AHJ_ah00131 Inventory of the Laramie Woman's Club (Laramie, Wyo.) records, 1880-2016 Laramie Woman's Club (Laramie, Wyo.) records Processed by Mark L. Shelstad University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
American Heritage Center Dept. 3924, 1000 E. University Avenue University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: 307.766.2574 Fax:307.766.5511 Email:ahcref@uwyo.edu URL:http://ahc.uwyo.edu/
2011

University of Wyoming

 Finding aid encoded by Ashley Sneesby November 2008 Finding aid is in English Collection Summary Laramie Woman's Club (Laramie, Wyo.) Laramie Woman's Club (Laramie, Wyo.) records 1880-2016 00131 11.11 cubic ft. (21 boxes) University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center. English The collection contains materials relating to the LWC's operation since 1880 including correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, minutes of meetings, scrapbooks, budgets, membership lists, convention reports and programs for the Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, miscellaneous photographs, and histories of the club and its members. Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged in three series.

 History of the Laramie Woman's Club

The Laramie Woman's Club (LWC) was formed on 13 September 1898 for the purpose of cultural and civic betterment. More than 125 women attended the organizational meeting and Mrs. Melville C. Brown was elected as the group's first president. The Club's committees included the arts, music, conservation, education, home life, public affairs, community improvement and international affairs. One of the early leaders of the organization and long-time president was Mary Godat Bellamy, superintendent of Albany County Public Schools who was also Wyoming's first woman state legislator. The LWC was a member of the Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs, which was formed in 1904 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, a national organization for women's clubs. In 1934 the LWC began collecting materials for a historical museum, which was often referred to as the public or city museum. The artifacts were moved into the Laramie city hall in 1941 and in 1943 the LWC helped to form the Albany County Historical Society (ACHS), on the 75th anniversary of the founding of Laramie, Wyoming. The Society took over the management of the museum materials, and in 1951 the museum collections were moved to the Albany County Courthouse, but they were asked to vacate their space in 1958 and materials were returned to donors or put into storage. In 1966 the ACHS helped to form the Laramie Plains Museum Association (LPMA), which moved into the Ivinson Mansion in 1973 after being housed at the Roach house, 1420 Grand Avenue, Laramie. The materials collected by the LWC formed the nucleus of the collections for the LPMA.

Scope and Content

The collection contains materials relating to the LWC's operation since 1880. The materials include correspondence (much of it with Mary G. Bellamy), newspaper clippings, reports, minutes of meetings, scrapbooks, budgets, membership lists, convention reports and programs for the Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs and the General Federation of Women's Clubs, miscellaneous photographs, and histories of the club and its members. Included in the collection are letters, report cards, and photographs from 1914 to 1921 relating to Edmonde Fillaire (b. 1908), an orphan in Aurillac, Cantal, France, whose education was sponsored by the LWC. Fillaire's father, E.B. Fillaire (d. 1914) was a lieutenant in the French infantry and was killed during the early stages of World War I in Belgium. The collection also contains correspondence, reports, guest registers and other materials relating to its operation of the museum, the founding of the Albany County Historical Society, and its eventual management of the materials acquired by the LWC. Eva Floy Wheeler served as curator of the club's museum, and she was also instrumental in the formation of the Albany County Historical Society and served as the Society's first president. This group of materials also contains biographies of Laramie, Wyoming, pioneers for the Society's "Who Am I?" program in which people tried to guess the identities of the person being described. Also included are contracts and other materials donated to the club's museum regarding the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

 Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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There are no known other archival collections created by the Laramie Woman's Club at the date of processing.

This material was received from The Laramie Woman's Club from 1949-2022.

The collection was processed by Mark L. Shelstad in 1996 and updated by Matthew Francis in 2011 and Jamie J. Greene in March 2016, December 2017, and October 2023.

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

 Access Terms Fillaire, Edmonde, b. 1908 Bellamy, Mary G., (Mary Godat), 1861-1955 Albany County Historical Society General Federation of Women's Clubs Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs Wyoming State Penitentiary Museums -- Wyoming -- Laramie Pioneers -- Wyoming -- Laramie Women -- Societies and clubs -- Wyoming -- Laramie World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- France Laramie (Wyo.) Wyoming -- History -- To 1889 Wyoming -- History -- 1890-1918 Wyoming -- History -- 1919-1945 Wyoming -- History -- 1946- Photographs Scrapbooks <?xm-replace_text {Title as Subject}?> Business, Industry, Labor, and Commerce Politics, Government, and Law Social Life and Customs Clubs and Societies Pioneers Women Wyoming Container List Series I. Organizational Records 1 1 Albany County Historical Society -- Miscellaneous 1943-1945 1 2 Albany County Historical Society -- "Who Am I?" biographies circa 1942 1 3 Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws 1955-1994 13 1 Awards - Certificates and Ribbons 1991-2008 21Board of Directors2019 13 2 Book - Lora Webb Nichols: Homesteader's Daughter, Miner's Bride 1995 1 4 Budgets 1966-1994 13 3 Budgets 1995-2005 13 4 Building Committee Records 1934 13 and 21 Bylaws 2008-2019 13 6 The Case of Jennie Brice - Meeting Minutes and Report 1912 1 5 Community Improvement Programs 1972-1994 13 7 Community Improvement Programs 1996-2008 1 6 Cookbook Galley 1992 1 7 Corporation Board -- Minutes of meetings 1954-1990 13 8 Correspondence 1950, 1964-2006 21Correspondence Received2017-2019 1 8 Executive Board -- Minutes of meetings 1948-1953 1 9 Executive Board -- Minutes of meetings 1955-1975 1 10 Executive Board -- Minutes of meetings 1975-1986 1 11-12 Edmonde Fillaire -- Letters sent to the LWC 1917-1923 1 13 Edmonde Fillaire -- Photographs 1914-1921 2 1 General Federation of Woman's Clubs -- Convention programs 1915-1932 2 2 General Federation of Women's Clubs of Wyoming -- Convention programs 1990-1993 13 9 General Federation of Women's Clubs of Wyoming -- Convention programs 1992-2009 2 3 General Federation of Women's Clubs of Wyoming -- Convention registration 1995 2 4 General Federation of Women's Clubs -- Convention reports 1929-1930 2 5 General Federation of Women's Clubs of Wyoming -- Convention reports 1990-1993 2 6 Guest book 1990-1993 13 10 Handbooks 1942-2002 2 7 Histories of the LWC and club members 1899-1994 13 11 Histories of the LWC and club members 1972-2004 2 8 Hostess book 1979-1986 13 12 Investment Reports 2009 2 9 Legal materials 1906-1928 2 10 Meeting programs 1904-1934 14 1 Meeting Programs 1932, 1973-1999 2 11 Meeting programs 1935-1953 2 12 Meeting programs 1954-1970 3 1 Meeting programs 1970-1979 3 2 Meeting programs 1979-1996 3 3 Meetings -- Miscellaneous 1964-1973 21Meetings - president Annie Nelson's binder (agendas, minutes, and board reports)2017-2018 3 4 Membership -- Invitation letters 1976-1994 14 2 Membership -- Lists 1986-2000 3 5 Membership -- Lists undated 3 6 Membership -- Reports 1925-1928 3 7 Membership -- Reports 1940-1945 3 8 Membership -- Reports 1964-1993 14 3 Membership -- Reports 1988, 1994-2000 3 9 Minutes of meetings 1898-1902 3 10 Minutes of meetings 1902-1913 4 1 Minutes of meetings 1913-1921 4 2 Minutes of meetings 1921-1929 4 3 Minutes of meetings 1929-1934 4 4 Minutes of meetings 1934-1941 4 5 Minutes of meetings 1941-1948 5 1 Minutes of meetings 1948-1953 5 2 Minutes of meetings 1955-1975 5 3 Minutes of meetings 1975-1983 14 4 Minutes of meetings 1987-1992 14 5 Minutes of meetings 1993-1997 14 6 Minutes of meetings 1997-2000 14 7 Minutes of meetings 2000-2004 14 8 Minutes of meetings 2005-2009 5 4-5 Miscellaneous 1880-1994 15 1 Miscellaneous 1992-2007, undated 5 6 Museum -- Miscellaneous 1940-1945 5 7 Museum -- Pelton, Clark - Mortgage 1899 5 8 Museum -- Wyoming State Penitentiary materials 1890-1895 5 9 Music 1932-1965 21Newsletters2018-2019 6 1-3 Newspaper clippings 1898-1991 15 2 Newspaper clippings 1949-1950, 1972 6 4 Nonprofit corporation reports 1965-1994 6 5 Officer's duties 1987-199 15 3 Photographs 1950 6 6 Photographs undated 21The Plainsman Herald, Senior Edition1939 6 7 Presidential correspondence 1889-1984 21Presidential Highlights2018 6 8-10 Presidential reports 1945-1993 15 4 Presidential Reports 1995-2009 15 5 Reports -- Miscellaneous 1936-1990 6 11 Schoolhouse project 1980-1993 7 1 Scrapbook 1943-1947 7 2 Scrapbook 1947-1948 7 3-4 Scrapbook 1961-1962 7 5 Treasurer's book 1923-1949 8 1 Treasurer's book 1950-1969 8 2 Treasurer's book 1970-1972 8 3 Treasurer's reports 1925-1939, 1948 8 4 Treasurer's reports 1954-1992 15 6 Treasurer's reports 1993-2008 21University of Wyoming Faculty Woman's Club:1912-2015 21Bylaws, event programs and flyers1965-2012 21Newspaper clippings1912-2012 21Photographs1951-2015 15 7 The Wyoming Clubwoman 1994-2008 8 5 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Constitution and Bylaws 1904 8 6 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Convention programs 1904-1915 8 7 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Convention programs 1919-1930 8 8 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Convention programs 1935-1949 9 1 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Convention programs 1967-1989 9 2-3 Wyoming Federation of Women's Clubs -- Yearbooks and calendars 1902-1927 15 8 Yearbooks (LWC) 1952, 1966, 1997-2009 Series II. Oversized Materials 16 1 Biographies of Laramie Woman's Club Members 1994 16 2 Commemorative Key to Wyoming Territorial Prison 1986 10 1 Scrapbook 1948-1949 10 2 Scrapbook 1949-1950 11 1 Scrapbook 1963-1967 11 2 Scrapbook 1967-1970 12 1 Scrapbook 1979-1981 16 3 Scrapbook 1981-1984 16 4 Scrapbook 1984-1989 16 5 Scrapbook 1989-1990 17 1 Scrapbook 1990-1992 17 2 Scrapbook 1992-1994 17 3 Scrapbooks 1994-2001 18Scrapbooks2009-2012 20Scrapbook2012-2013 19Scrapbook2013-2014 20Scrapbook2014-2016 17 4 Scrapbooks (Miscellaneous Loose Pages) 1976-1997 17 5 Scrapbooks - Odds and Ends 1998-2003 17 6 Scrapbooks - Rink of our Future, Community Improvement Program 1978-1980 Series III. Safe Material

1 1912 letter from Booker T. Washington to Mary G. Bellamy regarding the establishment of a vocational school 1912