Zonta Orlando-Winter Park

Zonta International

Zonta International, founded on November 8, 1919, was different from many other women’s clubs in existence at that time, as Zonta was open only to women holding executive positions based on a classification system. Read about the history of Zonta International from its beginnings in 1919 to present day. According to Zonta International documents, the organization’s name and symbol were inspired by Indian words and symbols.

ABOVE: From 1944 Zonta Classification Membership guide.

Adherence to professional classifications was required for membership and only one member was permitted for each “classification” in each club. If a member resigned from the executive position for which she was extended membership, she was required to resign. There was an allowance for persons who reached retirement who had been members for five years or more.

When a member is no longer devoting sixty per cent of her time to the work through which she obtained her classification, she should resign… If later she takes an executive position with a representative firm and that classification is not already filled, she will again be eligible.

The Zonta Song, found in the Zonta Classification Membership guide (p.27), is sung to the tune of the former Russian National Hymn.

READ Articles of Association and By-Laws

Zonta Orlando-Winter Park

The Zonta Club of Orlando-Winter Park was part Florida District 4 which included north and central Florida, and Zonta District 11, which now includes Alabama, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and the British Virgin Islands. According to the Zonta history, the Orlando-Winter Park Zonta club was established in 1948 and closed in 1987.

ABOVE: Letter to Clara Wendel regarding her membership in Zonta. View transcription.

On April 15, 1948, Zonta secretary Joy Hawley, wrote to Albertson library director Clara Wendel, notifying her that she would be received as a member at their next meeting on April 22nd. It is not known how long Miss Wendel was a member of Zonta. Documents and correspondence in her Zonta file are from 1948-1951. Neither her obituary nor the tribute created by the library at the time of her death, mention her membership in Zonta.

Orlando-Winter Park Members

A Zonta Orlando-Winter Park club roster, that appears to be from 1948, includes the occupation and business name and address of women executives from Orlando, Apopka, Winter Park and Gotha.

Mrs. Eve M. Bacon, Society Editor, Winter Park Herald
Mrs. Gordy M. Bennett, Secretary, Fidelity Title & Guaranty Co.
Mrs. Helen Bennett, Chief Clerk, County of Orange, Tax Assessor
Mrs. Marie M. Bennett, Secretary-Treasurer, Florida Lumber & Millwork Association
Mrs. Cecile M. Brown, Owner, Orlando Travel Service
Mrs. Hedelia H. Burton (Mrs. W. T. Burton), Owner, H.H. Burton Catering
Miss Johnnie Byrd, Manager, Lawton’s Jewelry Company
Miss Edith Carman, Co-owner, Manager, Carman-McKechney Properties
Mrs. Lena Caruthers, Co-owner, Violet Dell, Florist
Mrs. Goldine Claybaugh (Mrs. Nat Claybaugh), Owner, Claybaugh, Realtor
Miss Tazyetta Coon, Executive Secretary, Orange County Chapter American Red Cross
Miss Alberta B. Evans, Pharmacist, Secretary-Treasurer, Angebilt Pharmacy
Miss Adele Frantz, Co-owner, The Greeting Shop
Miss Laura Joy Hawley, Co-Owner, The Whistling Oyster
Miss Ellen M. McKechney, Co-owner, Manager, Orlando Preserving Company
Miss Charlotte Robinson, Owner, Robinson Music Company
Mrs. Hazele E. Spencer, Co-owner, Manager, Ferran’s Tour-O-Tel
Mrs. Dorothea C. Watson, Associate, Watson & Watson, Attorneys
Mrs. Elayne G. Williams, Owner, Elayne G. Williams, Insurance
Miss Marie Zoellner, Executive Secretary, J. A. Russell, Packers Supplies

The 1949-1950 Zonta Orlando-Winter Park year book lists Zonta national, district, and local officers. Local club board members, standing committees, and members are also listed. Fifteen of the original charter members are noted, along with following names of new or recently married members:

Mrs. Helen Bennett Algee, Chief Clerk, County of Orange, Tax Assessor
Mrs. Ruth Banfield, Department Head Music, Memorial Junior High School
Mrs. Marian Cleveland, Dean of Women, Rollins College, Winter Park
Mrs. Eleanor Coots, Go-owner, Secretary, Coots Motors, Inc.
Mrs. Golda Lowe Davis, Manager, Mid-Florida Supply, Inc.
Mrs. Pearl Eagerton, Co-owner, Eagerton’s Garage
Mrs. Bettye Gilbert, Owner Gilbert Massage Salon
Mrs. Florence Harrison, Co-owner, Harrison Adjustment Service
Mrs. Ruth Knauer, Co-owner, Knauer Construction Company
Mrs. Nellie P. Pearre, Division Distributor Luzier’s, Inc.
Mrs. Louise Price Rybolt, Director Financial Division, U.. S. Post Office
Miss Clara Wendel, Librarian, Albertson Public Library
Mrs. Jewel P. Williams, Manager, Family Partnership

Clara Wendel’s Zonta file contains several notices from 1948-1951 regarding the acceptance of new members (below) with their classifications.

Miss Anne M. Cornelius
Miss Edna O’Harra
Miss Dorothy Lockhart
Dr. Dorothy Brame
Miss Ann Lisbeth Seese
Miss Martha Akerman
Miss Ann Curtwright
Miss Frances Jones
Mrs. Marion Cleveland
Mrs. Ruth Gee
Mrs. D. E. Fishback
Mrs. Bessie Rucker
Mrs. Edith Todd Little
Judge Mattie Farmer
Louise Price Rybolt
Mrs. Florence Harrison
Mrs. Eleanor Coots
Mrs. Nell Pearre
Mrs. Jewel Williams
Miss Sophie Grundler
Miss Frances Jones
Mrs. Pearl Eagerton
Mrs. Ruth Knauer
Mrs. Ruth Banfield
Mrs. Betty Gilbert
Mrs. Golda Lowe Davis
Mrs. Marie Fowler
Mrs. Charity Meadors
Ruth McCullough Maguire
Eunice Gunter

Publications

Zonta Orlando-Winter Park published their first newsletter called “Zonta Zig-Zags” on September 8, 1949, edited by Eve Bacon, well known for her two-volume set “Orlando: A Centennial History,” and published by Nelle Pearre. Jacksonville Zonta published a monthly district newsletter, as well.

A notice published in the February 27, 1949, Sentinel Star announced that the Orlando-Winter Park Zonta club was meeting to sponsor a new organization to be called “Friends of the Library“.

A newspaper clipping, published in the Orlando Morning Sentinel on March 3, 1949, announced the election of Mrs. Ruth McCullough Maguire as president of the newly organized Friends of the Library Association, sponsored by the Winter Park – Orlando Zonta Club.

The items under DOCUMENTS and IMAGES below, all belonged to Clara Wendel, and can be found in the Zonta or Clara Wendel files in the Florida Collection vertical files at the Main library in downtown Orlando.