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The Ravinia Woman’s Club originated as the Woman’s Civic Club of Ravinia in 1911. (Until 1899 Ravinia existed as a village.) The goals of the Club focused on maintaining the needs and friendships of the small community. Throughout its years of service, the Club focused on families, friendship, and civic engagements that benefited those living in Ravinia. General Federation of Women’s Clubs, did not exclude men; and men did join and participate.. The Ravinia Woman’s Club was both state and nationally recognized. These records end in 1969 after the Club voted to be absorbed into the Highland Park Woman’s Club.

Despite their growth and annexation to Highland Park, Ravinia citizens expressed a need for organization that would continue to focus on their small community. In 1911 the Woman’s Civic Club of Ravinia organized and held its first meeting. The original thirty-three charter members held education as their primary concern.

In 1912 the Ravinia Woman’s Club Ravinia Commission was established the Ravinia Commission to focus on the civic needs of the community. Two years later, in 1914, the Commission separated from the Club due to government restrictions. Yet, they continued to work closely with each other for the betterment of the community. From 1914 until 1925, the a Library Committee formed and collected books which it then gave to the local school and Highland Park Hospital. It subsequently changed the Committee name to Civics and Philanthropy.

The different commissions vied for the most unique way to design the meeting house (an old schoolhouse previously used as a community building) to be honored with a dedication ceremony held every November 22. The ceremony, initially known as the “lighting of the fire” in building’s hearth and the designing competitions became known as remodeling and furnishing “The Village House” in honor of having the old schoolhouse given to the Club in 1913.

The Woman’s Civic Club of Ravinia joined the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs and the 10th district Federation of Illinois in 1914. Due to their increased size and activities level, they created many committees to assist with various projects and programs. In 1921 the Education Committee which as become so large and compartmentalized that it renamed itself the Arts Committee and focused on bringing drama, art, and music to the “twilight teas” events. These events included children and adults both associated and not associated with the Club.

By 1928, the Woman’s Civic Club of Ravinia changed its name to the Ravinia Woman’s Club and had 222 active members. Throughout the years of the Ravinia Woman’s Club retained its main focus has always remained the same, a focus on the betterment of the community through sociable, educational, and cultural events that promoted friendship and the beatification of the area. The Club’s information runs until 1969 when the membership voted to became absorbed by the Highland Park Woman’s Club. For more information on the intermittent years, look in the history section of the various Member Directories.

The Ravinia Garden Club was organized on August 16, 1927, by gardeners in a newly subdivided area of southeast Highland Park. Established to help educate the community in the art of gardening in the difficult conditions presented by the heavily forested woods and ravines that came to be the namesake of the community, founded as woman's club. Like other charitable Garden Club organizations of the era, they became well known for assisting with and sponsoring many horticultural related personal and civic projects throughout the years, often at the behest of the local, State, and Federal governments; in addition, to becoming a well-known philanthropic organization.

The Ravinia Garden Club nurtured initiatives beyond projects or public works. Endeavors also encompassed initiatives like the Garden Therapy project (which helped boost troops’ morale at Fort Sheridan during World War II), sponsoring youth education, and donating to botanical gardens and arboretums, and fund-raising for various other meritorious organizations and causes.

In 2017, members currently live in several communities in Lake county and elsewhere.

For a more complete history written by the organization, please see box 2.

Ravinia was originally created as an amusement park when A.C. Frost purchased it in 1904. It was intended to lure people to the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad. The amusement park had a baseball diamond, an electric fountain and a casino building that could be used for dining and dancing. By 1910, Ravinia went into receivership; as the amusement park was not able to lure enough people to the railroad. A group of residents, convinced of the value of the park, purchased it and formed the Ravinia Company. The park re-opened in 1911, as a summer venue for classical music, under the leadership of Louis Eckstein. In 1912, opera was added to the concert program and was a main attraction throughout the “Golden Age” of opera until the 1930s. Many of opera’s biggest names performed at Ravinia. During the Depression, the park closed from 1932-1936. Louis Eckstein died in 1935; his widow donated the park to the festival association in 1944. In May 1949, the original wooden pavilion burned down. Six weeks later, the park opened on schedule ready to proceed with its summer programming. The first music director, Seiji Ozawa, was appointed in 1964. During the 1970s, concert opera performances returned. By the 1980s, the festival expanded to include a professional studies division, the Steans Music Institute. During the 1990s, Zarin Mehta, CEO of Ravinia pioneered the jazz festival-within-a-festival and oversaw the renovation of many of the park’s physical facilities. By the late 1990s, the summer music program was expanded. By the turn of the 21st century, Welz Kauffman, the president and CEO of Ravinia, created a music theater initiative which sought to recognize influential composers of music theater. A new music theater branch was added to the Steans Music Institute, focusing on the role of an orchestra in Music Theater. Most recently, Ravinia has focused on community outreach and providing educational opportunities. The festival runs educational programs throughout Chicago public schools. In 2003, One Score, One Chicago was introduced to promote interest in classical music. Today, Ravinia continues to bring many different types of great music to the community, both through great performances and educational opportunities.

Resource: http://www.ravinia.org/History.aspx.

The Ravinia Depot, erected and designed in 1889 for the Chicago and North Western Railway, underwent a renovation that began in 1982. Rededication ceremonies of the restored depot took place September 2, 1989.