LOCAL WOMEN INVITED TO APPLY FOR WOMEN’S CLUB
2026 “IDA BARLOW BRILLIANCE AWARD”
The Marion Women’s Club has doubled its annual Ida Barlow Brilliance Award to $2,000.
Created by the Club in 2022, local women nonprofit leaders and women entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply for the award, which supports a new or existing program that compliments the Women’s Club mission to “empower women and enrich the community.”
Previous Ida Barlow Brilliance Award recipients are: Angela Johnson, for Grace Clinic’s Rapid EKG Screening Initiative; Barb Pine for the Jer-Zee’s “Storytime” program; Jenni Hypes for “Empowerment Day” with Aspire Ministries; and Tara Dyer, for the Paul Robeson Speech Academy of the Peace & Freedom Committee.
“This award honors the life and work of Ida Barlow, one of Marion’s earliest Clubwomen, a visionary and activist,” explains Valerie Wigton, Club President. “Whether Ida was leading programs in cultural engagement, public health, or civic improvement, she always urged her fellow clubwomen to not only think about innovative solutions to community problems, but to work together to make them happen. That’s the inspiration for this award.”
Applications are open and can be found on the Club’s website: MarionWomensClub.org. Deadline to apply is Oct. 31.
“We are so grateful for the many local Club members, friends and donors who made this award program possible,” Wigton explained, adding that anyone can contribute to the endowed fund which is housed at Marion Community Foundation.
“American clubwomen were often described as a set of ‘busy and brilliant’ women,” Wigton added, “and the Marion Women’s Club wishes to recognize women in Marion who are similarly busy and brilliant – carrying on Ida Barlow’s legacy of innovative community problem solving and community leadership.”
Marion women must be 18 to apply, provide a project description (1,000 words maximum), as well as a detailed budget, and other pertinent information on the application.
“Ida Barlow bequeathed her 1903 home to the Marion Women’s Club when she died in 1945,” Wigton pointed out. “She would be thrilled that her legacy of improving our community is living on through this award.”
Membership in the Marion Women’s Club is not mandatory.
Born in 1861 in Hancock County and growing up in Fostoria, Ida Harsh Barlow studied art at Oberlin College. She married her husband, Shauck, in 1887. He was a high-level Marion industrialist with Huber Mfg., while Ida was very active in the Marion Women’s Club during its formative years.
Questions can be emailed to WomensClubHome@gmail.com with “Barlow Award” in the subject line, or contact Barlow Award co-chairs Lisa Bush or Margaret Sumner.
Recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Marion Women’s Club is likely the oldest continuously functioning women’s organization in Marion tracing its roots to 1895.
For more information or to become a member, search “The Marion Women’s Club & Home” on Facebook or MarionWomensClub.org. To donate to the Award fund, visit MarionCommunityFoundation.org/donate.
