At the turn of the 20th century, Bisbee might have been considered rough around the edges. At its peak, the Copper Queen Mine employed 2,700 men to pull copper ore from the earth and run ancillary operations, and the smelter burned 24 hours a day. Bars and brothels were on a similar schedule.
Bisbee’s women joined sewing and reading clubs to socialize, but one woman, Helen French, dreamed of something bigger. She wanted to create an organization where women could socialize but also be of service to their growing community. That organization, the Bisbee Woman’s Club, was born in the fall of 1900.
According to current members Loretta Plaa and Lindsay Koehler, the new club was well received. “Homes were small, with insufficient space for large groups, so the women raised and borrowed funds to erect a clubhouse,” says Plaa, president of the club from 2020 to 2024. “Phelps Dodge loaned land to the organization at the cost of $1 per year.”
The club hired a local architectural firm, and the clubhouse — thought to be the first women’s club building in the state — was dedicated on New Year’s Eve in 1902. In 1985, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s hosted club meetings, fundraisers, weddings, receptions, church services, concerts, educational programs and civic events during its years of service.
Among the standout women in the club’s history are Alice Metz and Bobbe Hossman. Born in 1915, Metz earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology, though she never worked in the field. She arrived in Bisbee in 1948 with her husband, a mining company executive, and held almost every BWC officer role or committee chair position over the years.
Hossman joined the BWC in 1992 and, like Metz, served on myriad committees and in officer roles; she also served on the Bisbee City Council.
“Bobbe is credited with bringing our ability to award scholarships to a higher level with the funds raised by what is now the combined Home Tour and Art, Chairs & More Auction,” Koehler says. “These days, the BWC awards five or six honoraria a year to deserving high school women and multiple scholarships to local residents seeking higher or continuing education, thanks to the Beatrice Thompson Mariotti endowment.”
And the clubhouse, of course, remains the centerpiece of the organization and holds the title of the longest continually used women’s club building in Arizona.
“The history of the Bisbee Woman’s Club is the history of the city of Bisbee,” Plaa says.