The University of Iowa Libraries

Access: The papers are open for research.

Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.

Acquisition: The records (donor no. 1093) were donated by Pat Klopfenstein in 2007.

Preferred Citation:

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

The Tennyson Study Club was founded on May 19, 1932 when a group of women met in the Marion Public Library to form a club dedicated to the study of Alfred Tennyson. They appointed Mrs. K. M. Saunders as the first president and decided that the club´s flower would be the daffodil, its colors green and yellow, and its motto, "Better not be at all than not to be noble." The Tennyson Study Club affiliated with the General Federation of Women´s Clubs in 1938. Initially, meetings focused on discussion of the poetic works of Tennyson. The club also regularly contributed to charitable organizations and in later years shifted its focus towards community-based activism, particularly between 1956 and 1960 when it took up the issue of animal cruelty. In 1958, Tennyson Study Club received the Community Achievement Contest Award of the General Federation of Women´s Clubs.

The Tennyson Study Club records date from 1932 to 1981 and measure 7.5 linear inches. The records are arranged in 3 series: Historical information, Administration and Club activities. The Historical information (1932-1968) series consists of a notebook with a handwritten summary of the club's history and a certificate of membership to the General Federation of Women's Clubs, dated December 20, 1938. The Administration series (1932-1983) is comprised of financial records, membership lists, and meeting minutes, as well as drafts of the Tennyson Study Club's constitution. The Club activities (1938-1981) series includes yearbooks listing programs and topics that were studied and discussed by club members over a forty-year period. Also included in this series is a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, correspondence, awards, programs, and thank you notes from various charitable organizations such as the Iowa Society of Crippled Children.

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Personal Names:
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892

Corporate Names:
Tennyson Study Club (Marion, Iowa)
General Federation of Women's Clubs

Dates:
20th century

Topics:
Clubs
Women in charitable work
Social participation
Community organizations
English poetry

Geographic Names:
Marion (Iowa)

Genre/Form of Materials:
Archives
Administrative records
Scrapbooks
Yearbooks

Browse:
Women's Clubs and Organizations