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Muncie Business and Professional Women's Club records

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-164

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.

Related Archival Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie IN:

MSS.065: American Associate of University Women, Muncie Branch records

MSS.121: Munsee Chapter Professional Secretaries International records

MSS.201: Women in Communications Incorporated - East Central Indiana Professional Chapter records

MSS.215: Women`s Auxiliary (Delta Chapter) of the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers collection

MSS.123: Visiting Nurse Association records

Guide to Women`s History Resources in Archives and Special Collections:

http://bsu.libguides.com/archiveswomenshistory

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

Contact:
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA