Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Birchwood Hostel Records, 1975-2021
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Birchwood Hostel
- Title
- Birchwood Hostel Records
- Dates
- 1975-2021 (inclusive)19752021
- Quantity
- 3.8 linear feet
- Collection Number
- Mss 954
- Summary
- The Birchwood Hostel Records are the records of a hostel that offered affordable lodging to travelers in Missoula, Montana from May 1977 until April 2000. The hostel was founded by Italo “Ernie” Franceschi through BikeCentennial (later Adventure Cycling Association), catering primarily to people on cross country bicycle tours. This collection contains correspondence and documents relating to the development of cycling tourism and youth hostels in the Western United States in the late twentieth century, as well as community relations within Missoula, Montana.
- Repository
-
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Birchwood Hostel operated in Missoula Montana from May, 1977 to April, 2000, providing affordable lodging for young travelers, particularly those on long bicycle tours. Birchwood was founded by Italo "Ernie" Franceschi, born in Florence, Italy in 1940 who had moved to Missoula as the office manager of BikeCentennial (later Adventure Cycling Association), a company that coordinated bicycle tours beginning with a cross country ride commemorating the United States bicentennial in 1976. Ernie Franceschi served in the United States Air Force from 1957-1962, during which time he traveled Europe and discovered the youth hostel culture. In 1976 Ernie met Gayl Teichert, who had participated in BikeCentennial. The two were married in 1981. Ernie Franceschi purchased the former YWCA building at 600 South Orange Street in Missoula, which he opened as The Birchwood Hostel in May, 1977.
Hosteling was particularly popular with young touring cyclists. By offering an open dorm style accommodation in which guests were expected to complete a simple chore each day of their stay, hostels were able to offer lower rates than traditional hotels. Birchwood's owners struggled at times to communicate to the Missoula community that while they provided low cost accommodations, they were neither a charity house nor a hotel competitor.
Between 1977 and 1993, Birchwood Hostel was affiliated with American Youth Hostels, a nationwide membership organization that promoted youth hostels. In 1992, a change of leadership and policy at American Youth Hostels alienated many of the member hostels, including Birchwood. Following their departure from the American Youth Hostels network, Birchwood underwent a remodel in an attempt to meet the demands of travelers for separate male and female dorms. Hosteling in Montana declined in the 1990s. In April, 2000, Ernie and Gayl decided to close Birchwood and sell the property.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Birchwood Hostel Records have been divided into three series. The first series is the largest of the three, containing correspondence, directories, advertisements, and subject files maintained by Italo “Ernie” Franceschi from 1976–2007. This series provides insight into the development of bicycle tourism, the business of hosteling including conflict within the American Youth Hostel organization, and community relations both within Missoula and between Missoula and the broader world. A large portion of this series are postcards from around the world sent by travelers who had befriended Ernie Franceschi and Gayl Teichert during their stay at Birchwood. Series II, Guestbooks, contains all of the guestbooks from the twenty three years that the Birchwood operated. These maintain a consistent formatting listing who arrived on each day. Also in this series are a set of American Youth Hostels official guestbooks which overlap with Birchwood guestbooks, but contain only those guests who were members of American Youth Hostels. Series III, Financial Documents, contains bookkeeping records that were maintained on a monthly basis and tax form 1040-C for every year that Birchwood operated.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive copyright to materials in this collection is held by the University of Montana.
Preferred Citation
Birchwood Hostel Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged in three series:
Series I: Correspondence and Subject Files, 1975-2021, 2.4 linear feet
Series II: Guestbooks, 1977-2000, 1.2 linear feet
Series III: Financial Documents, 1977-2000 0.2 linear feet
Custodial History
The collection was located at the Birchwood building on the corner of Fourth and Orange Streets in Missoula until the property was sold in 2000. It was then in the possession of Italo “Ernie” Franceschi until its donation to the University of Montana's Archives in 2021.
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated to the University of Montana by Italo “Ernie” Franceschi in 2021.
Processing Note
Italo “Ernie” Franceschi did an initial organization of the collection prior to donation to the Archives. At the Archives, materials were moved into new folders with original order of documents maintained and many of the original folder titles maintained. Materials contained in three-ring binders such as the postcard scrapbook and the hostel directory were removed from their binders and placed in folders to facilitate preservation. Financial documents with little historical value were discarded.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series I: Correspondence and Subject Files, 1976–2021Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 1 | Notes Biographical Sketch by Italo Ernie Franceschi written at the time the collection was organized, Notes on Starting a Hostel written 2017
|
2017–2021 |
| 1 / 2 | Archive 1976-1997 Contains Italo "Ernie" Franceschi's first letters to Bike Centenial
|
1975-1997 |
| 1 / 3 | Bicycling! Magazine - Bikecentennial Issue |
1976 |
| 1 / 4 | Neighborhood Booklet Created by Birchwood to distribute to neighbors
|
1977 |
| 1 / 5 | Innitial Building Permits and Invoices Also includes notice of departure from American Youth Hostels in 1993
|
1977-1993 |
| 1 / 6 | General Correspondence - 1977-1981 - folder 1 of 2 Contains some financial documents and a police report from 1980 break-in
|
1977-1981 |
| 1 / 7 | General Correspondence - 1977-1981 - folder 2 of 2 |
1977-1981 |
| 1 / 8 | General Correspondence - 1982 Contains some financial documents.
|
1982 |
| 1 / 9 | General Correspondence - 1983 |
1983 |
| 1 / 10 | General Correspondence - 1984 |
1984 |
| 1 / 11 | General Correspondence - 1985 |
1985 |
| 1 / 12 | General Correspondence - 1986 |
1986 |
| 1 / 13 | General Correspondence - 1987 |
1987 |
| 2 / 1 | General Correspondence - 1988 |
1988 |
| 2 / 2 | General Correspondence - 1989 |
1989 |
| 2 / 3 | General Correspondence - 1990 |
1990 |
| 2 / 4 | General Correspondence - 1991 Contains some financial documents, Shinobu Nakamura cycling around the world correspondence
|
1991 |
| 2 / 5 | General Correspondence - 1992 |
1992 |
| 2 / 6 | General Correspondence - 1993 |
1993 |
| 2 / 7 | General Correspondence - 1994 |
1994 |
| 2 / 8 | General Correspondence - 1995 |
1995 |
| 2 / 9 | General Correspondence - 1996 |
1996 |
| 2 / 10 | General Correspondence - 1997 |
1997 |
| 2 / 11 | General Correspondence - 1999 |
1998 |
| 2 / 12 | General Correspondence - 1999 |
1999 |
| 2 / 13 | General Correspondence - 2000 |
1999-2007 |
| 3 / 1 | Postcard Scrapbook Folder 1 of 4. Includes Dan Corneliu (Romanian architect) 1988 sketches
|
1978-1996 |
| 3 / 2 | Postcard Scrapbook Folder 2 of 4
|
1977-1997 |
| 3 / 3 | Postcard Scrapbook Folder 3 of 4
|
1977 - 1999 |
| 3 / 4 | Postcard Scrapbook Folder 4 of 4
|
1977 - 1999 |
| 3 / 5 | Roller Skating Across America 1981, by Akira Yamakawa Book in Japanese with pages describing Missoula translated into English
|
1981 |
| 3 / 6 | Hostel Directory |
1998 |
| 3 / 7 | Hostel Comments Comments from guests on other hostels they had visited. Attached to Directory
|
1997-1999 |
| 3 / 8 | Guide to Other Hostels Attached to Directory
|
1993-1998 |
| 3 / 9 | Dorm Remodel Blueprints, invioces, etc
|
February 1993 |
| 3 / 10 | Temporary Employees Hired to fill in while Ernie and Gayl were on vacation
|
1994 |
| 3 / 11 | Advertizing |
1977-1999 |
| 3 / 12 | Newspaper Articles |
1977-2002 |
| 3 / 13 | Hostel Handbook and International Hosteling Newsletter |
1991-2000 |
| 4 / 1 | American Youth Hostels Correspondence - General Contains 1980 Senate Testamony, contains Italo Ernie Franceschi's membership card
|
1977-1993 |
| 4 / 2 | American Youth Hostels Correspondence - National - 1 0f 2 |
1977-1983 |
| 4 / 3 | American Youth Hostels Correspondence - National - 2 of 2 |
1985-1996 |
| 4 / 4 | American Youth Hostels Manual and Report |
1985-1987 |
| 4 / 5 | Departure from American Youth Hostels |
1992-1993 |
| Box | ||
| OS 9 / 1 | Newspaper Articles and Posters (oversized) Missoulian from first year, 1989 Sunday cover article, closing day March 2000. Posters which hung in Birchwood entryway
|
1978-2000 |
| OS 10 / 1 | Birchwood Hostel, Formerly YWCA Hostel 600 South Orange Street 1976 Floor Plan and 1993 Updated Floor Plan |
1976-1993 |
Series II: Guestbooks, 1977–2000Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 5 / 1 | Guestbook 1 |
June 15, 1977–March 17, 1978 |
| 5 / 2 | Guestbook 2 |
March 18, 1978–September, 3 1979 |
| 5 / 3 | Guestbook 3 |
September, 4 1979–November, 25 1981 |
| 6 / 1 | Guestbook 4 |
November, 26 1981–June, 16 1987 |
| 6 / 2 | Guestbook 5 |
June, 17 1987–July, 1 1992 |
| 6 / 3 | Guestbook 6 |
July, 1 1992–August, 12 1994 |
| 7 / 1 | Guestbook 7 |
August, 13 1994–August, 25 1996 |
| 7 / 2 | Guestbook 8 |
August, 29 1996–September, 29 1998 |
| 7 / 3 | Guestbook 9 |
October, 1 1998–March, 28 2000 |
| 7 / 4 | American Youth Hostels Guestbooks (1) |
October, 31 1985–May, 2 1989 |
| 7 / 5 | American Youth Hostels Guestbooks (2) |
May, 2 1989–July, 11 1991 |
| 7 / 6 | American Youth Hostels Guestbooks (3) |
July, 11 1991–April, 1 1993 |
Series III: Financial Documents, 1977–2000Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 8 / 1 | Monthly Bookkeeping Record - 1984-1988 |
1984-1988 |
| 8 / 2 | Monthly Bookkeeping Record - 1988-1992 |
1988-1992 |
| 8 / 3 | Monthly Bookkeeping Record - 1992-1997 |
1992-1997 |
| 8 / 4 | Monthly Bookkeeping Record - 1997-2000 |
1997-2000 |
| 8 / 5 | Taxes |
1977-2000 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Bicycle touring--Montana--Missoula
- Business enterprises--Montana--Missoula
- Tourist camps, hostels, etc.--Montana--Missoula
- Tourists--Montana--Missoula
Personal Names
- Franceschi, Ernie
- Teichart, Gayl (creator)
Corporate Names
- Birchwood Hostel (Missoula, Mont.)--Archives
Form or Genre Terms
- Business records
- Financial records
- Visitors' books
Finding aid prepared by Jacob T. Schmidt
2021
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
