The first meeting of the Women's Reading Club of Columbus, Georgia was February 14, 1888 at the home of Misses Anna and Theresa Griffin to form the first organized woman's club in Columbus and the first in the state with a constitution and by-laws.

The story started in 1888 in a small dark room over the old Enquirer-Sun building in Columbus' claim to a library and its librarian Miss Anna Hull. She dreamed that her library would hold a rightful place of importance in the community. One day two women from Indiana climbed her stairs seeking information on the Woman's Cub of Columbus. Miss Hull listened to their story of their home club where friends met to study and improve their minds. She envisioned such a club for Columbus and her library as a place of importance. And so it was that in February 1888, a small group of women met at the library and listened to Miss Hull's plan for a Woman's Study Club. Kindling much enthusiasm among her friends, a short time later a group of women met at the Griffin home to organize their club. Mrs. Helen Spencer was the first president. These women realized that the "feminine brain could not be cramped forever as was the feminine figure at that time." Miss Theresa Griffin held the torch for temperance while her sister Anna flaunted the banner of woman's suffrage. From this group sprang the City federation of Women's Clubs . In 1904 they joined the Georgia Federation and by 1912 formed the City Federation. The members of this club were the "movers and shakers" of the community. Their 100th anniversary was in 1988.