The Confederation of Zonta (now Zonta International) is an intricate women’s organization that was born in Buffalo. It was founded as a non-profit organization on Saturday, November 8, 1919, at the height of the women’s suffrage movement. A year later, the 19th Amendment was ratified and finally guaranteed American women the right to vote in governmental elections. From its local beginnings, Zonta International has grown into a global network of charters, all with the same goal: to empower women around the world. 

The year 2019 marks the centennial of the club’s founding. After a century of work, the club maintains its original ideals and services that aim to develop status, rights and professions for the women of world. Today, Zonta International has over 29,000 members worldwide and is positioned in 63 countries around the world. 

The term Zonta, itself, is derived from a Sioux word meaning trustworthy and honest. The two terms perfectly define the club, its mission and its members. The symbols used to form the Zonta International logo are also derived from Native American sources. They stand for “banding together for a purpose.” This is just what the women of Zonta have done for the past 100 years and continue to do today. The club brings women together for the purpose of helping other women of the world to be safe, to be free and to flourish. 

Thanks to Margaret C. Beach, one of Zonta’s previous longstanding members, documents of the club’s founding, structure and organization have survived through the years and thus represent a valuable resource for examining the organization’s history. Mrs. Beach had been a Zontian for over 50 years, during which time she held office and was part of countless committees. Over the course of her involvement with Zonta International, Margaret compiled and saved hundreds of primary sources pertaining to the club’s services, members and structure. 

SUNY Buffalo State currently has a large number of these documents on loan from the Buffalo History Museum. They consist of club newsletters, yearly agendas, contact lists and event brochures. Added to this is the Buffalo History Museum’s Howard D. Beach Photography Collection—an immense collection of glass plate and film negatives, along with other materials, from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the negatives within this collection feature past members of Zonta International. The collection also includes additional Zonta-related documents and artifacts—vital resources which were added to the collection by Howard’s daughter Margaret. The loan of this collection has allowed the Museum Studies Program at SUNY Buffalo State to study these documents and to cross-reference them to the photographic negatives taken by Howard D. Beach. The study has helped shed light on the history of the organization, as well as the stories and individuals that have made a huge impact both in Buffalo and around the globe.

The documents compiled by Margaret Beach suggest that membership in Zonta was considered a privilege, and that gaining admittance into the club was originally a strictly regulated process. The strictness of membership regulations and the induction process have evolved with the times to better reflect the hustle and bustle of modern life, and today are quite different from those at organization’s founding. Founder Marian de Forest and her colleagues originally envisioned an organization that solely included women of status and accomplishment. At the time, service clubs composed strictly of women were all but nonexistent, with most turn of the century groups restricting their membership to men only. Zonta, therefore, sought women with professional careers, notoriety and networking skills to help raise the bar for women of the world to follow. 

To be considered for Zonta membership, a candidate had to be a woman of accomplishment in her field. In addition, there needed to be an opening in the particular charter to which they wished to apply. Merely having an opening was not, in and of itself, enough, however, as the club sought to have but a single woman representing a given field in each charter. Thus, the Zonta Club of Buffalo, for example, would only be able to admit, say, one archaeologist at a given time.

Potential candidates needed to be approved by a membership committee and the board of directors before they received an invitation for official membership from the charter president. When new members were accepted, they were featured in the monthly Zontafax and given the club’s bylaws, a questionnaire, codes of conduct and the international hymn of the club. Examples of all of these items can be found within the Beach collection. Each member was also given a list of the various committees on which they could serve. The list stated the purpose and function of each committee, and new members were to circle the ones in which they were interested. In reality, however, new members were often assigned to a committee based on their skills. Later, they could be involved in more than one if they wished. The codes and objectives of Zonta were outlined as follows:

“To encourage high ethical standards in business and the professions. To improve the legal, political, economic and professional status of women. To work for the advancement of understanding, good will and peace through a world fellowship of executive women in business and professions, united in the Zonta ideal of service.”

The Zontafax was a newsletter packet that was mailed to each member on a monthly basis. Packets ranged from just a couple pages in length to several pages and contained information on the next month’s events and topics. The Zontafax Committee was in charge of publishing the newsletters and also prepared the budget for the year, which was presented in the Zontafax as well. 

These newsletters helped to keep each Zonta charter together and on point. Everything was listed in the newsletter, from weekly meeting dates and topics to address changes and vacation announcements. In a Buffalo Zontafax from July-August 1942, for example, an announcement was made pertaining to a change in career classification: Elise Lord Bradford shut down her own decorating business and had started working for the Hengerer Firm. That same year, Myrtle Caudell was listed under the “Scattered Zontians” section as being in Long Island, “looking after the very personal interests of Marcia Ann Traber.” Keeping tabs on career changes was important since only one member per charter could be in a given classification at the same time. Additional notices in the Buffalo Zontafax alerted members that Frances Drake was vacationing in Lake Placid with her sister, while Zorah Berry was in Chautauqua.

The March 1933 issue of the newsletter shared what then-current members were doing for the club. Founder Marian de Forest had collaborated with fellow playwright Zona Gale in the creation of a series of radio skits. These skits aired Fridays at 10:30pm during a program entitled “Neighbors” on WBEN-WEAF. The September issue of that year let members know to look out for their fellow Zontian Ann Griffiths, who was airing on WGR to talk about flooring in the next month. 

Through the newsletters, the club stayed in touch with the professional, club and—to an extent—personal lives of their fellow Zontians. Ways in which the club helped during times of war and conflict can also be found through the examination of these newsletters. Some information presented in the Zontafax, however, was brief, leaving more information on the topics, involvements and information provided to be desired. Some of the missing information can be found in other documents within the Beach Collection, while others require a bit more digging. The cover of the October 1942 issue featured a handwritten note of the world and civilization during World War II. 

“Even though Hatred is rampant and Black Death rides the wind,

Faith, Loyalty, Love, yet will reign in these hearts of ours –

The Triumvirate,

Faith, Loyalty, Love - - -

No hordes of Nippon can crush, No Nazi army will kill - -”

November 8, 2019, marks Zonta International’s 100th birthday. Special smaller events will occur throughout the year, while a bigger celebration will take place in the spring of 2020. Images and brochures contained in the Beach Collection, however, shed additional light on club anniversaries of the past and how these special occasions were observed. 

The February 1972 issue of the Zontafax quoted Dr. Margaret Schley’s words on the occasion of the organization’s 35th birthday, which occurred in 1954. “It is our habit,” she wrote, “to look at a finished thing without giving thought to its beginning and development. We admire the beautiful and sturdy oak tree without thought of the tiny acorn from which it grew.” Dr. Schley stressed the importance of looking at the organization’s beginning, something that even after 100 years is still imperative. She stressed an appreciation of the organization’s past members “to the band of business and professional women who had the courage, the wisdom and the foresight to build a foundation…” 

The image featured on the front page of the 1972 newsletter was taken in 1944. It depicts women belonging to the Club of Buffalo at that time, strong business and professional women. Included in the photograph are Margaret Beach and Ada Fontana. This same photo was used in a previous newsletter, issued in November 1964, to mark the club’s 45th Anniversary luncheon. At the time, the women in the photo had been Zontians for roughly 25 years or more.

A special song was composed in preparation for the club’s Ruby Anniversary party in 1959, highlighting the club’s first 40 years of service.  Margaret Beach was one of the members who helped to create the ‘Ruby Anniversary Song,’ which was sung at the night’s event opening, along with another song titled, ‘Hail to Our Zonta Club.’ The 40th Anniversary Dinner program is among the artifacts preserved in the Beach Collection. Margaret Beach also kept a handwritten (and a typed) copy of the ‘Ruby Anniversary Song’ lyrics. Zonta birthday presents were distributed after the songs. Listed in the back of the program were the presidents of the Buffalo charter since 1919, including Marian de Forest (1919-1921), Margaret Beach (1934-35) and Elise Bradford (1941-42).

A decade later, the club’s Golden Anniversary Dinner was held in Buffalo in 1969. In preparation for the dinner, a questionnaire was sent out to all members, asking them to share their hopes for the next 50 years of Zonta. Growth and expansion were among the responses. Looking back on those next 50 years, Zonta International has achieved just that. 

To further mark the occasion, a golden issue of the Zontafax was typed and circulated in December 1969. The newsletter was sent out to the entire organization, highlighting Zonta International’s first 50 years of existence, as well as its accomplishments. The newsletter also shared the thoughts of Zonta’s leadership for the next 50 years: The International President at the time envisioned “a widening of vistas in the service of mankind,” while the International Governor saw “the light on the path ahead directing each Club and member to the bright horizons.”

Thanks to Mrs. Margaret C. Beach’s efforts during her years as a member of Zonta, a significant collection of documents and agendas has survived, which provides an excellent source of information on club meetings, members and services. And due to the photographic skills of her father Howard, along with the salvaging and ongoing preservation of his work, we are fortunate to have photographic images of many of these empowering women from Buffalo’s history. 

Marian de Forest held high hopes and dreams for the organization she created, and there is no doubt that she would be proud of her club’s progress and evolution over the past century. She would be thrilled to know that her work continues through today’s members, who are actively engaged helping women around the world build status and achievements. As mentioned in the summer issue of Western New York Heritage, an artist’s homage to Marian de Forest can be seen in Delaware Park along the south side of Route 198, just before the Delaware Avenue south exit. The statue is entitled “The Spirit of Womanhood” and the inscription below it states that she “improved the quality of life in this city in an outstanding way.” Zonta International has done just that and will continue to do so over its next 100 years.