Hillside Club Elects Tim Hansen As New President

This past month the Hillside Club of Berkeley, California, elected Tim Hansen as its new president. Tim, a well-known Arts & Crafts collector, researcher and writer, also exhibits at the Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference, along with Dianne Ayres, herself a former president of the Hillside Club and owner of Arts & Crafts Period Textiles.

When asked to provide some information on the Hillside Club, Tim sent the following:

During the Arts & Crafts period Social Clubs were an important part of the American social fabric. People wanted to not only live in harmony with nature; they also wanted to belong to a community. There were Town and Gown clubs, environmental clubs, neighborhood clubs, hunting clubs, tennis clubs, and clubs based on the country people had immigrated from.

Today, many Arts and Crafts communities are under going a revival—a new appreciation of what they were, how people lived, and why they were so wonderful. It is natural that today these communities are reviving the local social clubs in their desire to enhance their communities. A look at one community’s effort to reinvigorate a social club should serve as an example of the possibilities for other communities.

The Hillside Club is one of Berkeley’s oldest social clubs. Founded over tea in 1898 by three women, it was devoted to encouraging proper development in the Berkeley hills, just east of San Francisco. They believed that streets should follow the contours of the hills rather than be laid out in a grid, and that homes should blend in with the hills rather than be painted white. In short, they were Arts and Crafts environmentalists.

Early on, the ladies met in the Hillside School; soon they admitted men into the club. In 1905 they built their clubhouse, designed by Bernard Maybeck. They put on pageants, plays, musical events and lectures. They hosted banquets and holiday celebrations, and participated in the political scene. During World War I the clubhouse became a factory for making clothes for the troops. During the Second World War it served as a USO. Through it all, the Hillside Club was an important part of the community fabric.

In 1923 disaster struck. A wildfire blew in from Wildcat Canyon and down on the north side of Berkeley. Not only did it burn the clubhouse to the ground, but ninety members lost their homes. The next year the club rebuilt and went on to one of its most active periods—the Roaring Twenties. The club reinvented its self and thrived again, as each new generation honored the past, but adapted the club’s traditions to their needs.

By the late 1990s, however, things had changed. Membership had sunk to around 65. Most of the members were elderly and there was talk of shutting down the club. Some members thought that with television and easy transportation to other venues, there was no need for a social club. They wondered why anyone would want to join and stopped letting in new members.

As the club lore has it, one day the club president decided he was not going to be the one who shut down the Hillside Club. He began admitting new members, who recruited their friends, and soon the membership began to climb. Dances were held to raise much needed capital for the club. The revival was led by different interest groups. In addition to the dance group and a technology group, there was a group that met to watch movies, and soon there was an Arts and Crafts group that met to put on lectures and hold Arts and Crafts shows and sales. There was a group that put on concerts, and there were other groups that used the club as well. Most important, there were still long-term members and the honored traditions of the Hillside Club.

These traditions include monthly Fireside Meetings, which are a social gathering and a lecture, as well as banquets three times a year. At these events we discovered we enjoyed each other’s company and developed a deep respect for each other—and particularly for the long-term members. We discovered we were morphing from distinct interest groups into a community. And we were having fun.

The club’s governing board is made up of nine members elected each March by the membership. They are consciously trying to honor the traditions of the club while adapting to today’s needs. They work hard to create a sense of community. The club’s managers live in an apartment at the clubhouse and are very instrumental in the revival of the club. Their warmth, openness, and hard work have won the hearts of the club. They instituted monthly potlucks that are an opportunity for members to get together, enjoy wonderful food and talk with each other. There are also book readings, music events, a Women’s Voice lecture series, and many other events. These events started drawing in neighbors and new members who were not affiliated with any distinct interest group.

Today the Berkeley Hillside Club is a real social club, as vibrant as ever. For many of us, the Hillside Club has greatly enriched our lives. May your community be as lucky.

For more information, please see www.HillsideClub.org.