The Women Who Civilized Prescott

Despite being the Territorial Capital at the close of the 19th Century, Prescott still clung to many aspects of a rough mining town, and the educated wives of the politicians wanted to make it more civilized.

So in 1895, they formed a group dedicated to making Prescott a city where families could thrive. Originally, it was simply called the Prescott Women’s Club, but since many other groups with that title were solely focused on women’s suffrage, they soon changed the name to the Monday Club. It is still the oldest women’s organization in Arizona.

Arizona's First Carnegie Library

One cannot tell the story of Arizona's first Carnegie library without telling of the organization that birthed it. It was a group of Prescott pioneer women who became known as The Monday Club.

1915: Prohibition Threatens to Close Prescott's Library

As the New Year dawned in 1915, everyone knew the saloons of Whiskey Row would be closed, but realization quickly set in that Prescott's library would be next.

Voter-initiated Prohibition just went into effect in Arizona. But the drying up of legal liquor also meant the drying up of city tax revenues on the sales and licensing of alcohol. This led the town fathers to make some tough decisions and severe cuts to public services.

The library, for example, required an annual budget of $600 ($24,000 in today's dollars), and the money was simply not going to be raised by the city in 1915 to keep the institution open.

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