MS–349 Progressive Mothers Club Records at WSU Special Collections & Archives

MS-349 Progressive Mothers Club Records

Introduction

The Progressive Mothers’ Club Records were given to Wright State University Special Collections and Archives by Nancy Bauman, a former president of Progressive Mothers’ Club, in December, 2006. 19 boxes (approximately 15.5 linear feet) of materials were received.

The mission of the Progressive Mothers’ Club was to promote the role and education of mothers within the setting of a social group. The collection illustrates the Club’s purpose through yearly event books, financial records, membership records, scrapbooks, meeting minutes, the president’s gavel, photographs, and newspaper clippings. Most of the items relate directly to the Progressive Mothers’ Club, but the collection also consists of a subgroup containing records from the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae. The subgroup contains scrapbooks, attendance records, and meeting minutes from the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae.

The Progressive Mothers’ Club Records date between 1923 and 2003. However, most of the records are focused between 1985 and 2003. The items pertaining to the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae date from the beginning of the club in 1946 to the late seventies, with the exception of attendance records that date to 1997.

There are no restrictions on the use of the Progressive Mothers’ Club Records.

Subgroup 1: The Progressive Mothers’ Club Records

Series I:            Yearly Event Books
Series II:           Presidents’ Files
Series III:        Membership
Series IV:        Minutes
Series V:          Reports
Series VI:         Financial Records
Series VII:        Benefit Day
Series VIII:        Memorabilia

Subgroup 2: The Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae Records

Series I: Scrapbooks
Series II: Roll Books
Series III: Minutes

Organizational Sketch

The Progressive Mothers’ Club was founded in March, 1918 in Dayton, Ohio. The purpose of the Club was to bring together local mothers for social and educational functions that were meant to nurture and enhance their role as mothers. The Progressive Mothers sought to provide opportunities for mothers to learn about child development, nurturing family environments, and the stresses associated with youth and families. The non-profit group prided itself on providing “welfare and advocacy for all children.” Every March the Progressive Mothers sponsored a charitable event called “Benefit Day,” from which all the proceeds would go to an area-elect charity. The Progressive Mothers’ Club joined the Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1921, as well as later joining the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs and the General (National) Federation of Women’s Clubs. The club met one Friday a month from September through May in order to accommodate the school schedules of their children.

On May 31, 1946, seventy-two former members of the Progressive Mothers’ Club signed a charter to establish the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae. The group was founded by Mrs. Gordon Harris who saw the need for a club that catered to mothers of grown children. The Alumnae group was meant to be an extension of the Progressive Mothers’ Club by creating a social club for mothers with adult children living outside of the family home for five years or more. The mission statement of the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae indicates the purpose of the club is to “continue old friendships and to keep alert to the ever changing world in current fields of interest.”

The Progressive Mothers’ Club disbanded in May, 2003 due to low membership, but the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae is still an active and functioning club in the Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Scope and Content

The Progressive Mothers’ Club Records document the establishment and functions of a women’s social club in Dayton, Ohio. Through these papers, researchers may gain insight into women’s clubs in the Dayton area, as well as historical events and social changes as documented by the club members.

Subgroup 1: The Progressive Mothers’ Club

Series I: Yearly Event Books
The yearly event books contain meeting and event information, officers, committees, and by-laws that pertain to members. The series consists of sixty-seven event books spanning from 1923 to 2003. There is a significant gap in the series from 1924 to 1940 and again from 1942 to 1960, but the majority of the books from 1960 to 2003 are present. The series also contains the Chairman’s binder, which catalogs the cost and publication information for each booklet from 1975 through 2000.

Series II: Presidents’ Files
The Presidents’ Files were originally binders created by the presidents of the Progressive Mothers’ Club for their respective year. The contents of the binders was removed and stored in folders for conservation purposes, but the folders are still labeled as binders for preservation of provenance. Many of the binders contained an introductory letter from the president that addresses their term in office for the Club; these can be found in the first folder of each president’s group of files. The majority of the documents contained in this series are meeting minutes and financial records, but valuable information pertaining to the Club’s activities can be found within the files. The files date from 1986 through 2003. Also included in the files are the Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs’ monthly newsletters received by the Progressive Mothers’ Club. The files dating from 1993 to 1996 lack a President’s Report or officer listing, making the presidents for those years indecipherable.

Series III: Membership
The Membership series contains attendance records, membership cards, and membership updates. The membership cards include the Club’s most recent members, as well as associate, honorary, and resigned members. Included in the collection is a roll book that contains attendance records from 1926 to 1929.

Series IV: Minutes
This series contains the minutes recorded from the board meetings of the Progressive Mothers’ Club, as well as the minutes of the general meetings. The series contains documents from November 20, 1987 to February 21, 2003.

Series V: Reports
The Reports series contains monthly and yearly reports from every officer and committee maintained within the Progressive Mothers’ Club. The documents in the series date from 1983 to 1996.

Series VI: Financial Records
The Financial Records series contains treasurers’ binders, IRS statements, budgets, membership due spreadsheets, and several other financially focused documents. The series contains annual reports from 1960 through 1997, as well as a report from 1948. Contained within the series is a set of three ledgers that contain treasurers’ information from 1948 up through 1983.

Series VII: Benefit Day
The Benefit Day series contains information regarding the yearly charitable event sponsored by the Progressive Mothers’ Club. The series includes the recipients of the proceeds, as well as letters of acceptance from the various organizations. Many of the files include detailed explanations of the location of the event and the activities that occurred there. This series includes information pertaining to Benefit Days that took place between 1995 and 2003.

Series VIII: Memorabilia
The Memorabilia series contains three items: the President’s gavel, a guest book from numerous social events, and a stamp depicting the Progressive Mothers’ Club official logo.

Subgroup 2: The Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae

Series I: Scrapbooks
The first series of the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae contains 5 scrapbooks ranging from the group’s establishment in 1946 through 1975. Each scrapbook contains photographs of the respective year’s president, newspaper clippings of local and world events, meeting and event locations, and obituaries of members and/or spouses. The scrapbooks are a fantastic resource for group related events, as well as vintage fashion and social changes that occurred in the Dayton area.

Series II: Roll Books
The roll books catalog the attendance and membership of the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae continuously from 1949 to 1997 in three bound volumes.

Series III: Minutes

The bound volumes containing the minutes from the meetings of the Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae span from March 8, 1946 through June 6, 1977. The minutes give detailed information on events and general club business. The minutes recorded from March though May of 1946 pre-date the official establishment of the Alumnae group, which occurred on May 31, 1946.

Container Listing

Subgroup 1:		Progressive Mothers’ Club
Series I:		Yearly Event Books
Box	File	Item	Date
1	1	Year Book	1923-1924
	2	Year Book	1940-1941
	3	Year Book	1941-1942
	4	Year Book	1960-1961
	5	Year Book	1961-1962
	6	Year Book	1962-1963
	7	Year Book	1963-1964
	8	Year Book	1964-1965
	9	Year Book	1965-1966
	10	Year Book	1966-1967
	11	Year Book	1967-1968
	12	Year Book	1967-1968
	13	Year Book	1968-1969
	14	Year Book	1968-1969
	15	Year Book	1969-1970
	16	Year Book	1970-1971
	17	Year Book	1970-1971
	18	Year Book	1971-1972
	19	Year Book	1971-1972
	20	Year Book	1972-1973
	21	Year Book	1972-1973
	22	Year Book	1973-1974
	23	Year Book	1973-1974
	24	Year Book	1974-1975
	25	Year Book	1974-1975
	26	Year Book	1975-1976
	27	Year Book	1975-1976
	28	Year Book	1976-1977
	29	Year Book	1976-1977
	30	Year Book	1977-1978
	31	Year Book	1977-1978
	32	Year Book	1978-1979
	33	Year Book	1978-1979
	34	Year Book	1979-1980
	35	Year Book	1979-1980
	36	Year Book	1980-1981
	37	Year Book	1981-1982
	38	Year Book	1981-1982
	39	Year Book	1982-1983
	40	Year Book	1983-1984
	41	Year Book	1983-1984
	42	Year Book	1984-1985
	43	Year Book	1984-1985
	44	Year Book	1985-1986
	45	Year Book	1986-1987
	46	Year Book	1988-1989
	47	Year Book	1989-1990
	48	Year Book	1989-1990
	49	Year Book	1990-1991
	50	Year Book	1990-1991
	51	Year Book	1991-1992
	52	Year Book	1991-1992
	53	Year Book	1992-1993
	54	Year Book	1992-1993
	55	Year Book	1993-1994
	56	Year Book	1994-1995
	57	Year Book	1995-1996
	58	Year Book	1996-1997
	59	Year Book	1996-1997
	60	Year Book	1997-1998
	61	Year Book	1997-1998
	62	Year Book	1998-1999
	63	Year Book	1999-2000
	64	Year Book	2000-2001
	65	Year Book	2001-2002
	66	Year Book	2001-2002
	67	Year Book	2002-2003
	68	Chairman’s Binder	1975-2000


Series II		President's Files
Box	File	Item	Date
2	1	President’s Report-Vickie Must	1986-1987
	2	Board Minutes	1986-1987
	3	Treasurer’s Reports	1986-1987
	4	General Meetings and Agendas	1986-1987
	5	Benefit Day	1986-1987
	6	Correspondence	1986-1987
	7	President’s Report-Barb Sooy	1987-1988
	8	Standing Rules	1987-1988
	9	General Meeting Minutes	1987-1988
	10	Board Meeting Minutes	1987-1988
	11	Treasurer’s Reports	1987-1988
	12	Lists of Past Officers	1987-1988
	13	President’s Report-Virginia Lorenz	1988-1989
	14	General Meeting Minutes	1988-1989
	15	Board Meeting Minutes	1988-1989
	16	Correspondence	1988-1989
	17	Treasurer’s Reports	1988-1989
	18	President’s Report-Diana Case	1989-1990
	19	Meeting Schedule	1989-1990
	20	Standing Rules	1989-1990
	21	Board Meeting Minutes	1989-1990
	22	General Meeting Minutes	1989-1990
	23	Budgets and Treasurer’s Reports	1989-1990
	24	Correspondence	1989-1990
	25	Membership Reports	1989-1990
	26	Hostess Committee Reports	1989-1990
	27	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1989-1990
	28	President’s Report-Gerri Rosati	1990-1991
	29	Board Meeting Minutes	1990-1991
	30	General Meeting Minutes	1990-1991
	31	Treasurer’s Reports and Budgets	1990-1991
	32	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1990-1991
	33	Correspondence	1990-1991
	34	President’s Report-Dottie Eisenhauer	1991-1992
	35	Standing Rules	1991-1992
	36	Newsletter	1991-1992
	37	Board Meeting Minutes	1991-1992
	38	General Meeting Minutes	1991-1992
	39	Treasurer’s Reports	1991-1992
	40	Benefit Day	1991-1992
	41	President’s Report-Christy Manchester	1992-1993
	42	Standing Rules	1992-1993
	43	Board Meeting Minutes	1992-1993
	44	Benefit Day	1992-1993
	45	General Meeting Minutes	1992-1993
	46	Budgets	1992-1993
	47	Correspondence	1992-1993
	48	Standing Rules	1993-1994
	49	General Meeting Minutes	1993-1994
	50	Board Meeting Minutes	1993-1994
	51	Budgets	1993-1994
	52	Benefit Day	1993-1994
	53	Standing Rules	1994-1995
	54	General Meeting Minutes	1994-1995
	55	Board Meeting Minutes	1994-1995
	56	Benefit Day	1994-1995
	57	Budget	1994-1995
	58	Hostess Committee Reports	1994-1995
3	1	General Meeting Minutes	1995-1996
	2	Board Meeting Minutes	1995-1996
	3	Benefit Day	1995-1996
	4	Budget	1995-1996
	5	Dayton Federation of Women’s Club	1995-1996
	6	Correspondence	1995-1996
	7	President’s Report-Debbie Fussnecker	1996-1997
	8	General Meeting Minutes	1996-1997
	9	Board Meeting Minutes	1996-1997
	10	Treasurer’s Reports	1996-1997
	11	Benefit Day	1996-1997
	12	Membership	1996-1997
	13	Correspondence	1996-1997
	14	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1996-1997
	15	President’s Report-Paula Burton	1997-1998
	16	Mission Statement and Standing Rules	1997-1998
	17	General Meeting Minutes	1997-1998
	18	Board Meeting Minutes	1997-1998
	19	Benefit Day	1997-1998
	20	Membership and Board Updates	1997-1998
	21	Treasurer’s Report and Budgets	1997-1998
	22	Correspondence	1997-1998
	23	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1997-1998
	24	President’s Report-Nancy Rambasek	1998-1999
	25	General Meeting Minutes	1998-1999
	26	Board Meeting Minutes	1998-1999
	27	Benefit Day	1998-1999
	28	Budgets	1998-1999
	29	Membership	1998-1999
	30	Job Descriptions, Officers, and Committee Lists	1998-1999
	31	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1998-1999
	32	Correspondence	1998-1999
4	1	President’s Report-Jane Visser	1999-2000
	2	General Meeting Minutes	1999-2000
	3	Board Meeting Minutes	1999-2000
	4	Benefit Day	1999-2000
	5	Budget and Audits	1999-2000
	6	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	1999-2000
	7	End of Year Reports	1999-2000
	8	Job Descriptions and Standing Committees	1999-2000
	9	Correspondence and Charitable Information	1999-2000
	10	President’s Report-Cindy Wagner	2001-2002
	11	General Meeting Minutes	2001-2002
	12	Board Meeting Minutes	2001-2002
	13	Benefit Day	2001-2002
	14	Budget and Audits	2001-2002
	15	Standing Committees, Job Descriptions, and Contracts	2001-2002
	16	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	2001-2002
	17	Correspondence	2001-2002
	18	End of the Year Reports	2001-2002
	19	President’s Report-Sandra Sacksteder	2002-2003
	20	General Meeting Minutes	2002-2003
	21	Board Meeting Minutes	2002-2003
	22	Benefit Day	2002-2003
	23	Treasurer’s Reports and Budgets	2002-2003
	24	Membership	2002-2003
	25	Membership letters and Ballots	2002-2003
	26	Standing Committees	2002-2003
	27	Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs Newsletters	2002-2003
	28	Bylaws and Job Descriptions	2002-2003
	29	General Information and Correspondence	2002-2003


Series III:		Membership
Box	File	Item	Date
5	1	Roll Book	1926-1929
	2	Membership Updates	Oct. 20, 2000-April 19, 2002
	3	Attendance Logs	1998-2002
	4	Letter Templates	Undated
	5	Publicity	January, 1998-April, 2000
	6	Resignation Letters	2001-2003
	7	Mission Statement and Handbook	2000-2001
	8	Job Descriptions	2002-2003
	9	Attendance	2002-2003
	10	Letters and Updates	2002-2003
	11	Meeting Flyers	Sept. 20, 2002-March 21, 2003
	12	Bylaws	2002-2003
	13	Board Documents	September, 2002- February 21, 2003
	14	Regular Members, A-Z	1986-2001
	15	Honorary Members, A-Z	1984-1997
	16	Associate Members, A-Z	1986-2001
	17	Regular Members, A-Z	1988-2002
	18	Alumnae, A-Z	1955-1999
	19	Resigned	1945-1992
	20	PMA Correspondence	Sept. 23, 2003

Series IV:		Minutes
Box	File	Item	Date
6	1	Minutes	Nov. 20, 1987-May 18, 1990
	2	Minutes	Sept. 14, 1990-May 16, 1993
	3	Minutes	April 16, 1993-Feb. 21, 2003


Series V:		Reports
Box	File	Item	Date
6	4	President	1983-1990
	5	1st Vice President	1984-1996
	6	2nd Vice President	1986-1988
	7	Recording Secretary	Undated
	8	Corresponding Secretary	1995-1996
	9	Auditor	1984-1985
	10	Benefit Day Chairperson	1985-1987
	11	Chaplain	1984
	12	Delegate to the Dayton Federation of Women’s Clubs	1995-1996
	13	Historian and Publicist	1983-1996
	14	Membership	1983-1986
	15	Music Director	1983-1988
	16	Progress Committee	1986-1997
	17	Representative from Honorary	1983-1984, 1993-1996
	18	Telephone Chairperson	1983-1996

Series VI:		Financial Records
Box	File	Item	Date
7	1	Treasurer’s Book	1948-1964
	2	Treasurer’s Book	June 17, 1950- Sept. 13,1967
	3	Treasurer’s Notebook	Oct. 8, 1965- May 13, 1983
	4	IRS Statements	1965-1991
8	1	Disbursements	1996-1997
	2	Audits	1994-1998
	3	Remittance Letters	1982-1997
	4	Annual Reports	1948, 1952-1997
8	5	Budgets	1948-1950, 1954-1997
	6	Membership Dues	1984-1998
	7	Balance Sheets	1983-1996
	8	Balance Sheets	1996-1998
9	1	Treasurer’s Report	1998-1999
	2	Treasurer’s Report	1998-1999
	3	Treasurer’s Report	1999-2000
	4	Treasurer’s Report	1999-2000
	5	Treasurer’s Report	2001-2002
	6	Treasurer’s Report	2001-2002
	7	Disbursements	2002
	8	Correspondence	1998-2003
	9	Reconciliation Summaries	2002-2003
	10	Annual Reports	1998-2003
	11	Budgets	1998-2003
	12	Membership Dues	2001-2003
	13	Balance Sheets	1998-2003
	14	Cookbook Sales	2000-2003

Series VII:		Benefit Day
Box	File	Item	Date
10	1	Benefit Day	March 24, 1995
	2	Benefit Day	March 20, 1998
	3	Benefit Day	March 26,1999
	4	Benefit Day	March 17, 2000
	5	Benefit Day	March 23, 2001
	6	Benefit Day	March 15, 2002
	7	Benefit Day	March, 2003
	8	Beneficiary Proposals	1999-2003

Series VIII:		Memorabilia
Box	File	Item	Date
11		President’s Gavel
		Stamp with Logo
		Guestbook


Subgroup 2:		Progressive Mothers’ Alumnae
Series I:		Scrapbooks
Box	File	Item	Date
12	1	Scrapbook 1	1946-1947
	2	Scrapbook 1	1947-1948
	3	Scrapbook 1	1948-1949
13	1	Scrapbook 2	1949-1950
	2	Scrapbook 2	1950-1951
	3	Scrapbook 2	1951-1952
	4	Scrapbook 2	1952-1953
14	1	Scrapbook 3	1953-1954
	2	Scrapbook 3	1954-1955
	3	Scrapbook 3	1955-1956
	4	Scrapbook 3	1956-1957
	5	Scrapbook 3	1957-1958
	6	Scrapbook 3	1958-1959
	7	Scrapbook 3	1959-1960
15	1	Scrapbook 4	1960-1961
	2	Scrapbook 4	1961-1962
	3	Scrapbook 4	1962-1963
	4	Scrapbook 4	1963-1964
	5	Scrapbook 4	1964-1965
	6	Scrapbook 4	1965-1966
	7	Scrapbook 4	1966-1967
	8	Scrapbook 4	1967-1968
	9	Scrapbook 4	1968-1969
	10	Scrapbook 4	1970-1971
	11	Scrapbook 4	1972-1973
16	1	Scrapbook 5	1973-1974
	2	Scrapbook 5	1974-1975

Series II:		Roll Books
Box	File	Item	Date
17	1	Roll Book 1	1949-1956
	2	Roll Book 2	1956-1971
	3	Roll Book 3	1971-1997

Series III:		Minutes
Box	File	Item	Date
18	1	Minutes	March 8, 1946-June, 1949
	2	Minutes	Sept. 9,1949- May 13, 1955
	3	Minutes	Sept. 9, 1955- May 8, 1959
	4	Minutes	August 29, 1959- May 10, 1963
	5	Minutes	Oct. 4, 1963- May 12, 1967
19	1	Minutes	Sept. 29, 1967- June 6, 1977