Joan Gordon papers

Collection – Multiple Containers

Identifier: MS-1203

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The 0.92 cubic feet of material includes correspondence, subject files, literary productions, printed material, photographs, and artifacts. The items in this collection represent only a fraction of the material that was included in the donation; several other collections in the Center also benefitted from Mrs. Gordon’s legacy. See the scope and content section for more information.

Dates

Creation: 1924-2014

Extent

0.92 Cubic Feet (2 legal archival boxes)

Creator

Gordon, Joan, 1935-2013 (Person)

Scope and Contents

Due to Mrs. Gordon’s involvement in a variety of organizations, much of what is found in the collection is related to these groups and her work with them in some way. The materials included help to provide a personal context to many organizations that call Bowling Green home. Mrs. Gordon’s dedication to education, community service, and the promotion of the city of Bowling Green is evident throughout the collection. Her contributions to the community are illuminated here and in the complementary collections that benefitted from the donation of her papers.

The full donation from her estate has been divided into several collections located within the Center for Archival Collections. The contents of the donation allowed for additions to the Bowling Green Chapter of the League of Women Voters (MS-139), the Woman’s Club of Bowling Green (MS-186), the Bowling Green Chapter of the Association of Academic and University Women (MS-89), and the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce (MS-25). Portions of the donated materials were also used to establish three collections in addition to the Joan Gordon Papers. These collections are the Minniebelle Conley Papers (MS-1202), the Northwest District of the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs (MS-1204) and the Bowling Green Community Foundation (MS-1205).

Biographical / Historical

Joan Gordon (1935 – 2013) was an active member of the Bowling Green community and involved in a number of local, state, and national organizations. Born and raised in Painesville, Ohio, Mrs. Gordon attended Bowling Green State University in the late 1950s but did not complete her degree at the university. While a BGSU student, the former Ms. Honkala was a member of the student staff of the BG News and it was there that she met her husband Jim Gordon.

Mrs. Gordon’s professional career was long and diverse—she worked as a teacher in the city schools, radio and television editor for the Sentinel-Tribune, public information director for WBGU-TV, and executive director of the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce. She held the last position from 1984 until her retirement in 1999.

In addition to her professional career, Mrs. Gordon also held prominent positions in several organizations and maintained membership in them for several decades. She was a participant in and frequent executive committee member of multiple groups including the Bowling Green Chapter of the League of Women Voters, the Woman’s Club of Bowling Green, the Bowling Green Chapter of the Association of Academic and University Women, the Bowling Green Community Foundation, the Bowling Green Committee on Aging, the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs, and countless others. In addition to her presidencies in local organization chapters, she also served as the president of the Northwest District of the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs and the president of the statewide Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Mrs. Gordon was a founder of the “Leadership BG” program and the Bowling Green Community Foundation. She frequently designed and edited the newsletters for the organizations that she was involved in, including the OFWC “Buckeye” magazine, which was distributed statewide.

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.