The Ladies’ Home Culture Club was organized October 3, 1901. The club had its beginning as four friends sat around a card table at the home of Mrs. Grace West. The date was September of 1901 and the other three women were Mrs. Bird Sweet, Mrs. Yocum, and Miss Nine Kendrick. Conversation turned to the need for more social life in the then comparatively new town of Marceline. As a result, seven ladies – Mrs. Sweet, Mrs. Yocum, Miss Kendrick (later Woodworth), Mrs. Murray, Mrs. White, Mrs. West, and Mrs. Shelton – became charter members and gathered together 24 ladies who met with Mrs. Sweet on October 3, 1901, for the purpose of organizing a club. Mrs. Olive Shelton became the first president. Her suggestion for a name and motto were adopted. Programs at each meeting were suggested and arranged for the following meeting. Several years later, yearbooks were introduced. On October 12, 1951, the Home Culture Club celebrated its 15th anniversary. The occasion was observed at the Christian Church reception room. Two charter members were honored at this meeting, Mrs. Murray and Mrs. White. Four former members from out-of-town were present and greetings were read from many others. It was a gala occasion.
An outstanding event through the years was the annual New Year’s Feast which was the high point of the year’s activities. This was enjoyed by the families of members and eagerly anticipated from year to year.
Probably the most colorful event in the history of the Club took place in the earlier days when the husbands of the Ladies’ Home Culture Club members staged a surprise party for them aboard a private Santa Fe dining car. The dining car was attached to Santa Fe Train No. 10, arriving here about 9 o’clock at night. A Harvey House Chef and a full corps of waiters served a ten-course dinner. Cut flowers decorated the tables and the women were in formal attire. There were toasts to the ladies and many speeches. Among the husbands who proved ability as orators were Senator B. L. White, Clarence Kendrick, George Early, C. U. Murray, W. N. Wheeler, and E. W. Taylor.
Through the years the membership has been limited to twenty-four women. The purpose of the Club remains chiefly social, and the motto continues to be “”EACH FOR THE OTHER AND ALL FOR TRUTH.”