The American Women's club traces its roots back to 1949.  At that time in Bern, the United States was officially represented by a legation headed by a minister. The minister's wife and several other women met periodically to sew, knit and chat, and in 1949 the circle of friends grew and became the American Women's Group. Once the group had expanded beyond 50 members, they renamed themselves the American Women's Club of Bern.

One of the club's most important functions has always been to welcome American newcomers to Bern and introduce them to life in Switzerland . In addition, the club has long put a high priority on raising money for charity. During a polio epidemic in the early 1950s, AWC funds were used to buy two iron lungs for the Tiefenau hospital, and in the 1960s, Sfr33,000 was collected to help with the building of the Rossfeld Home for physically handicapped children. More recently, the AWC has sent a number of Swiss children with cancer to a Paul Newman associated summer camp in the States, as well as sponsoring the Villa Maria women's safehouse in Bern.  The club has helped others in need, too, providing toys and equipment to homes for retarded children in Solothurn and Münsingen; playground equipment for handicapped children in Langnau; guide dogs for the blind or people with other disabilties; transportation for a wheelchair-bound woman; as well as support for the local Anglican church, the International School of Berne, the Berner Hospiz, the Frauenhaus in Biel, and other service organizations.  For over three decades, the club also sponsored a series of Navajo children, sending presents, pocket money, and friendly letters.  A North American lynx for the zoo and a new tree for the Rosengarten were gifts from the AWC to the city of Bern.

No history of the AWC should leave out the club's involvement with FAWCO, the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas. Each year, representatives from Bern attend FAWCO's conferences to share savoir-faire and new ideas. In 1999, for example, the AWC's website was used to show other FAWCO members how to get their clubs online. Although required by our constitution to remain predominantly American and to have an American president and vice-president, the AWC of Bern continues to welcome and value its non-American members. On June 19, 1999 , for example, when the American Women's Club of Bern celebrated its fiftieth birthday, thirty of the club's 176 members were either Swiss or from one of ten other nations.

Over the years since its founding in 1949, the American Women's Club of Bern has helped numerous women transplanted far away from home feel happier, more comfortable, more connected, more informed and more involved. The club has not only served its members, their husbands and their children in countless ways, but has also used its charitable contributions to help a good number of Swiss citizens. None of this would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of many volunteers, some of whom have contributed their time and energy year after year to make the club a success. Old and new members alike must remember that the club is counting on them to pitch in and help in any way they can. With a truly active membership, the American Women's Club of Bern is guaranteed another fifty years of existence -- and then some!