McRae Club records and photographs
Scope and Contents
This collection includes annual programs (1894-2014) and meeting minutes (1904-2009). It also includes the constitution and by-laws, rosters (1918-1958), correspondence, newspaper clippings (1904-2007), and financial records (1998-2008). There are also two woodcuts of founder Emma Montgomery McRae and a written history of the organization by Mrs. J. J. Burkholder included and a program from the Woman's Franchise League, 1919. It also includes two photographs of McRae Club members (1989 and 2006).
Dates
- 1894-2014
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
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.
Administrative History
The McRae Club was organized March 2, 1894 by 14 women who met at the home of Mrs. John Bloor in Muncie, Indiana. The objectives of the club were both literary and social as the members sought self-improvement through the writing and presenting of papers on a wide variety of subjects. The McRae Club took its name from Mrs. Emma Montgomery McRae, a well-known Muncie educator, who personified to the members, the genteel qualities of a true lady.
Mrs. McRae was born at Loveland, Ohio, February 12, 1848. When she was five, her parents moved to Indiana. Mrs. McRae completed her education at Wooster College in Ohio, where she received a Master of Arts degree. Mrs. McRae served as principal of Muncie High School for six years, where she met and married the Superintendent of the Muncie Schools, Hamilton McRae. She eventually became professor of English literature at Purdue, serving also as Dean of Women for 26 years.
Club members held Mrs. McRae up as a model of intelligence and culture. They gave lengthy papers at each monthly meeting, usually five in an afternoon, followed by discussion. Once a year they gave an anniversary party and invited their husbands to join them. At various holidays, individual members entertained the group in their homes, seeking to outdo one another in the lavishness of their entertaining.
The organization also took pride in its civic contributions; assisting in the development of a free kindergarten, furnishing the Courthouse restroom and the manual training department in Muncie schools and distributing flower seeds to school children.
Extent
1.8 Cubic Feet (3 boxes and 1 folder)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Records, 1904-2007
Series 2: Financial Records, 1998-2008
Series 3: Minutes, 1904-2009
Series 4: Programs, 1894-2014
Series 5: Artifacts, undated
Series 6: McRae Club photographs, 1989-2006
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation from Francis Pifer on 1990/01/17. An addition was donated by Erma McVicker on 2010/01/07.
Accruals
Further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 1990/04/04 by K. Dean. Finding aid revised 2005/04/01 by Jane Gastineau. Finding aid revised 2008/05/01 by Maren L. Read. Finding aid revised 2009/06/24 by Rachel N. Miller. Finding aid revised 2010/01/07 by Maren L. Read. EAD finding aid completed 2010/01/07 by Maren L. Read. EAD finding aid revised 2013/08/01 by Leslie Nellis.
- Clippings Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clubs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clubwomen Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Documents Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Muncie (Ind.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Programs Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Stoeckel Archives of Local History Subject Source: Local sources
- Women -- Societies and clubs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- McRae Club records and photographs
- 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