Conneaut Parent Teacher Association records

The Conneaut PTA collection is primarily comprised of proceedings, correspondence, financial documents, news clippings, and programs.

There are two types of proceedings in the collection, minutes and membership records. The minutes cover the years 1940 to 1972 and are arranged chronologically. The collection contains minutes from the executive committee meetings which contain the dates and the locations of the events put on by the PTA and other things discussed at these meetings. The minutes for the regular meetings contain everything that was announced to the parents and others who chose to come to the general meetings. The second type of proceeding in the collection is the membership records. These are small blue books with the names and addresses of all of the members of the PTA, along with whether or not they paid their dues.

The correspondence of the collection include both letters of communication and newsletters. The letters contained in the collection are between the Conneaut PTA members and the parents of the students. These letters are either from the parents enquiring about the events put on by the PTA, or the members notifying them of the current situation of the school. In rare cases these letters are sent to school board members discussing meetings. The dates of these letters range from 1957 to 1984. The newsletter was sent out on a monthly basis, and contained a variety of information, specifically what was discussed at the meetings. These topics included fundraising events, elections, school funding, and other general matters. The dates of the newsletters range from 1965 to 1985. Along with the letters, these correspondence are arranged chronologically.

The two types of financial documents that were saved were the treasurer’s reports and ledgers. The reports are arranged chronologically from the years 1954 to 1975. A report was made typically a few times a year and records the money that was raised for the PTA from dues, and the money spent of various activities. The ledgers are written in hard cover books and contain similar information as the reports. The treasurer holds a running balance of the PTA’s funds and rather than writing a general total earned or lost, the ledgers lists the exact location that the money was sent to or received from. They are held in two books, one with dates ranging from 1946 to 1956 and another whose dates range from 1975 to 1976.

A number of news clippings exist in the collection, although few of them have a date or original location of publication. The topics of the news clippings cover both the events held by the PTA, along with the problems in the community that affected the school or students. A few programs are also in the collection from the years 1964 to 1966. These list the dates of the meetings, a brief explanation of the association, along with the elected executive board members. These programs are arranged chronologically.