There were two significant things about the keepsake bookmarks that were given to members of the Friday Club of Greensburg and the Aurora Reading Club of Pittsburgh on Friday.

One was that bookmarks are an important accessory for serious readers.

The other was an imprinted quote from "Amazing Peace, A Christmas Poem" by Maya Angelou: "The world is encouraged to come away from rancor, Come the way of friendship."

It was a very appropriate passage, said Sister of Charity Lois Sculco, of Seton Hill University in Greensburg.

"We celebrate our friendship," she pronounced when the groups met at the school's Performing Arts Center.

They have been getting together for five years, alternating between Pittsburgh and Greensburg.

Friday's high tea featured trays of festive cookies and a pan of warm bread pudding.

"The bread pudding from Seton Hill has become sort of a tradition," said Friday Club President Phyllis Pack, a retired journalist from Unity.

Traditions are important to both groups.

The Friday Club was founded 117 years ago by women in the Greensburg area who wanted to share their passion for reading and local culture. Not so coincidentally, they also tended to be community leaders in their professions or as volunteers.

The Aurora Reading Club, the oldest African-American women's club in Western Pennsylvania, was founded 115 years ago when American blacks were one generation removed from slavery and the Civil War.

Rachel M. Lovett Jones founded that organization after the death of her beloved daughter, Maude (details are unknown), as a way to improve the lives of black women in Pittsburgh.

From that grew the Home for Working Girls, and the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Women, now the Lemington Home for the Aged in East Liberty.

Many early members were connected to significant contributions to the Pittsburgh area's black community. Anna Posey was the first black teacher to work in a white school in Ohio, and her husband, Cumberland, owned the Homestead Grays, a Negro League franchise.

Virginia Woodson Proctor, a successful wig maker and businesswoman, was related to the Rev. Lewis Woodson, who co-founded Wilberforce University in Ohio, the oldest private, historically black college in the nation.

Many of the current members are professionals or retired professionals, for instance, educators or businesswomen.

"I love reading, and we promote literacy," said President Inez K. Miles, a banker from Pittsburgh. "But we're not just a reading club. We promote culture and the arts, too."

Over the years, members also have focused on social justice, community action and global awareness.

Members of the Friday Club read about the Aurora Reading Club in a Post-Gazette article in 2004, and got in touch. The two clubs now meet annually, and some members stay in contact in between.

"The bond has grown between us," Ms. Pack said. "We exchange ideas on what books we are reading and some members e-mail each other."

Membership in the clubs is by invitation only, and both groups have members who have belonged for decades or are part of several generations of members.

Teresa Marafino, co-owner and producer of Mountain Playhouse, in Jennerstown, is a fourth-generation member of the Friday Club. Sue Pollins, of Unity, has belonged for 38 years. Her daughter, Suzanne Maclennan, of Greensburg, is a member, too.

"I joined because these people read and I read, and we read amazing books, all different things," Mrs. Pollins said.

The club's oldest member, Virginia Grosscup, 92, of Greensburg, was not at the meeting, but Rebecca Humphrey, age "82 and three-quarters," of Greensburg, attended. She has been a member since 1948 and her mother, the late Josephine Eicher Barclay, also belonged.

The Friday Club has Seton Hill connections with Sister Lois, several alumnae and university President JoAnne Boyle.

Shirley Golden traces her Aurora Reading Club connections to one of the original six members on her husband's side, Frances Golden, who served in her church, Bethel AME in the Hill District.

Frances Golden's husband, Dr. John Paul Golden, was the first black doctor permitted to practice in the city and was an early researcher in the causes and cure of malaria.

Charlene Foggie Barnett is one of Aurora's newest members. An actress in television and theater, she recently appeared in "Women of the Hill" at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh. Her late father is Bishop Charles Foggie, a prominent civil rights leader.

"Each club has such interesting histories," Ms. Pack said. "And there is something outstanding about each person in both groups."

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