The Radcliffe Club of San Francisco, founded in 1898, is the oldest and only remaining independent Radcliffe club in the world. Membership is open to all alumnae of the former Radcliffe College and to anyone who has been connected with any Harvard University department as a student, instructor or parent of a student. We are an official Harvard Alumni Association club.
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PLEASE NOTE:
As Harvard and all of higher education are threatened, and as Harvard has emerged as a strong defender of academic freedom, a growing group of alums has come together as Crimson Courage to support Harvard's stance, and to encourage Harvard to continue to fight. You can find more information on their website HERE
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Regular Club activities include a monthly in-person lunch group, a monthly film group, a monthly book group,
occasional museum tours, and a speakers series. All activities are open to all members.
September events:
More details are in the September newsletter (click "2026" in the red bar to the left).
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Annual Meeting: Saturday May 2 - Meeting Summary is on the "For Members" page, and is also page 2 of the June newsletter
Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women Speaker Series: Tuesday, June 16, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT on Zoom. Webinar with Harvard Medical School Neurology Professor Ann-Christine Duhaime on The Brain and Climate Change. Click HERE to register.
Dr. Duhaime’s research has focused on the relationship between brain and behavior and on environmental issues, among other topics. She previously spoke at our online RCSF Speakers Series in August 2025.
Museum Visits: Sunday November 1 at 10 a.m. private guided tour of Treasures of the Pharaohs at the de Young Museum
This exhibit contains 130 artifacts and statues from 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian civilization. Up to 15 people can join this tour, which will cost $20 per person. You must also obtain a ticket for the 10 a.m. time slot at www.famsf.org/exhibitions/treasures-pharaohs in advance. Tickets are free for museum members, $40 for nonmembers and $37 for seniors. We will have a small number of free guest tickets; let us know if you need one. For the $20 tour cost, bring cash or a check made out to Alison Boeckmann to the event. Please RSVP to [email protected] to reserve your place.
Book Group: Sunday, September 13 12 at 3 p.m. on Zoom.
Contact Janet Hankin [email protected]
The book for September is Nomadland:
Surviving America in the Twenty-first Century by Jessica Bruder
The book for October is The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Contact Janet Hankin [email protected]
Culinary Adventures:
Wednesday September 9 11:30 AM
Bocanova, 1111 Boadway, Oakland
Take BART to the Oakland 12th St. Station,
11th St Exit to west side of Broadway
RSVP to Mary Henderson at [email protected] (preferred) or 510-390-1132.
Writers' Workshop for Fiction:
Contact Gloria Wu at [email protected]
For more details and registration on monthly events and newsletters, click on "2026" in the red bar to the left. For additional member information, click on "For Members" in the red bar to the left. The password is the name of the street that runs between the Yard and the Quad, all lower case. If you need help, please contact the website editor, Alison Boeckmann ([email protected])
For information about the former Radcliffe College and the use of the name "Radcliffe" by organizations of women at Harvard College, see the Wikipedia entry. See also Radcliffe: From College to Institute.
Link from the Radcliffe Institute for Radcliffe College alumnae information
=============
PLEASE NOTE:
As Harvard and all of higher education are threatened, and as Harvard has emerged as a strong defender of academic freedom, a growing group of alums has come together as Crimson Courage to support Harvard's stance, and to encourage Harvard to continue to fight. You can find more information on their website HERE
==============
Regular Club activities include a monthly in-person lunch group, a monthly film group, a monthly book group,
occasional museum tours, and a speakers series. All activities are open to all members.
September events:
More details are in the September newsletter (click "2026" in the red bar to the left).
==============
Annual Meeting: Saturday May 2 - Meeting Summary is on the "For Members" page, and is also page 2 of the June newsletter
Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women Speaker Series: Tuesday, June 16, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT on Zoom. Webinar with Harvard Medical School Neurology Professor Ann-Christine Duhaime on The Brain and Climate Change. Click HERE to register.
Dr. Duhaime’s research has focused on the relationship between brain and behavior and on environmental issues, among other topics. She previously spoke at our online RCSF Speakers Series in August 2025.
Museum Visits: Sunday November 1 at 10 a.m. private guided tour of Treasures of the Pharaohs at the de Young Museum
This exhibit contains 130 artifacts and statues from 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian civilization. Up to 15 people can join this tour, which will cost $20 per person. You must also obtain a ticket for the 10 a.m. time slot at www.famsf.org/exhibitions/treasures-pharaohs in advance. Tickets are free for museum members, $40 for nonmembers and $37 for seniors. We will have a small number of free guest tickets; let us know if you need one. For the $20 tour cost, bring cash or a check made out to Alison Boeckmann to the event. Please RSVP to [email protected] to reserve your place.
Book Group: Sunday, September 13 12 at 3 p.m. on Zoom.
Contact Janet Hankin [email protected]
The book for September is Nomadland:
Surviving America in the Twenty-first Century by Jessica Bruder
The book for October is The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Contact Janet Hankin [email protected]
Culinary Adventures:
Wednesday September 9 11:30 AM
Bocanova, 1111 Boadway, Oakland
Take BART to the Oakland 12th St. Station,
11th St Exit to west side of Broadway
RSVP to Mary Henderson at [email protected] (preferred) or 510-390-1132.
Writers' Workshop for Fiction:
Contact Gloria Wu at [email protected]
For more details and registration on monthly events and newsletters, click on "2026" in the red bar to the left. For additional member information, click on "For Members" in the red bar to the left. The password is the name of the street that runs between the Yard and the Quad, all lower case. If you need help, please contact the website editor, Alison Boeckmann ([email protected])
For information about the former Radcliffe College and the use of the name "Radcliffe" by organizations of women at Harvard College, see the Wikipedia entry. See also Radcliffe: From College to Institute.
Link from the Radcliffe Institute for Radcliffe College alumnae information
Radcliffe Institute Fellows: Throughout the year, the Fellows at the Radcliffe Institute share updates on their research and projects. Check for upcoming events at https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/events-and-exhibitions
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Members may donate to the Radcliffe Club of San Francisco Scholarship Fund or the Schlesinger Library through the club via our membership form. Those who do so will receive credit from the university for their donations as individuals and as members of their college or graduate class.
Further information and donations to the Radcliffe College Alumnae Oral History Project are also available online.
Radcliffe Club of San Francisco Volunteer Opportunities: Members are invited to help organize and run the club's programs and projects. More hands make the workload lighter, and you know you will be working with smart women, right? We are looking for on-line event organizers to run our Speakers Series (a few sessions each year), good writers to update the club's history (some research involved), good organizers to help organize the club's files, and someone with financial expertise to be a Co-Treasurer.
Please contact Co-President Kathy Henschel [email protected] for information.
For the history of the Club, see
"WE ARE NOT EXTINCT, The First 100 Years of the Radcliffe Club of San Francisco"
( A pdf version rcsf.v2.pdf was uploaded on Oct 20, 2018. It may be easier to read if you download the pdf and use preview or the equivalent.)
The Schlesinger Library also has a copy of "WE ARE NOT EXTINCT"
See articles in the Crimson:
WE ARE NOT EXTINCT (November 8, 2018)
INSTITUTE RE-BRAND PUSHBACK (May 13, 2021)
See Scientific American article about Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, the founder and first president of Radcliffe College