The Bellingham Woman’s Music Club was organized February 22, 1916. It provided a forum for its members to perform musical selections and it organized performances by its members and professionals from elsewhere for the benefit of the public. The club was composed of both active members, who performed, and associate members, who were permitted to attend the meetings. By 1924 it was federated with the Washington State Federation of Music Clubs and the National Federation of Music Clubs. The club endeavored to involve itself in the community. Some of these efforts included providing concerts, offering scholarships for membership, and a large donation of record albums to the public library with station KVOS and Western Washington College of Education.
The records of the Bellingham Woman’s Music Club, spanning 1917-2009, document its members’ contribution to Bellingham’s cultural development. The collection includes administrative records, financial records, yearbooks, activities records, scrapbooks, and reference materials.
The Administrative Records, spanning from 1916-2006, include minutes, the club constitution, membership information and presidential records. Minutes contain summaries of meetings, musical selections performed by the active members at the meetings, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and printed programs of the performances and activities the club sponsored. The minute books begin in 1917 and end in 2006. The Presidential Records, 1978-2009, contains binders of records collected and maintained by past presidents and treasurers. Include copies of minutes, budget information, club by-law changes, lists of members, program information, etc.
Financial Records, 1940-2004, contains a treasurer's book as well as materials regarding financial and budget information. The yearbooks, 1917-2008, record the officers of the club and include the events planned for the year. Some of the yearbooks are missing, but can be found pasted into either the minute books or the scrapbooks.
The activities records, 1918-2008, document some of the various activities of the Bellingham Woman's Music Club. This includes: programs of events, information regarding National Music week and the Helen Snelling Memorial Award granted by the club.
The scrapbooks. 1941-1988, include printed programs of musical performances and social activities, photographs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence.
Reference Materials, spanning 1948-2007, include various materials collected by the club including newspaper articles about musicians and club member, manuals and handbooks, and mayoral decrees regarding the club.
The Bellingham Woman's Music Club records are organized in accordance with the following series and subseries arrangement:
The collection is open to the public.
Bellingham Woman's Music Club records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University
To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following