The University of Iowa Libraries

The first organizational meeting of the Women's Club of Fort Madison was held in the First Methodist Fellowship Hall in 1957. Within the same year the club was certified as a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. A complex system of departments and divisions consisted of the Department of American Home Life (1958-) with divisions of Consumer Education, Family Life and Welfare, and Gardens; the Department of International Affairs; the Department of Fine Arts with divisions of Bridge, Creative Writing, Art Appreciation, Ceramics (1958- ), Water Coloring, Music (1960- ), Oil Painting (1960- ), Spanish, and Drama (1964- ); the Department of Conservation; the Junior Department (for members under 30 years old); the Department of Education; and the Department of Public Affairs.

"The object of the organization," as stated in the Constitution and By-Laws, "shall be mutual help, intellectual improvement, social enjoyment, and a united effort for the general welfare of the community." Members participated in a variety of activities that included excursions, presentations, concerts, scholarship and community fundraising, lectures and monthly organizational meetings throughout an eight month club year that spanned October through May.

The Fort Madison Women's Club records date from 1957 to 1995 and measure 1.25 linear feet. The records are arranged in three series: Minute books, scrapbooks and photographs.

The ten Minute books (1962-1979) consist of detailed minutes recording organizational and business decisions, treasurer's reports and membership lists used for roll call at General meetings, and meetings of the Executive Board, the Division of Modern Living and the Junior Department.

The four Scrapbooks (1957-1995) contain newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, programs, project reports, certificates and other memorabilia that record the organization's club activities.

The Photographs series consists of images of scholarship recipients, officials, award ceremonies, and club activities. The photographs were found loose in the 1966-1976 scrapbook and have been placed in a separate folder. Photographs can also be found throughout the scrapbooks.

Access: The papers are open for research.

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

Acquisition: The records (donor no.775 ) were donated by the Fort Madison Women's Club in 2001.

Preferred Citation: Fort Madison Women's Club 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:
Fort Madison Women's Club
General Federation of Women's Clubs

Dates:
20th century

Topics:
Clubs
Women in community organization

Geographic Names:
Fort Madison (Iowa)

Genre/Form of Materials:
Archives
Administrative records
Scrapbooks
Photographs

Browse:
Women's Clubs and Organizations