Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club records
Scope and Contents
The collection includes meeting minutes and other records, several brief histories done in various years as well as a longer history written in 1962, a record on individual club members’ contributions to the war effort during WWII, and scrapbooks chronicling the club’s community activities, meetings, and conferences from 1929 through 1972.
Dates
- Creation: 1919-1975
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.
Administrative History
The Muncie Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW) had its roots in the Business Girls’ Council, which was formed in Muncie around 1900 under the direction of Theodate Wilson. The group met monthly and included among its members Ida Miller. Miller attended the 1919 meeting of the Indiana Woman’s Association of Commerce in Indianapolis and returned to Muncie to organize a local Woman’s Association of Commerce. The new organization grew quickly—in 1921 the Association accepted 113 new members, bringing total membership to nearly 200. The Muncie group became affiliated with the National Business and Professional Women’s Clubs in 1921.
The Muncie BPW continued to grow, attaining more than 250 members during the 1960s. The club supported the National BPW legislative agenda: elimination of sex discrimination in employment, the principle of equal pay, and the need for a comprehensive equal rights amendment. Muncie BPW was also active in community affairs, contributing to local civic and charitable causes and sponsoring community events, including appearances of nationally known performers and annual Civic Nights with prominent speakers.
The Muncie BPW disbanded circa 2000.
Extent
2.4 Cubic Feet (7 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club records, 1919-1975
Series 2: Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club minutes, 1921-1960
Series 3: Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club scrapbooks and press books, 1941-1961
Series 4: Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club oversized material, 1961-1962
Series 5: National Business and Professional Women's Convention panoramic photographs, 1954
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation from Edna Alexander on 1996/08/22. Additions were received on 1996/11/13 from Helen R. Kirby and on 2007/01/25 from Edna Alexander.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 1996. Finding aid revised 2006/10 by Jane E. Gastineau. Finding aid revised 2008/03 by Maren L. Read. Finding aid revised 2009/06/22 by Rachel N. Miller. EAD finding aid completed 2011/05/12 by Helen Boyer. EAD finding aid revised 2011/09/08 by Bethany Fiechter.
- Title
- Muncie Business and Professional Women's 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
