The 1980s
In May of 1980, The Milwaukee Sentinel reported that Zontian Ernestine O’Bee received a Salvation Army award for her community service. Ernestine was chairman of the Salvation Army’s social services and family life committee. In 1979, Ernestine was installed in the YWCA’s Hall of Fame for a lifetime of service.
In September 1980, the Club collaborated with many other women’s organizations to produce a three-day Woman to Woman Conference focusing on the changing needs, roles and challenges facing women.
Our successful Foundation served as the inspiration for Zonta International to establish its own Foundation in 1985. International Foundation updates are frequently published in The Zontian and on the website and summary reports are presented at the end of each biennium.
Local projects in the 1980’s included making audiotapes of books for the blind (Volunteer services for the Visually Handicapped) and volunteering for children’s educational programs at the Milwaukee Public Museum and Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory.
In February 1989, former Zontian Ardie A. Halyard died at age 92. Ardie and husband Wilbur had founded Columbia Savings and Loan in 1925, the first black-owned savings and loan in the state, loaning money to African-Americans interested in purchasing homes. Ardie served as its secretary-treasurer for 46 years. The subdivision they helped finance was named Halyard Park and N. Halyard St. was so named in their honor.
Ardie also served a president of the Wisconsin and Milwaukee Chapters of the NAACP and was a former member of the Wisconsin Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women. Ardie was part of the Black Women’s Oral History Project at Radcliffe College and her picture was displayed in the College’s “Women of Courage” Exhibition (1983). She received numerous awards including the Public Service Recognition Award from the United Negro College Fund (1983). In 1991, the UWM Business School’s Minority Entrepreneurship Program instituted an annual award in her memory to recognize excellence among minority business firms in southeast Wisconsin.
In November of 1989, the Club was profiled in The Milwaukee Journal. Zontians Carrie Tradewell and Pam Knackert reviewed Club history and community impact. A photo featured Zontians Christine Wunderlin, Pam and Helen Alexander.