The University of Iowa Libraries

The Best Ever Club of Percival, Iowa, was a women's study club founded on November 24, 1922. The club generally held monthly meetings for study, conversation, and refreshments. Members frequently participated in other community activities and donated money to local groups and causes such as the P.T.A. Student Loan Fund, Fremont County Historical Society, and Odyssey of the Mind teams.

The Best Ever Club records date from 1929 to 1994 and measure 9 linear inches. The records consist of scrapbooks, notebooks, yearbooks, and an Iowa Community Achievement Contest entry. They document the activities of this social club and the lives and activities of the members in this small, rural Iowa community of approximately 100 families in the mid-1950s.
 
The Scrapbooks (1954-1994) contain newspaper clippings, annual club program books, photographs, meeting notes, and other memorabilia, including newspaper clippings of legislative reports from Best Ever Club member, Lillian M. McElroy, a state representative. Also included are the handwritten articles regarding the formation and plan for the club.
 
The Notebooks (1948-1993) contain minutes of each meeting, roll call lists of members, and lists of dues paid.
 
The Annual programs (1929-1949) are the handmade programs of the club during those years, often in pink and green, with construction paper covers and mimeographed or carbon copy pages. (Lacking programs for 1936/37 and 1939/40).
 
The Iowa Community Achievement Contest Entry (1956-1958) contains the forms from the Best Ever Club's entry into this competition. The club had planted a tree in the church yard to honor their "boys" in the armed forces, donated $25 toward construction of rest rooms in a community building, entered a float at the Thurman, Iowa, centennial, and encouraged home decorations during the Christmas season. Included are black-and-white photographs of the tree, the float, and "home beautification.

Access: The records are open for research.

Use: Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

Acquisition: The records (donor no. 259) were donated by Gertrude Ettleman in 1995.

Preferred Citation: Best Ever Club (Percival, Iowa) records, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

Repository:	Iowa Women's Archives
Address:	100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5068
Curator:	Kären Mason
Email:	lib-women@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Corporate Names:
Best Ever Club (Percival, Iowa)

Dates:
20th century

Topics:
Clubs
Women in community organization
Books and reading
Intellectual life
Women

Geographic Names:
Percival (Iowa)

Genre/Form of Materials:
Administrative records
Yearbooks
Scrapbooks
Archives
Photographs

Browse:
Rural and Farm Women
Women's Clubs and Organizations