytie's sunny vigil as representative of the constant quest for — and attentiveness to — knowledge, and their symbol is a sunflower, whose face similarly tracks the sun.
Notable members include Fanny Kendel, Alice Hartman Chester, and Eda Gerstacker. Kendel was active in many levels of PTA, including her serving as their National Field Secretary. Chester, a music teacher, was an inductee into the Kiwanis Hall of Fame and acknowledged as a Woman of Distinction by the Medina County YWCA. Gerstacker was the founder of the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation and mother of Carl Gerstacker, former chairman of the Dow Chemical Company.
The Clytean meets once per month, usually at a member's house, at which time the group discusses materials it has read, listens to guest speakers, votes on the admittance of new members, and plans its donations to and involvement in various charities.
Date Created
2011
Publisher
Cleveland Memory Project
What is Cleveland Memory?
The Cleveland Memory Project is a freely searchable online collection of digital photos, texts, oral histories, videos and other local history resources, built by the Michael Schwartz Library at the Cleveland State University in collaboration with a host of community partners around Northeast Ohio.
