Archives West Finding Aid

The Folk Club series is arranged into 13 sub-series. Sub-series 1, Constitutions and Bylaws, includes the first constitution and bylaws of the group, which formed in 1908 (Box-folder 1.17). The organizational histories in Sub-series 2 document the history of the Folk Club yearbook, and includes an interesting “Statement on the Relationship Between the College Folk Club and the Corvallis Community Players” (Box-folder 1.2). Written by then-Club President Lillian Jensen (1928-1929), the statement appears to center on sponsorship of plays put on by the Corvallis Community Players by the College Folk Club, and the responsibility for expenses incurred in the production of those performances.

Sub-series 3, Membership Records, includes lists of past members and past Folk Club presidents; two boxes of 3x5 membership cards are also included. The membership cards, which are filed alphabetically and are dated to the 1950s through the 1990s, include the member’s name, mailing address, department and status of their partner (e.g. Chemistry, Associate Professor), year they became a member, and what years they paid dues. Cards are also included for charter, deceased, and “current” members.

The Financial Records in Sub-series 4 include an application for the purchase of two savings bonds in 1945. This sub-series also contains a note regarding the reason the bonds were purchased; namely, it was hoped they could be used in the “construction of a women’s club building” once the bonds had matured. According to a register included in this sub-series, ten bonds were purchased between 1945 and 1949.

In addition to general correspondence regarding events and programs, grant allocations and other philanthropic work, membership, dues, and meetings, Sub-series 5 also includes mailings regarding the Student Loan Fund, and correspondence between the Folk Club and the Council of Campus Women’s Clubs. Of particular note in this sub-series is a “round robin” letter sent by the Daughters of Demeter – an organization similar in composition to the Folk Club at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – to other clubs affiliated with the National League of Agricultural College Women. The report gathers data regarding how and when the clubs were organized, their membership and officers, and programs offered. Reporting clubs include the University Farm Circle at the University of California, Davis; the Viola Thorne Club of Ohio State University; the Lahoma Club at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Oklahoma State University); and the Triangle Club at the University of Rhode Island.

The Meeting Minutes in Sub-series 6 primarily document the meetings and work of the Executive Board. Early minutes in this sub-series are hand-written; later minutes are often typed transcripts. The minutes primarily document reporting out done by committee chairs, discussions of new and on-going business, selection and establishment of new or ad hoc committees, payment of dues and other financial matters, and revisions to the Constitutions and/or bylaws. A brief summary of the lecture, presentation, and/or entertainment provided at the meeting is often included as well. News clippings promoting or advertising Folk Club meetings are occasionally pasted in. Executive Board meeting minutes dating from 1942 to 1946 may be of particular interest, as they often include discussion of wartime projects undertaken by the group, and document presentations or lectures given on war-related topics. On February 5, 1945, for example, Dr. Clifford Moser, Head of the Division of Business and Industry at OAC, gave a lecture on “War and European Social Structure;” later in the same meeting members recommended asking college administrators for a “class in psychological training” so they might better support returning veterans. The Board also purchased war bonds, organized a “War Relief and Hospitality Committee,” and invited a former prisoner of war to speak at a meeting (March 4, 1946).

Included in the Committee sub-series, Sub-series 7, are folders documenting the “Interest Groups,” or Study Sections, of the Folk Club. Study Sections for the 1924/1925 school year included Recreation, Current Events, Mothers and Homemakers, Drama, Literature, Music, and Art Sections; Interest Groups for 1954-1955 included Book Review, Bridge, Current Events, Home Interest, Music, Play Reading, Sewing, Swimming, and Square Dancing. Other committee work documented in this sub-series includes planning for events and programs; work selecting and awarding scholarships; and and work to improve the welfare of students. Committee folders often include meeting minutes, correspondence, copies of reports, and news clippings. Information regarding the Lenore Kerr Scholarship (Box-Folder 4.1) includes a list of winners from 1936 to 1956, a brief history of the scholarship, and a black and white photograph of the winners from 1955 to 1958 (Anne I. Hickey, Ernestine H. Sherman, Delores Krauss, and Ruth F. Carleson, pictured).

The reports included in Sub-series 8 document the work of ad hoc committees created to serve as organizers of a special event or work on a limited-duration project (e.g. 90^th Anniversary). Also included are the reports of officers of the Folk Club. Of special note, the Women’s Organizations Survey Report (Box-folder 5.9) documents the results of a survey sent by the Folk Club to women's organizations at schools belonging to the Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges in 1967. Sixty-seven survey responses were returned. Questions address annual dues, total membership, membership requirements, philanthropy done by the group, and whether the "trend for wives to work outside their homes" had affected membership.

Two Folk Club publications – the Fanfare newsletter, and Folk Club yearbooks – are included in Sub-series 9, Publications. Early newsletters primarily focus on upcoming events, and are more akin to flyers than newsletters. Later newsletters include news of the Thrift Shop and Newcomers Club; scholarships awarded and grant allocations made; and upcoming events and programs. Early yearbooks include a calendar of events and programs; and lists of Executive Board members, Folk Club officers, and members. In later yearbooks a brief history of the organization; a list of interest groups; a history of the Thrift Shop and list of its officers; and a list of past Folk Club Presidents were added.

Events and Programs documented in Sub-series 10 include Christmas parties; annual Folk Club luncheons; the installation of new members; and both the Folk Club’s and OSU’s centennial celebrations. Also included in this sub-series is a script for a radio program entitled “Especially for Women,” in which Folk Club member Emelyn Christensen and Folk Club President Betty Slegel explain to a fictional letter writer how to establish an organization similar to the Folk Club in their area. Boxes 21 and 22 in this sub-series contain exhibit panels created by the Folk Club to celebrate its centennial, and the Thrift Shop's semicentennial, in 2008; the panels include images (primarily photocopies) and text documenting significant events in the Club's history.

Sub-series 11, News clippings, is primarily comprised of clippings which document Folk Club events (e.g. lectures, presentations, teas, luncheons, parties), philanthropic work, and membership. Also included are clippings relating to the Folk Club cookbook, Gateway to our Kitchens. The photographs in Sub-series 12, Photographs and Photograph Albums, document events such as the Folk Club Annual Luncheon, the President’s Holiday Party, and the Club’s 90^th Anniversary Party. Of the 121 prints in this sub-series, most are color snapshots.

The scrapbooks in Sub-series 13 – referred to as “publicity” scrapbooks by the creators of the collection – are comprised primarily of pasted-in news clippings, event programs, and yearbooks. The six scrapbooks in this series contain a total of 10 photographs. The publicity scrapbook for 1953/54 through 1959/1960 includes copies of “Thrift Shop Talk,” a weekly Corvallis Gazette-Times column which highlighted special sales events, and included timely notes about new items in stock (e.g. bathing suits in the summer), and requests for items that were low in stock (e.g. baby clothes, paper bags needed for bagging purchases).

Comprised of records similar to those in Series 1, the records in Series 2: Newcomers Club include constitutions and bylaws, organizational histories, membership records, correspondence, meeting minutes, committee files, reports, yearbooks and newsletters, events and programs, and scrapbooks.

Of special note is an organizational history in Box-folder 9.14. Written in 1962, the document details the establishment of the club – referred to as a “department” of the Folk Club – and uses Folk Club minutes to trace the group’s roots within the Folk Club. This history also provides year-by-year highlights of Newcomer events and activities. This folder also includes excerpts from Folk Club minutes in which the Newcomer’s Club is mentioned (1944-1962), and lists of officers, board members, and program/committee chairs (1945-1961).

Scrapbooks in this series contain a total of 52 photographs, and include similar materials as the Folk Club publicity scrapbooks (e.g. clippings about events and programs, interest group lists, and membership).

Series 3, Thrift Shop of OSU Folk Club, is comprised of constitutions and bylaws, organizational histories, financial records, correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, news clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks.

Of note are the histories of the Thrift Shop included in this series, namely the Thrift Shop History Workbook in Box-folder 11.2, which includes sections for Folk Club minutes (i.e. excerpted sections which relate directly to the Thrift Shop); Thrift Shop officers (1949-1980); and Thrift Shop histories.

Scrapbooks in this series include four photographs. The partial scrapbook in this series primarily documents the work of Open Door, Inc. - a non-profit job training and placement organization dedicated to assisting people with developmental disabilities - and the Folk Club’s connection to that group. The full scrapbook is similar in content to the scrapbooks in Series 1 and Series 2, and is primarily comprised of pasted-in news clippings regarding grant allocations made by the Thrift Shop to local non-profits and/or student groups; articles about the affordability of the Thrift Shop; and clippings about the Gateway to our Kitchen book, published by the Folk Club.