03/25/2026
Sharing a slice of history from GFWC California Women's Clubs. Check out their page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573781113103, to learn about more amazing women.
Clara Burdette was the first president of the California Federation of Women's Clubs when it was founded in 1900. She was also an officer of the General Federation of Women's Clubs from 1902 to 1904. She was active in politics, including the 1932 presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover, and in Pasadena social life. She was a major backer of the Pasadena Maternity Hospital. She was a founder, second president, and life member of the Ebell Club, a women's social and philanthropic organization in Los Angeles. She was director of the Southwest Museum and the Pasadena Humane Society. After suffrage was gained, she was an organizer of the national League of Women Voters and the Women's Legislative Council of California.
With her third husband and others, she was a founder of Temple Baptist Church in Los Angeles. As a pastor's wife, or "Pastoress" (her preferred title), she was busy in the life of the congregation, organizing the women's activities and serving on numerous committees, and taking a leading role in building the Philharmonic Auditorium, which would house the large congregation and become a major venue for musical and cultural events in Los Angeles.
