The Hawthorne Club records

Collection – Multiple Containers

Identifier: MS-0231

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The records of The Hawthorne Club consist of minutes, programs, yearbooks, correspondence, news clippings, and photographs.

Dates

Creation: 1912-2000, undated

Extent

1.38 Cubic Feet (3 legal manuscript boxes)

Creator

The Hawthorne Club (Organization)

Scope and Contents

The records of the Hawthorne Club, Lima, Ohio, date from 1912 to 2000 and provide a fairly complete history of the establishment, organization and growth of this women's club. The minutes do not begin until 1947 but are complete until the Club disbanded on May 18, 2000. The minutes include information on programs given, money raised, civic projects undertaken, deaths of members, and initiation of new members. The first yearbook, 1912, is included in the collection. The yearbooks, however, are not available between 1913 and 1933. Starting with the 1934/35 yearbook, this series is complete until the Club's disbanding in May 2000. The yearbooks include information on membership and officers and programs held. Financial ledgers dating from 1948-1958, 1982-2000 provide information on membership, dues, and disbursements.

Correspondence and news clippings are scattered, but do provide some insight into the Club's activities. Photographs are available from the 1920s to the disbanding of the Club and provide a visual representation of the continuity of this Club's members.

Biographical / Historical

The Hawthorne Club was organized on September 11, 1911, in the home of Mrs. W. M. Bacome of Lima, by a group of friends having met for a luncheon and social time. The membership at that time numbered eleven. The name "Hawthorne" was chosen and future activities were outlined. Christian ideals, philanthropic and social work were to be upheld and encouraged. White and pink were chosen as the club colors, hawthorne and carnation as the flowers, and the motto: "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers." Mrs. R. Bacome was the first president; Mrs. E. Blank, vice president; Mrs. B. Price, secretary; Mrs. A. Bacome, treasurer; and Mrs. W. Shook, editoress. The club became an affiliate of the Lima Federation of Women's Clubs in 1956.

One major project of the Club, in the 1940s and following, was furnishing a room in the Memorial Hospital. Other projects involved supporting needy families and a myriad of community social/welfare programs and agencies. Declining membership and the advanced age of the few members remaining forced the Club regretfully to disband on May 18, 2000.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is in the public domain.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records of the Hawthorne Club of Lima, Ohio (1912-May 2000) were donated to the Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, in March 1982, with more current records periodically being donated. The original collection was transferred by Jill Smith, field study specialist for the Women's Studies Archives Project, with the cooperation of Ada L. Nice, historian of the Hawthorne Club.