Skip to main content

Women's Club of Boulder Records

 Collection
Identifier: COU:1757

Scope and Contents

I. ANNUAL ANNOUNCEMENTS are found at the beginning of the collection. They contain the club motto, colors, member pledge, meeting times, the club collect, the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, the federation officers, the local officers, the club schedule and the schedule of the federation meetings, the annual report of the club treasurer, club projects and activities, the updated constitution and bylaws of the club, a list of former presidents, the current membership list, and a list of club members deceased. The annual announcements are organized chronologically by year. There are two different sets of annual announcements. There is a bound set for the years 1901-1935. The researcher may look at this bound set, but they are not to be photocopied. There is a copy of the bound annual announcements on bond paper for the years 1901-1935. These annual announcements should be used to obtain photocopies. The second set of annual announcements is for the years 1936-2000. They are not bound and may be used for photocopying. II. BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES are placed after the annual announcements. The minutes are incomplete with several years missing. The collection does contain the minutes for the years 1901-1941, 1945- 1949, 1950-1976, and 1987-1994. III. CLUB MINUTES contains minutes for the years 1910-1938, 1947-1976, and 1987-1991. Club Minutes also contains notes from various Club and Board Meetings for the years 1972-1974 and accounts of Club Meetings for the years 1914-1917. The remaining Club Minutes are missing from the collection. IV. COMMITTEE AND CLUB REPORTS contains annual reports of Woman’s Club of Boulder different committees and reports that the Woman’s Club of Boulder made to the State and General Federations of Women’s Clubs. It contains a Treasurer’s Report for every year the Club was active except for the years 1901-1922, 1943, 1944, 1984, 1985, 1998, and 2000. In place of the Treasurer’s Reports for the years 1984 and 1985 are financial records from those years. V. HISTORIES contain numerous histories of the Woman’s Club of Boulder that were written by various Club members throughout the active years of the Club VI. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES contain numerous clippings from The Boulder Daily Camera of Woman’s Club of Boulder events and meetings, press releases that the Club wrote for The Boulder Daily Camera, and photocopies of newspaper articles pertaining to the Club activities. It also contains a copy of The Record, a newspaper published in 1920 that details the Clubs activities and the events that surround this date. VII. MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND DOCUMENTS contains lists of Club members, Club presidents, and members who paid their dues. It also contains documents that pertain to Club membership. VIII. CORRESPONDENCE contains the Corresponding Secretary Notes from the year 1901 and newspaper articles for the years 1901-1926. Newspaper articles are placed here because they are part of the book that has the corresponding secretary notes for the year 1901. Correspondence also contains donation thank you letters, general club correspondence to and from various individuals and organizations, invitations to Club and community events, newsletters that were written by the Club presidents and sent out to members, letters requesting donations from the Club, correspondence from scholarship recipients, and thank you cards written to the Club. IX. DOCUMENTS contain numerous papers that pertain to the Club activities and the community service the Club participated in. There are also legal documents, such as loan agreements and deeds. Documents also contain topics of interest at the Club meetings and possible community service activities. X. AWARDS contain the awards that the Woman’s Club of Boulder received at Colorado State Federation conventions and at General Federation conventions. Verna Hamm’s individual awards are also placed here. XI. TREASURER’S BOOKS contain the treasurer’s record books for the years 1901-1915, 1961-1989, and 1995-1998. Treasurer’s records for the State & Central districts including Moffat, Northeast, Pikes Peak, South Central, Southeast, South West, Western Slope are also included in these record books. Club disbursements, receipts, income, and expenses are also recorded in the treasurer books. Due to the size of the record books, the treasurer books for the years 1919-1923, 1921-1945, 1945-1968, and 1961-1974 are contained in the XV. OVERSIZE. XII. COLORADO FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS contains documents, programs, yearbooks, copies of the publication The Colorado Clubwoman, handbooks, Centennials, community service ideas and projects, and newsletters distributed by the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs. XIII. GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN’S CLUBS contains correspondence, programs, guidelines for individual clubs belonging to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, pamphlets, plays and skits, project suggestions for individual clubs, books published about and by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, handbooks, convention papers, and papers on the history of the GFWC. XIV. MEMORABILIA contains memorabilia of the Woman’s Club of Boulder. It includes at United States Flag, gavels, a gavel block made from the U.S. Frigate Constitution, and stamps with the Woman’s Club of Boulder seal, as well as other designs. The flag and some miscellaneous memorabilia are in folders. The remaining memorabilia has been labeled with tags, which detail what the item is, the box it is housed in, and the item number. The memorabilia has been labeled in this way due to the awkward size and shape of the it. XV. OVERSIZE contains scrapbooks and treasurer books from the Woman’s Club of Boulder. The scrapbooks contain committee reports, photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, awards and certificates the club won at state and national competitions, programs the club hosted, community service projects the club sponsored or created, and events that the club participated in for the specified year, such as luncheons, lectures, and theatrical performances. The scrapbooks are chronologically organized in the oversized boxes. Due to the size of two scrapbooks and the treasurer’s books, the GFWC CFWC Northern District Scrapbook for the year 1989-1990 and the GFWC CFWC Northern District Scrapbook for the year 1990-1991, they are not organized chronologically. Rather, a Treasurer’s Book for the years 1921-1945 has been placed with the 1989-1990 GFWC CFWC Northern District Scrapbook and a Treasurer’s Book for the years 1961-1974 has been organized with the 1990-1991 GFWC CFWC Northern District Scrapbook. The Treasurer’s Books for the years 1945-1968 and 1919-1923 have been organized into the last oversized box.

Dates

  • 1901 - 1980

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for access.

Conditions Governing Use

Limited duplication of materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Historical Note

The Woman’s Club of Boulder exemplified the application of the values of domesticity to voluntarism. Following the example of many women clubs at the time, these women formed a group to address the cluster progressive women’s concerns at the turn of the 20th century. Although many issues that the women’s clubs addressed at the turn of the century were absorbed by the social welfare state and professional organizations, many women’s clubs still exist today in the state of Colorado and throughout the nation; adding their own brand of social movement and volunteerism to society.

The Woman’s Club of Boulder began organizing in 1900. About one hundred Boulder club women attended a mass meeting held at the District Court room on December 8, 1900 to organize the Woman’s Club of Boulder. The first officers of the Club were elected at this meeting. The first president was Mrs. James H. Baker (Jennie Baker), the wife of the President of the University of Colorado. At this meeting a committee on constitution and by-laws was formed. A notice was put in the Boulder Tribune Friday, January 4, 1901 inviting the women of Boulder to a meeting of the Woman’s Club of Boulder at the District Courtroom. It was the intent of this meeting to write the by-laws of the Club and to finalize the election of the Club officers. The meeting also decided the Club logo and colors. The Club motto was “Where there is work, there we are” and the Club colors were dark green, yellow, and white. The Woman’s Club of Boulder was incorporated February 1902 and it was admitted into the State Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1902. The Club was admitted into the General Federation of Women’s Club in 1904. The goals of the Woman’s Club of Boulder were to provide public service to the Boulder community and to provide a social and educational resource to the women of the Boulder community.

To address the issues involved in community service, the Woman’s Club of Boulder formed many different committees over the years. Some of the issues that these committees addressed were public parks, the environment, childcare, public health, enforcement of Boulder laws, literacy, and public schooling. Committees were also formed to provide opportunities for the education and growth of club members and to maintain the Club and the Club’s business. Several of these committees included the music committee, fine arts committee, scrapbook committee, legislative committee, and international affairs committee. These committees were either departmental or standing, formed to meet the changing needs of the Club and the Boulder community.

The Woman’s Club of Boulder took both an active and a financial interest in community service ideas and organization. To fund community service and to provide entertainment to Club members and the city of Boulder, the Woman’s Club of Boulder hosted many plays, musicals, luncheons, and other forms of amusement and learning. The first fund-raising event that the Woman’s Club of Boulder hosted was “Living Whist” in 1902. The proceeds from this event were used to plant trees in the Columbia cemetery. The Club made donations of books, clothes, toys, time, food, and money to many public service events and organizations in the community of Boulder throughout the Club’s existence.

In addition to these longstanding community services, the Woman’s Club of Boulder donated the town clock, which was installed in the tower of the County Court House on July 11, 1911. In order to fund this venture, the Club held many fundraising events, such as a baby show and packing and serving lunches for the National Hardware Association of America. The clock was burned in a fire on February 9, 1932. In 1912, the Woman’s Club began a scholarship fund for the continuing educations of female students in Boulder. The Club also opened and maintained public restrooms in the basement of the Court House in the summer of 1910. In 1916, with the collaboration of the school board, the Woman’s Club hired a visiting nurse and provided her with her own transportation to carry out her duties. During WWI, the Woman’s Club of Boulder was in charge of the Council of National Defense in Boulder county and contributed to the War effort by donating their meeting rooms as headquarters for War activities of the Club, such as knitting and preparing bandages and donated field glasses to the Navy. In 1921, the Woman’s Club of Boulder started the Boulder Day Nursery and continued their support for the organization with annual donations. During WWII the Club participated in many War activities, such as selling War bonds, providing forms of entertainment for the Military that was based at the University of Colorado, and running canned food drives. Beginning in the 1950s, every year the Club provided a Boulder girl the opportunity to attend Girls State. The Woman’s Club also provided the opportunity for two local youths to attend the HOBY Foundation every year.

The Woman’s Club of Boulder was involved in many State and General Federation of Women’s Clubs events. The Woman’s Club of Boulder hosted several of these occasions in Boulder, including the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs 43rd Annual Convention held in September of 1937. During State and General Federation competitions the Woman’s Club of Boulder won many awards and certificates for their community service and presentation of ideas, such as art and craftwork and scrapbook organization. Members of the Woman’s Club of Boulder also served on State and General Federation boards and committees as officers. Due to the dwindling membership, the Woman’s Club of Boulder was forced to disband in the year 2000 after 100 years of community service to the city of Boulder.

Extent

26 linear feet (41 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Woman’s Club of Boulder was organized in 1900 by several Boulder women, including Jennie Baker. The Woman’s Club of Boulder was active in the community until the year 2000, when it was forced to disband due to lack of members. The Woman’s Club of Boulder Collection contains annual announcements, correspondence, documents related to club activities, financial records, photographs, scrapbooks, and documents pertaining to the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in the following series: Series 1: Annual Announcements, 1901-2000 Series 2: Board of Directors Minutes, 1901-1994 Series 3: club Minutes, 1910-1991 Series 4: Committee and Club Reports, 1901-1999 Series 5: Histories, 1900-1976 Series 6: Newspaper Articles, 1900-1970 Series 7: Membership Lists and documents, 1901-1982 Series 8: Correspondence, 1901-1926 Series 9: Documents, 1900-1993 Series 10: Awards, 1973-2001 Series 11: Treasurer's Book, 1901-1998 Series 12: Colorado Federation of Women's Clubs, 1952-2001 Series 13: General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1954-2001 Series 14: Memorabilia, n.d. Series 15: Oversize, 1935-1992

Status
Completed
Author
Processed Originally: March 1976 Reprocessed by Sarah A. Johnson: May 2002 Donated by Woman’s Club of Boulder: March 1976, November 2001, February 2002
Date
March 1976
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, Rare and Distinctive Collections Repository

Contact:
1720 Pleasant Street
184 UCB
Boulder Colorado 80503 United States