Martha Washington Club records
Scope and Contents
The collection contains meeting minutes (1904-1976), programs (1905-1978), and a scrapbook of activities (1935-1937).
Dates
- Creation: 1904-1978
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections.
Historical Note
The Martha Washington Club was a woman’s club organized in Muncie in January, 1904 "for social and literary purposes." The twelve founding members were: Mrs. A. Hedrick, Mrs. W. Lister, Mrs. M. M. Baily, Mrs. L. Howk, Mrs. J. Dragoo, Mrs. W. Pike, Mrs. L. Griffin, Mrs. H. Manering, Mrs. A. Wetherill, Mrs. C. Sonertzer, Mrs. H. Owen, and Mrs. J. White. The club was federated in June 1905.
Its motto of "Lend a Hand" was practiced largely through donations to charities and individual volunteer efforts. An annual report from June 17, 1945 describes the types of activities pursued by the club. "Sewed for Red Cross. Contributed to Red Cross. Contributed to United War Fund. Contributed to Crippled Children. Contributed to YWCA. Contributed to Service Canteen. Contributed to Ball Hospital Library Fund. Five War Bonds Purchased. Contribution of needed articles for Camp Atterbury. Sent Letters of Protest to President Truman, Congressman Springer and Office of War Productions Board, relative to liquor holiday. Sent letter to Congressman Spriger endorsing V.A. investigation or the passage of the Philbin bill. Sent letter to the mayor regarding tavern and gambling activities in city. 200 pounds of clothing and 4 pairs of shoes for the European Clothing Drive. Baby comforters made for foreign relief. Contributed to Latin American Fellowship. Nine contributions to blood bank. One member gave 645 hours’ hospital service."
Active participation in the club was limited to twenty members, but both associate and honorary members were also allowed to attend meetings. Meetings were held twice a month at alternating homes of club members. The club was disbanded in 1978 for unknown reasons.
Extent
1 Cubic Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation on 1980/07/30 by Martha Rowe.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital reproductions of the Martha Washington Club records are available electronically in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository: http://libx.bsu.edu/.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 1994/07/19 by M. Sears. EAD finding aid created 2012/04/19 by Julie Hausknecht. EAD finding aid revised 2012/09/11 by Bethany Fiechter.
- Title
- Martha Washington Club records
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Stoeckel Archives of Local History Repository
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA
libarchives@bsu.edu