Ida Barlow Brilliance Award Fund

The Ida Barlow Brilliance Award Fund was created in 2020 by the membership of the Marion’s Federation of Women’s Clubs to support in perpetuity the Ida Barlow Brilliance Award.

The award and fund are named to honor Ida Barlow, wife of Shauck Barlow, who in 1945 bequeathed her beautiful home to the Women’s Club. The Ida Barlow Brilliance Award will be given annually to a local woman entrepreneur to support initiatives that reflect the Club’s mission of “enriching the lives of women and the community.”

The hope is that the women of our community are empowered to dream, create and transform our community as women of the Marion County Federation of Women’s Clubs have been doing for over 125 years.

Since the organization’s formation in 1895, the Clubs have been involved in education, social issues, the arts, community initiatives and the enhancement of the lives of women in the Marion area. The Club was instrumental in starting a hospital, the school lunch and school nurse programs, women’s voting rights, and the Marion public library.

The organization is funded by membership dues, club activities, rental of the Abigail Harding Lewis auditorium, community donations, and an endowed fund with the Marion Community Foundation.