Altrusa International of Monroe, Michigan records

Collection

Identifier: MS-1164

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

Organizational records of a Monroe, Michigan women's community service club including minutes, yearbooks, newsletters, committee and subject files, and photographic material.

Dates

Creation: 1952-2007
Creation: Majority of material found within 1975-2000

Extent

1.67 Cubic Feet (4 Letter sized manuscript boxes; 1 Letter sized half manuscript box)

Creator

Altrusa Club of Monroe, Michigan (Organization)

Scope and Contents

The Altrusa of Monroe, Michigan collection is comprised largely of minutes, program yearbooks, membership listings, financial records, with some minor printed and photographic material.

The meeting minutes, some with agendas, primarily cover the period from 1974 through 1993. These include information on attendance, membership requests, correspondence received, finances, project activities, and announcements of committees and National Altrusa.

The series of financial reports consist of the monthly updates supplied by the Treasurer, largely between 1976 to 2007. The data can include basic information on receipts (from dues and fees), disbursements (for meetings and supplies), and balances in the operating accounts, and also the status of project accounts including disbursements for donations and project costs and receipts from sales of tickets or items sold (in the case of the afghan project).

The other printed material, such as the yearbooks, provide a directory to members as well as a calendar of events, with the newsletters providing more detailed descriptions of the club activities.

Although some categories, such as correspondence, are not well represented, in general the material can provide a well-rounded picture to the operation and activities of the Monroe Altrusa Club.

Biographical / Historical

Altrusa International is an international association of professional women and men who volunteer their energies and expertise in projects dedicated to community betterment. Altrusa is also a community service organization that espouses volunteerism, service and fights for literacy and against AIDS. It is comprised of over 400 clubs located throughout the United States and in ten countries around the world. First organized in 1917, as a women’s service organization, over the years it has supported vocational training for women and graduate research for women in developing countries in addition to its long standing commitment to literacy.

Altrusa International of Monroe, Michigan, was first organized in July 1952 with 21 members, and received its charter on May 11, 1954, by which time the club had grown to 26. That early group represented such fields of employment as librarian, government, homemaker, hospital, furniture store, finance, food industry, banking, paper industry, banking, cosmology, nursing, hotels, real estate, and insurance.

Projects supported by the Monroe Altrusa over the years included such diverse activities as providing funds for orthodontic care for wards of the Probate Court, scholarships to Monroe Community College, supporting Safety Town programs and other safety initiatives such as fire safety, seatbelts and child-restraints, recreational initiatives including Altrusa Park, swimming pool funds and lights for athletic fields.

Altrusa of Monroe is still an active Club within Altrusa International, District Five.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records of the Altrusa International Club of Monroe, Michigan were donated and transferred to the Center for Archival Collections on October 3, 2011, with the assistance of Debra Haines and Carolyn Cron.