MS-329 Christ Child Society Records

Introduction

The Christ Child Society manuscript collection dates from 1887 to 2003. However, most of the records cover the organization’s activities from the 1970’s onward. Barbara Boose, former president of the Christ Child Society (CCS) donated the records to Wright State University August 13, 2003. The collection is arranged in seven Hollinger boxes, two folders in the oversize collection and one flat box containing a scrapbook, which comes to 3.5 linear feet. The collection provides information on the origin and development of the Dayton chapter of the CCS. It provides an overview of the organizational structure of the society, but focuses most heavily on two committees during the last three decades of the 20th century. These committees are the Layette Assembly committee and Red Wagon Luncheon, Boutique and Fashion Show Committee. There are no restrictions on the use of the material. Series include:

Organizational Sketch

Mary Virginia Merrick founded the Christ Child Society in 1887 in Washington, D.C. to aid poor children. On October 11, 1911 Marie and Helen Rotterman founded the Dayton Chapter of the Christ Child Society. The society began with fewer than 200, primarily Catholic, women, yet grew steadily throughout the century and was organized into various committees and subcommittees governed by a board of directors, later called the executive board. Throughout its life, the Christ Child Society has maintained a roll of about 200 active members.

When it started, CCS gave Christmas presents, shoes, clothes, and layettes to needy children. From the 1970’s to the 1990’s the CCS focused primarily on fundraising to aid women and children in need. An early fundraiser was a Shrove Tuesday card party held from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. This was followed by the Red Wagon Luncheon, Boutique and Fashion Show, which was held once a year. In addition to this, a Cabaret was held for a short time from the 50’s to the 70’s.

One of their main service projects was the Layette Assembly, which was held twice a year for the making of infant layettes to be distributed through various Dayton social services and organizations. The Christ Child Society also participated in eleven other social projects. CCS frequently worked with other organizations including Womanline, Green County Combined Health District, Catholic Social Services, Elizabeth New Life Center, Franciscan Family Practice, Miami Valley Hospital, and Miami Valley Women’s Center. CCS was in existence as late as March 2004.

Scope and Content Note

Although the Dayton Chapter of the Christ Child Society began in 1911, most of the records here are from the 1970’s to the early 2000’s, with a few records from the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1950’s. Although the Society had a variety of programs including infant grieving gowns, ABC’s for Babies, and the Learning Tree Farm, nearly all of the records in the collection focus on the Layette Assembly program and the Red Wagon fundraiser.

Series I: History is composed of copies of typed accounts describing the organization, member statistics and projects of the society. The photographs in this series are of the founders of the National and Dayton Christ Child Societies. There is a folder of a few newspaper clippings that fall between 1920 and 2001, but most are from the 1990’s. These discuss the founders, fashion shows and other events. Some photographs from the 1998 Kettering Parade are unlabeled, but an article in the news clippings file describes the event. There are also documents from the 1994 Christ Child Society National Convention, which was hosted in Dayton. Finally, there are also samples of letterheads, envelopes, and brochures used by the Dayton Chapter of the Christ Child Societies in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Series II: Board Meeting Minutes and Series III: General Meeting Minutes are in chronological order. The Christ Child Society’s year began in July rather than January.

Series IV: Financial Statements contains records that document the Christ Child Societies’ status as an incorporated non-profit organization from 1955, 1975, and 1983. Along with these are treasury reports and budgets starting in 1971 up to 2001. Some treasury reports may be difficult to read, because the Christ Child Society year typically begins July 1.

Series V: Christ Child Society Newsletter underwent three name changes and several changes in layout design throughout the years. This publication kept the members informed about upcoming events.

Series VI: Layette Assembly includes reports, sign up sheets, financial records, order forms, and correspondence that describe the biannual Layette Assembly. Some of the documents are hand-written on scraps of paper and may be difficult to read. The documents pertaining to each year are ordered chronologically. The photographs in these series are not labeled, but seem to have been taken on three different days between 1995 and 1997. This series demonstrates the CCS’s cooperation with other organizations, because their layettes were typically distributed through other social service groups.

Series VII: Cabaret was a fundraiser held roughly once every two or three years during the 1970’s. Records here include two programs as well as records, manuals, and correspondence showing how the Cabaret was put on and why it came to an abrupt end.

Series VIII: Red Wagon is the most complicated and largest series of records. It is divided into two subseries pertaining to the Red Wagon Committee and the Red Wagon Luncheon, Boutique and Fashion Show. The Red Wagon Committee records are in this order: membership lists, calendars, meeting minutes, chairman reports, and committee reports in alphabetical order. The next section’s order is: correspondence with the Mandalay Banquet Center, correspondence and contracts with the department store or people who did the fashion show, correspondence with other donors, thank you letters, treasury reports, inventories, and sign up sheets, surveys or ballots. The correspondence is in alphabetical order by the store, or person’s last name. Diagrams of seating layouts for the banquet are kept in a folder in the oversize collection. The records from 1986 are absent and the committee began keeping much more extensive records in 1996. Again, some of the reports and correspondence are handwritten.

The Red Wagon Luncheon, Boutique, and Fashion Show is the Christ Child Society’s largest annual fundraiser. The Red Wagon Luncheon records include invitations, raffle tickets, and programs. The only record from 1974 is a speech given by the society president. Posters advertising the luncheon are in the oversize collection.

Container Listing