NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S CLUB, 1920-1986
                                                                                   Records.   2 l.f..

History
The NDSU Women's Club was organized in 1920 as the North Dakota Agricultural College Faculty Women's Club. They adopted a constitution in November, 1922 with the stated purpose of service to the college, helping new members of the staff and development of club members. Interest groups were formed within the organization in 1948 and have been maintained as interest warranted to the present. In 1953, the club found it necessary to clarify its name. It was the NDAC Women's Club and membership was open to wives of current or retired faculty, and women faculty. In 1957, membership was opened to wives of Christian Education instructors and women working with religious groups on campus. In 1979 membership included wives of faculty and staff, employees and graduate students.

In 1923, a student loan fund was established and funded with money raised at teas and bridge parties. In May, 1933 the first scholarship was awarded to a woman student for one quarter's tuition. The club began awarding the Mary Elizabeth Hultz Scholarship in 1961 to honor the wife of the former college president. A second Women's Club scholarship was added and the organization temporarily administered the North Dakota Native American Indian Grant and the Eleanor R. Schulz 4 H Memorial Scholarship.

In 1936, the Women's Club sponsored a reception for new faculty which continued in different forms until the 1960s. In 1946, the Newcomer's Club was organized as an adjunct group. In 1983, Who's New, suffering from lack of membership, ceased to exist and offered its membership and treasury to the Women's Club.

Scope and Contents
The records of the NDSU Women's Club contain meeting minutes, scrapbook materials, letters, membership lists and information on the scholarships the club offers. Of particular interest among the letters are those from Mary Elizabeth Hultz, widow of the University president, who writes of her life in retirement in Massachusetts. Much of the scrapbook material reflects the faculty social activities.

The Minutes/Scrapbook Series contains minutes of board and general meetings as well as printed material and souvenirs of programs and activities. The series runs from 1920 to spring, 1983. Included in the meeting minutes is some information about Who's New and scholarships. Financial reports are in these folders if they were available. Letters from Mary Elizabeth Hultz are filed in this series from 1961 to 1974/75. After this date, they are filed in the President's folder.

The folder containing the constitution and by laws contains the revised constitutions from the years 1944 to 1979. When the process of changing the constitution is apparent on one copy of the constitution, it is filed preceding the approved constitution.

Annual Program Booklets or brochures are available from 1947 to 1987. The programs detail the planned activities of the club and the names of the officers and group leaders.

The President's Folders are available from the years 1967/1968 to 1982/1983. The folders include the president's notes on the activities for the year, organizational notes and correspondence addressed to the president. Personal notes from Mary Elizabeth Hultz are filed in the president's folder after 1975. The president's folder for 1979/1980 contains a copy of an outline of the club's history.

Newsletters are complete from September 1972 to January 1986. Only two issues (including one that’s undated) are available for the 1986/1987 year.

Funding scholarships is among the most important work of the club. Most of the scholarship information available before 1970 is found only in the meeting minutes. Beginning in 1970, some materials were irregularly collected pertaining to the scholarships awarded in those years. This series includes the Scholarship Committee folder with information on the purpose and standards for the scholarships, the NDSU Women's Club Scholarships, the Mary Elizabeth Hultz Scholarship, the North Dakota Native American Indian Grant which was awarded for only a few years, and the Eleanor R. Schulz NDSU Women's Club 4 H Memorial Scholarship, which was awarded for four years.

The Subject Series includes the program of the book interest group for 1954/1965, the Faculty Who's New Woman's Club Programs 1947/1948 to 1955/1956, Newspaper Clippings including the Bison Briefs of 1980 which featured an article on the Women's Club in an issue on NDSU women, and the Town and Gown Tea Guest Book 1947 to 1956.




Deposited by the club, 1973, 1987 (Acc. 2192, 2202).
Processed by Barbara Handy Marchello, November 1987; files integrated by EJE March 2007.

BOX 1

1 Historical material, and Inventory

Meeting Minutes/Scrapbook Series

2 1920 1926/1927
3 1927/1928 1932/1933
4 1933/1934 1937/1938
5 1938/1939 1940/1941
6 1941/1942 1943/1944
7 1944/1945 1947/1948
8 1948/1949 1949/1950
9 1950/1951 1951/1952
10 1952/1953 1953/1954
11 1954/1955 1955/1956
12 1956/1957 1958/1959
13 1959/1960 1960/1961
14 1961/1962 1962/1963
15 1963/1964
16 1964/1965
17 1965/1966
18 1966/1967
19 1967/1968

BOX 2

1 1968/1969
2 1969/1970
3 1970/1971
4 1971/1972
5 1972/1973
6 1973/1974
7 1974/1975
8 1975/1976
9 1976/1977
10 1977/1978
11 1978/1979
12 1979/1980
13 1980/1981
14 1981/1982
15 1982/1983
16 1983/1984
17 1984/1985
18 1985/1986

Constitution and By-Laws, 1944 1979

19

Program Booklets Series

20 1947/1948 1953/1954
21 1954/1955 1959/1960

BOX 3

1 1960/1961 1966/1967
2 1967/1968 1972/1973
3 1973/1974 1986/1987

President’s Folder Series

4 1967/1968
5 1968/1969
6 1969/1970
7 1970/1971
8 1971/1972
9 1972/1973
10 1973/1974
11 1974/1975
12 1975/1976
13 1976/1977
14 1977/1978
15 1978/1979
16 1979/1980
17 1980/1981
18 1981/1982
19 1982/1983

BOX 4

Newsletter Series

1 September 1972 April 1977
2 September 1977 March 1980
3 September 1980 April 1983
4 September 1983 October 1986

Scholarship Series

5 Scholarship Committee
6 Women's Club Scholarships
7 Mary Elizabeth Hultz Scholarship
8 North Dakota Native American Indian Grant
9 Eleanor R. Schulz 4 H Memorial Scholarship

Subject Series

10 Book Section Program, 1964/1965
11 Faculty Who's New Woman's Club Programs, 1947/1948 1955/1956 12 Newspaper Clippings
13 Town and Gown Tea Guest Book, 1947 1956