TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guide to the Monday Club Records, 1892 - 1995
Descriptive Summary |
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| Repository | Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University |
| Creator | Monday Club (Middletown, Conn.) |
| Title | Monday Club Records, |
| Dates | 1892 - 1995 |
| Linear Feet | 2.5 |
| Archival Boxes | 5 |
| Abstract | The Monday Club was founded in 1892 as a social and intellectual group for women in the Wesleyan University community. Members continued to meet for presentations and performances until the mid-1990s. |
| The Monday Club Records include minutes and other documents of club business and events. Many of the materials record events and event planning, as well as texts of papers given at meetings and scripts for several plays. The Club is best documented between the 1930s and 1970s, with less information about the years before and after. | |
| Call Number | 1000-136 |
| Location | For current information on the location of these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives staff. |
| Language of Material | Material in English |
Historical Note
The Monday Club was founded in 1892 for the wives of faculty, wives of resident trustees, wives of administrative officers, the associate librarian when a woman, and other female relatives living with faculty members. It was intended as an inclusive gathering in which each woman had an opportunity to serve as president. Members sought social and intellectual enjoyment through a variety of activities: reading of papers by members and guests, teas, musical programs, annual theme parties, and original skits. A topic was chosen each year as the intellectual theme for weekly programs during the academic year. The Monday Club served as one of the primary social gatherings for women in the Wesleyan community.
By the late 1960s, eligibility requirements and functions began to change, and membership included a broader group of women, including local professional women. The group stopped meeting in the mid-1990s.
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Collection Overview
The Monday Club Records include minutes and other documents of club business and events. Many of the materials record events and event planning, as well as texts of papers given at meetings and scripts for several plays. The Club is best documented between the 1930s and 1970s, with less information about the years before and after.
Collection Arrangement
Materials are arranged in two series: Minutes and Alphabetical Files. Alphabetical Files include committees and groups, constitutions, correspondence, historical materials, lists, newsletters, papers, president's notes, programs, scrapbooks, scripts, and treasurer's records. There is some general information from the 1980s filed at the end of the Alphabetical Files.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for Official University records is held by Wesleyan University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Monday Club Records, Collection #1000-136, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Given by club members from the 1930s to the 1990s.
Processing Information
Processed by Maggie Holtzberg, 1980; Valerie Gillispie, October 2007
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, October 2007
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Detailed Description of the Collection
| Minutes, 1892-1979 | |||||||||||
| In addition to official minutes, occasional treasurer's reports, and lists of officers and members, the minutes often serve a scrapbook function, with occasional constitutions, annual and specific programs, photographs, and other materials pasted in. Many of these are not represented in separate groupings. The folder division of the minutes represents the assorted looseleaf notebooks from which they were removed at the time of processing. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1892-1910 | |||||||||
| One volume. See typed transcript in Box 1, Folder 2. | |||||||||||
| 2 | Typed transcript of minutes, 1892-1910 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1911-1927 | ||||||||||
| One volume. | |||||||||||
| 4 | Secretary's notes, 1922-1928 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1927-1938 | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1928-1950 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1950-1960 | ||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1960-1979 | |||||||||
| Alphabetical Files, 1892-1995 | ||||||||||||
| Committees and Groups, 1916-1986 | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Groups | ||||||||||
| Wesleyan Exchange - General Information | ||||||||||||
| Brief report of the Little Monday Club, May 14, 1973 | ||||||||||||
| Garden group program, 1975-1976 | ||||||||||||
| Lists of interest groups, 1970-1986 | ||||||||||||
| 1970 letter from Verna Spaeth describing infirmary sewing group | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Nominating Committee records, 1916-1974, 1980 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4-5 | Tea Committee records, 1936-1969 | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Constitutions, 1947, 1962, 1971, 1975, and undated | ||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1910-1970s | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 7 | 1910-1970s | |||||||||||
| Includes thank-you notes, 1910-1925; thanks for donations to Conn. State Hospital, 1951; copy of R. T. Limbach acknowledgement of club gift of two Wedgwood sandwich plates to the Davison Art Center in 1958; several draft letters by historian Jan Bruster, early 1970s; Acknowledgement of Anniversary Day Gifts, February 15, 1971. | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Intra-club correspondence, 1970s | |||||||||||
| Historical materials about the Club, 1951-1993 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 9 | "The Monday Club: At Home at the Hobart House, Haddam," by Mrs. John W. Spaeth, Jr., Wesleyan Alumnus, August 1951 | |||||||||||
| "Impressions of the first 50 years," by Elspeth Cowie, 1964 and 1972 versions | ||||||||||||
| "Ten minute description of the Monday Club," by Kay Butterfield, 1966 and 1971 versions | ||||||||||||
| "History of the Monday Club," by Jan Bruster, 1972 | ||||||||||||
| Chronological notes, with sketches. | ||||||||||||
| Two-page description of the Club by Joan Miller, president, 1972-1973 | ||||||||||||
| "5,200 Mondays," [Wesleyan] Campus Report, January 21, 1993 | ||||||||||||
| Information for newcomers, 1962-1973 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 10 | "Tales out of school and in," circa 1962 | |||||||||||
| 19 pages, with covering letter. | ||||||||||||
| "For your information," circa 1964 | ||||||||||||
| Quick sheet, September 1970 | ||||||||||||
| 2 pages. | ||||||||||||
| Community service - volunteer opportunities, undated | ||||||||||||
| Information, circa 1973 | ||||||||||||
| List of officers and members, 1892-1986 | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | List of members, 1892-1966, 1975-1981 | ||||||||||
| Includes dates joined and left. | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | List of members, 1918-1980 | |||||||||||
| These lists are usually accompanied by a list of officers and committees. Some years missing. | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | List of presidents and secretaries, 1895-1929, 1960-1981 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Telephone lists, 1954-1986 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Memorial fund, 1946-1955 | |||||||||||
| Four pages historial documents, letters of thanks from District Nurse Association (DNA), and 18 letters (1946-1955) from DNA describing work of the day paid for by the fund. | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Newsletters, 1968-1982 | |||||||||||
| "Memo" (club newsletter), 1968-1979 | ||||||||||||
| "Monday Club Newsletter," 1980-1982 and undated | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 7-8 | Papers delivered at Club meetings, 1925-1960 | |||||||||||
| Letter from Kate Mead from Tunis, December 24, 1925 | ||||||||||||
| Describes life in Tunis. 5 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "What I Wear," April 16, 1928 | ||||||||||||
| "Hobbies," November 16, 1931 | ||||||||||||
| "The seventeenth century: an introduction," by Elspeth Cowie, October 1933 | ||||||||||||
| 4 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "An imaginary trip around the world in 60 minutes," by Evelyn Foye, November 1936 | ||||||||||||
| 38 pages. | ||||||||||||
| Count Rumford, January 4, 1937 | ||||||||||||
| "Early American bestsellers," by Elspeth Cowie, October 1939 | ||||||||||||
| 22 pages, plus bibliography. Also delivered to the Literary Club and to a Methodist Church group. | ||||||||||||
| "Organic architecture," by Marian (Mrs. Richard G.) Clarke, October 28, 1940 | ||||||||||||
| 25 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "Fun with music [madrigals]," by Jane Swift, circa 1957-1960 | ||||||||||||
| 6 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "The first league of women voters," by Ethel Howland, October 1959 | ||||||||||||
| 12 pages. | ||||||||||||
| Tribute to the late Elizabeth W. Rice by Mrs. Harrington, undated | ||||||||||||
| 1 page. | ||||||||||||
| The Beecher Family, undated | ||||||||||||
| Durham in Retrospect, undated | ||||||||||||
| President's Notes, 1952-1960 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 9 | 1952-1953 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 10 | 1953-1954 | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 1955-1956 | ||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1956-1957 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 1957-1958 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1959-1960 | |||||||||||
| Programs, 1909-1977 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Annual programs, 1915-1977 | |||||||||||
| Parties | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 6 | 1915 | |||||||||||
| 1931 | ||||||||||||
| Includes two copies of one photo | ||||||||||||
| 1951 | ||||||||||||
| Two photos only. | ||||||||||||
| 1977-1978 | ||||||||||||
| Performances | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Musical performances, 1909-1931, 1972 and undated | |||||||||||
| Plays, 1916-1926, 1956 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 8-9 | Program Records, 1933-1968 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Topics and proposed topics, 1892-1961, undated | |||||||||||
| Scrapbooks, 1951-1953 | ||||||||||||
| Box | Folder | |||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | 1951-1952 | ||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Circa 1953 | |||||||||||
| Includes photographs. | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Scripts, circa 1947-1953 | |||||||||||
| Untitled Greek drama of academic life, with Nausicaa, Odysseus, et. al. | ||||||||||||
| 8 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "Alice in Wesleyland," by Ed Fritz, presented June 5, 1947 | ||||||||||||
| 24 pages. | ||||||||||||
| "Faculty meeting (in 4 sessions): drama with Greek chorus," presented March 1953 | ||||||||||||
| 39 pages. Also a scrapbook containing typescript of same text (fuller) with many photographs of the performance and some music. | ||||||||||||
| "Skits O'Phrenia," undated | ||||||||||||
| 7 pages. | ||||||||||||
| Treasurer's Records, 1937-1973 | ||||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1937-1950 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 5 | 1947-1973 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Update, 1995 | |||||||||||
| Folder | ||||||||||||
| 7 | General Materials, 1980s | |||||||||||