The Women Chemists Dining Club

In addition to the Chemical Society, there had been a Chemistry Club since 1872.3 This organisation provided the socialisation and bonding of the male chemists. Thus, the formation of the Women Chemists Dining Club can be seen as providing an equivalent venue for women chemists. 

The first meeting (only later was it called a Club) was organised by Martha Whiteley and Ida Smedley in November 1925 at the Lyceum Club in London.88 The purpose of the Club was such that women chemists would have the opportunity to meet and to develop friendships (perhaps what we would now call networking ). Three dinners were held per year with an occasional speaker, usually from outside the field of chemistry. 

The organisation appeared to be low-key. It was first mentioned in print in the journal Chemistry and Industry in 1952, at which time there were 66 members.88 In the following issue, there was an editorial ruminating on the existence of the Club  

It is with much interest that we learned a few weeks ago that women chemists in London had formed a Club. Most men are clubbable, one way or another, but we did not know this was true of women. We wonder if this formation of a Club for women chemists is another sign of female emancipation. We should be glad to think that they mellow over a bottle or two of fine wine. We commend claret — the Queen of wines. Presumably claret attained this title because of its beauty, its grace and its subtlety — admirable qualities which men have always associated with women.89 

The article continued No doubt the ladies of this Club even smoke. .. though the editor recommends that the women consider snuff instead  

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There was one notable difference between the two sagas whereas the Women Chemists Dining Club, organised by Martha Whiteley and Ida Smedley, never flourished and ceased... 

C.C. Wakefield Co., and the care of this library was placed in her hands. Although in her later years she did not give herself much time for recreation, Margaret Le Pla loved music, and for many years she sang in the Old Vic Opera Company. Latterly, she took great interest in the functions of the Women Chemists Dining Club [see Chap. 2], of which she was a member.83(a)... 

Of particular interest, the fight for women s entry into the Pharmaceutical Society, though conducted in an earlier period, shows interesting parallels with the battle for membership of the Chemical Society. Pharmacy also provides a contrast to chemistry in that the Association of Women Pharmacists became a strong focus for women, unlike the short-lived Women Chemists Dining Club (see Chap. 2). 

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