Processed by
Emily Ellis
25 April 2002
Revised by
Pamela Tranfield
27 August 2002
Updated 18 March 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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2 manuscript boxes, artifacts |
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COLLECTION |
1935–1988 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Donna J. Holmes, 4847 Mt. Vernon Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46227, 30 May 1990 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
None. |
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RELATED |
None. |
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ACCESSION |
1990.0334 |
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NOTES: |
The Christian Park Women’s Club was established on 19 February 1935. Twenty women met in the Christian Park Community House and held elections to decide who would hold office. Mrs. E.J. Reinhardt was elected the first president of the organization. A constitution was written that year, and was revised in 1938. The club’s objective was to “further recreation activity and to promote or aid any project of vital interest to the Christian Park community.” Christian Park is located on English Avenue in East Indianapolis. The park is bordered by Dayton Avenue, Denny Street, Pleasant Run Parkway, and Wentworth Boulevard.
Each club meeting consisted of a call to order by the president followed by the reading of prayers (the collect) by all members. A roll call was given and the secretary and treasurer read their reports. Afterwards, committee reports were read and new bills were brought to the floor to be voted on. The women often sewed during these meetings, concentrating on layettes for hospital nurseries, and dressings and pads for the local cancer agencies. Minutes from early meetings include references to dances sponsored by the group, and membership in the Indianapolis Council of Women (12 March 1935).
In their fifty-three years of service, the members of the Christian Park Women’s Club participated in several charities, including the National Tuberculosis Fund, Riley Hospital, the Women’s Auxiliary to Community Hospital, the Methodist Hospital Foundation, the American Red Cross, and the Little Red Door. The Little Red Door is a program of the Marion County Cancer Society.
During the 1930s the women petitioned the Marion County highway maintenance department to improve the conditions of the roads, and wrote to Senators Sherman Minton and John D. Van Nuys concerning the reduction of Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) educational programs. In 1936 the club was invited to a meeting of the Indianapolis League of Women Voters to fight for more proficient workers in public offices.
In the 1940s the group supported the war effort in Indiana. They sent charitable goods to the soldiers at Fort Harrison, served lunches to navy enlistees at the federal building, and furnished a room for the wounded being cared for at Camp Atterbury. During this period they joined the Riley Hospital Cheer Guild, naming their chapter “Even as a Child.”
Throughout the next four decades the club continued to aid the Cancer Loan Cupboard, Red Cross, and Marion County Cancer Society by sewing cancer pads and sending money. They also sent gifts to children at the Marion County Children’s Guardian Home and Juvenile Center, to the elderly at the Julietta Home for the Aged, and to patients at Marion County hospitals. The Christian Park Women’s Club disbanded on 17 May 1988 after fifty-three years of service to their community.
Sources: Materials in the collection.
The collection consists mainly of the organizational records and correspondence of the Christian Park Woman’s Club of Indianapolis, Indiana (1935-88). Other material includes subject files concerning various topics and activities, and artifacts.
The material is divided into four series. Series 1, Organizational Records, includes minutes dating from the club’s inception in 1935 to its closure in 1988. Also included are the club constitution (1938), attendance records, and financial records. The financial records include account books (1945-88) and bills and receipts (1936-71). The bills and receipts (box 1, folders 17-19) include printed material from Indianapolis businesses and local and national charities. These include the National Tuberculosis Association, the Methodist Hospital Foundation, and Central State Hospital. Also included are two receipts for sugar rations dated 1942 and 1943, and receipts from a number of Indianapolis florists.
Series 2, Correspondence, includes cards, letters and other material enclosed in folders originally titled by the club as “Cards and Letters.” Included is correspondence from the American Red Cross (Indianapolis Chapter) concerning the 1951 and 1952 Red Cross Fund Campaigns and screenings of civil defense films (box 2, folder 2). Other correspondence includes Christmas cards and letters from Marge Fahrenbach, a member who moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in the early 1960s. Marge Fahrenbach’s correspondence refers to her feelings about leaving Indiana, Hurricane Donna, and recovery from cancer surgery. These letters and cards are stored in box 2, folders 3 and 4.
Series 2 also includes “Thank You” cards from members recovering from illnesses, and from individuals and families who received cards of condolence from the group. Other printed material in the series includes two copies of the Community Hospital Newsletter The Compass, dated Feb. 1960 and Sept. 1963, and dues cards (1965-66). These items are stored in box 2, folder 5.
Series 3, Subject Files, consists of folders created by the archivist on the basis of subject content. The items were originally stored loose in the collection, and include membership cards, receipts, printed material concerning Marion County hospitals (box 2, folder 9) and knitting instructions from the Little Red Door cancer agency (box 2, folder 10).
Series 4, Artifacts, contains three items crocheted for cancer patients. These “larynx covers” include two examples sent to the women’s club from the Little Red Door cancer agency, and one item made by a Christian Park Women’s Club member. The items are made from white yarn and served the function of covering a patient’s larynx following cancer surgery.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Constitution, 1938 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Minutes and Records, 1935-37 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Minutes and Records, 1938-44 |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Minutes and Records, Jan. 1945-Dec. 1952 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Minutes and Records, Jan. 1953-Dec. 1956 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Minutes and Records, Jan. 1957-Dec. 1964 |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Minutes and Records, Jan. 1964-May 1971 |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Minutes and Records, June 1971-Dec. 1978 |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Minutes and Records, Jan. 1979-Oct. 1984 |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Minutes and Records, Apr. 1985-May 1988 |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Attendance Records, 1935-51 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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[Membership Lists, n.d.-1958] |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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Expenses and Balances, June 1945-Dec. 1959 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Expenses and Balances, Jan. 1960-June 1967 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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Expenses and Balances, Jan 1970-Dec. 1980 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
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Expenses and Balances, Jan. 1981-May 1988 |
Box 1, Folder 16 |
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Bills Paid Back to 1936, 1936-58 (1 of 2) |
Box 1, Folder 17 |
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Bills Paid Back to 1936, 1936-58 (2 of 2) |
Box 1, Folder 18 |
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[Receipts, 1937-71] |
Box 1, Folder 19 |
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[American Fletcher National Bank, 1953; 1969] |
Box 2, Folder 1 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Cards and Letters, 1951 |
Box 2, Folder 2 |
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Cards and Letters, 1959-61 |
Box 2, Folder 3 |
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Cards and Letters, 1963-65 |
Box 2, Folder 4 |
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Cards and Letters, 1965-68 |
Box 2, Folder 5 |
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Cards and Letters, n.d.-1969 |
Box 2, Folder 6 |
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Cards and Letters, 1969-71 |
Box 2, Folder 7 |
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Cards and Letters, n.d.-1974 |
Box 2, Folder 8 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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[Hospitals, circa 1940s-1962] |
Box 2, Folder 9 |
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[Little Red Door Instructions, circa 1963] |
Box 2, Folder 10 |
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[Knitting Instructions, circa 1960] |
Box 2, Folder 11 |
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Learn to Knit the Easiest Way. New Augusta, Indiana: Skillfact Library, 1967. |
Printed Collections: TT820.B69 1967 |
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[President’s Papers, 1981] |
Box 2, Folder 12 |
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[Certificates, 1959-88] |
Box 2, Folder 13 |
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[Blank Forms, n.d.] |
Box 2, Folder 14 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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3 crocheted larynx covers, ca. 1960s |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0779).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.