OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — Oil City Mayor Bill Moon and the City Council passed a resolution declaring September 2018 as Belles Lettres Club Month in the city.
(Members of the Belles Lettres Club receive their proclamation from Oil City Mayor Bill Moon (far left) at Thursday’s Oil City Council meeting)
The Club, which was founded in 1888, is celebrating its 130th anniversary this month of September 2018.
The Belles Lettres Club was formed as a Shakespearean Club and was later renamed the Sunday Afternoon Club before becoming the Belles Lettres Club with a focus on promoting the arts. Their goal was to establish an maintain a public library in the community, and in 1899, the club member enlisted steel magnate Andrew Carnegie to assist in funding its mission to build a library in Oil City, which opened in 1904. To this day, the club continues to support the library as well as sponsoring many public programs and civic projects from its location on West First Street.