MS-131 Four Seasons Garden Club Records

Introduction

The records of the Four Seasons Garden Club of Oakwood were deposited in the Wright State University Department of Archives and Special Collections by Ruth Hayley and Lucy Perez on June 23, 1983.

The papers in this collection date from 1928 to 1991 and fill 4 Hollinger boxes and 2 Records Center boxes. The collection is arranged as follows:

Series 1: Meeting Minutes
Series 2: The President’s Files
Series 3: Financial Records
Series 4: Yearbooks
Series 5: Slides
Series 6: Scrapbooks

There are no restrictions on the use of these records.

Historical Sketch

Organized in 1928, the Four Seasons Garden Club of Oakwood has raised money through various activities such as bulb sales and auctions to fund beautification projects including the landscaping of Shawen Acres Children’s Home, “Whip-poor-will” Girl Scout Camp, and the Italian Cloister at the Dayton Art Institute, and to provide other community services.

Scope and Content

The first series in the collection contains the club’s meeting minutes from 1928 to 1943 and from 1953 to 1976 with occasional membership rolls. The second series has the contents of the “President’s Files,” the paperwork kept by the club presidents, including annual committee reports, correspondence, project memoranda, and programs from the club meetings. Also included is a miscellaneous file with a copy of the constitution, a list of the duties of the officers, two histories of the club, the introduction of Herr Mistaufen, and other miscellaneous items.

Series 3 is the financial records of check stubs and a receipt book from 1967 to 1974. Series 4 contains the yearbooks from 1936 and 1939, and from 1952 to 1991. Series 5 has slides, which are pictures of gardens and pictures taken during meetings from 1968 to 1983. There are also two Records Center boxes with 6 scrapbooks of pictures, newspaper articles, and sample invitations from 1938 to 1940 and from 1949 to 1991.

Container Listing