The Pine Hills Fortnightly Club was founded by Miss Mary M. Shaw in 1898 as a woman's literary and social club. According to the Club's earliest Constitution, "Its object shall be the study of history, literature and art and the literary and social entertainment of its members."The Club was "federated" in 1900.Virtually from the Club's inception, meetings have been held on alternate Monday afternoons, from October 1st through April 30th.In the later Constitutions, the meeting schedule changed to " . . . the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month from October to April inclusive, except the second meeting in December shall be omitted."Originally the membership was limited to twenty with dues of $ .50 annually. By 1901, they allowed the membership to reach fifty. Currently the annual dues are $25.00 and, during the last five years, active membership has averaged twenty.

An Executive Committee of the officers governs the Pine Hills Fortnightly Club: a president, two vice-presidents, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, treasurer, and the Program Committee Chairman. The other standing committees (auditing, membership, house, publicity, telephone, social, yearbook) have a chairman and the Club's president as anex officiomember. In later years, a librarian and historian were added, but there is no current record of those officers. Members are for the most part college-educated, well-read, active and engaged in various professions as is evident from the credentials cited in recommendation-for-membership letters and from the scope and content of the members' papers delivered at meetings.

According to the earliest Constitution, "At the end of each meeting not more than twenty minutes shall be devoted to business"; later the Constitution raised the time limit but did not exceed thirty minutes.The Club devoted the remaining meeting time, an estimated hour to an hour and a half, to the presentation of a member's paper followed by a discussion among the membership.

The literary focus of the Club's twice-a-month meetings is the presentation of papers. These scholarly papers center on a theme decided upon by the Program Committee as a year-long exploration of a particular topic. Using the available research tools a college-graduate would have at its disposal at the time, members focused on topics such as geographic locations, concepts relating to American historical development, works of fine art of particular periods or artists, and authors and their works. The collection exhibits well-researched papers addressing not only the topics but their possible social and historical ramifications; the presentation of these papers served as a form of continuing education for the membership.

The second part of the Pine Hills Fortnightly Club's constitutional objective is the "...social entertainment of its members." The Club's formal social functions consist of a Spring Luncheon held in May (the end to the Club's administrative year), and a Christmas party held during most years. The Spring Luncheon Programs have included the presentation of the theme for the following year's papers, the presentation of new officers, and the singing of the club song. The luncheon often features a guest speaker or a vocalist. The Christmas party, when held, was often the occasion for a choral reading by members or the singing of Christmas songs.