Washington CattleWomen's Association Records, 1951-1984

The collection consists of promotional material and publicity, as well as internal records for the Washington State CowBelles (now known as the Washignton CattleWomen's Association) from 1952–1984. This includes meeting minutes and reports from county chapters, editions of “Top Hands” the Washington Cattlemen and CowBelles annual directory, correspondence, yearbooks, membership lists, and internally generated histories of the CowBelles. The collection also includes promotional materials such as napkins and placemats as well as internal discussions regarding the effectiveness of the organization's various educational activities.

Series 1: Publicity, events, and programs, 1959-1976. This series consists of promotional material advocating beef consumption as well as internal documents evaluating the effectiveness of various educational activities. These include CowBelles sponsored 4-H demonstrations, outreach programs promoting the use of beef in Washington home economics courses, the creation and sale of beef cookbooks, and the organization of “Beef Queen” contests.

Series 2: Administrative and financial records, 1952-1984. This series consists of internal organizational records including: membership and officer lists (1958-1967), the Washington CowBelles and Cattlemen’s directory “Top Hands” (1966-1976), accounting ledgers (1958-1966), meeting minutes (1952-1981), and histories of the Washington State and National CowBelles.

Series 3: Correspondence, 1955-1976. This series consists of inter-organizational correspondence, outgoing and incoming communications with the national CowBelles and national Cattlemen’s Association, and letters with Washington state residents involved in 4-H or similar programs. Note: There are two overlapping runs of correspondence (1970-1974 and 1955-1976) that the CowBelles filed separately.

Series 4: Reports and yearbooks, 1957-1975. This series consists of annual reports from 1967-1975 outlining the accomplishments, membership, and financial state of county CowBelles chapters, National CowBelles reports from 1964-1975, and Washington CowBelles yearbooks from 1957-1962.