Inventory of the New Bedford Woman’s Club Records In The New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library
Title: New Bedford Woman’s Club Records
Date Span: 1898-1980
Mss Number: Mss 216
Provenance: Gift of Henry Fanning on behalf of the family of Kay Berube (2010.10)
Extent: 3 linear inches
Abstract: Administrative, financial, and institutional records of the New Bedford Woman’s Club, 1898-1980
Processed by: Mark Procknik, 2023
Repository: New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library
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Introduction
Materials in this collection were donated to the New Bedford Whaling Museum by Henry Fanning on behalf of the family of Kay Berube as part of Accession 2010.10.
Historical Note
Cora Cleveland, Alice Munsey, Mabel Cleveland, and Carrie Gifford first met in 1896 to study Parliamentary Law and later formed the New Bedford Woman’s Club in 1897. The Club affiliated with the Massachusetts State Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1898, and the national organization of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1900. The first president was Ada W. Tillinghast, who held early club meetings in her home at the corner of Eighth and Elm Streets. According to the Club constitution, its purpose was the “intellectual, philanthropic, moral and social advancement” of its members. It soon outgrew its space and moved the meetings to the First Baptist Church in New Bedford. In 1917, they raised $12,000 to purchase and renovate the Standish House at 20 South Sixth Street. Meetings continued at this site until 1979, when the New Bedford YWCA purchased the property. The club disbanded around 1990.
Among the Club’s accomplishments was the establishment of playgrounds throughout the city, subsidizing school lunches, supporting the Cancer Clinic and the Dental Clinic in the public school, sending books to the leper colony on Penikeese Island, providing supplies for patients at St. Luke’s, the Veteran’s Hospital in Rutland, and the Sassaquin Sanatorium. During World War I, they sold War Bonds, and during World War II, they shared their home with the U.S.O. for the entertainment of soldiers. One of their main projects was working with the disabled, founding a Blind Reading Circle in the early part of the 20th century. In 1940, women between the ages of 21 and 35 formed the New Bedford Junior Woman’s Club in order to develop its members in “intellectual endeavor, social fellowship, and community service.”
Scope and Content Note
Materials in this collection relate to the activities of the New Bedford Woman’s Club during the years 1898 to 1980, with the bulk of the collection concerning the Club’s administrative and financial aspects. Administrative records date from 1898 to 1946 and include documentation from the Club’s various committees. Records related to the Committee for Work among the Bling consist of a 1910 treasurer’s report, while records for the Ways and Means Committee comprise a financial report from 1919. Membership Committee records date from 1944 and include an application for membership to join the Club submitted by Evelyn Alvarnson of New Bedford. Literature Committee records consist of a program for an undated performance put on by Charles T. Grilley titled “A Recital of Miscellaneous Selections.” Records for the Playground Committee consist of an undated newspaper clipping documenting the Committee’s planned work on New Bedford playgrounds. In addition to committee records, the collection also contains a 1916 meeting notice sent to members of the Club in addition to an 1898 calendar, and a 1946 bulletin describing the Club’s schedule and work.
Financial records of the Woman’s Club span 1898 to 1918 and consist primarily of treasurer’s records. These records exist in the form of treasurer’s accounts from 1898 to 1918 in addition to one bill dated 1918. Additional records for the organization relate to its institutional history and include an undated commemorative typescript text on the founding of the Woman’s Club in addition to printed material from 1980 documenting the Standish House, the Club’s home of the from 1917-1979. Included among these printed materials are four architectural drawings of the Standish House from 1980.
Arrangement of Collection
Series A: Administrative Records, 1898-1946
Series B: Financial Records, 1898-1918
Series C: Institutional History, 1980
Collection Inventory
Box 1
Series A: Administrative Records, 1898-1946
Sub-series 1: Committee for Work among the Blind, 1910
Folder 1: Treasurer’s report, 1910
Sub-series 2: Ways and Means Committee, 1919
Folder 1: Financial report, 1919
Sub-series 3: Membership Committee, 1944
Folder 1: Application for membership, 1944
Sub-series 4: Literature Committee, Undated
Folder 1: Recital program, undated
Sub-series 5: Playground Committee, Undated
Folder 1: Newspaper clipping regarding the work of the committee, undated
Sub-series 6: Schedules, 1898-1946
Folder 1: Meeting notices, 1916
Folder 2: Calendars and bulletins, 1898-1946
Series B: Financial Records, 1898-1918
Sub-series 1: Treasurer’s Records, 1898-1918
Folder 1: Treasurer’s accounts, 1898-1900
Folder 2: Treasurer’s accounts, 1900-1915
Folder 3: Treasurer’s accounts, 1915-1918
Sub-series 2: Bills and Receipts, 1918
Folder 1: Bills and receipts, 1918
Series C: Institutional History, 1980
Folder 1: Documentation related to the Standish House, 1980
Folder 2: Commemorative text on the founding of the Woman’s Club, undated
Subject Headings
Architectural drawing--Massachusetts--New Bedford
Architecture--Designs and plans
Clubs--Massachusetts--New Bedford
Concert programs
Fraternal organizations
New Bedford Woman’s Club (New Bedford, Mass.)--Finance
New Bedford Woman’s Club (New Bedford, Mass.)--History
New Bedford Woman’s Club (New Bedford, Mass.)--Records and correspondence
Women--Societies and clubs--Massachusetts--New Bedford
