New Century Club (Perrysburg, Ohio) records

The New Century Club Collection, which spans the years form 1900 to 1993/94 demonstrates the activities of middle and upper-middle class women in a small town society. The material is arranged chronologically by record series and includes minutes, yearly programs, clippings, correspondence, and original writings. Newspaper clippings have been photocopied on acid-neutral paper and the original discarded.

The minutes are the most essential part of the collection. Although the handwriting is sometimes difficult to read, the contents are quite comprehensive, covering the years from 1914 through 1992. In them, the secretaries have recorded in detail the activities of the meetings. This includes individual presentations, recitals, meeting rituals, financial transactions, names of members present, and points raised during the discussion periods. The records of the discussion periods show the political and social awareness of these women from the Midwest since the turn of the century.

The printed programs cover a somewhat larger time period than the minutes, from 1900 to the 1993/94 program year, but are less significant. They are helpful for a less detailed study in that they are largely a concentrated form of the minutes. The programs also contain a list of names of members, officers, presentations, and discussion topics, but they do little more than list them. Missing are programs from 1903-1907 and 1978-1979.

An interesting part of the collection is a novel written collectively in 1918. Although one chapter out of twelve is missing, the quaint intricacies are quite evident in this novel of German spies and love in World War I America. Its main significance is that the perceptions and ideals of these middle-class women during the war years are made clear. Other literary achievements are three poems attributed to club members and an essay, author unknown.

Also included in the collection is correspondence, which is of minor interest. It includes information about a reading course from 1906 and a request from a library that the club hold a library day, also dated 1906. A ledger for the years 1937 through 1954 details financial transactions that also may be found in the minutes. Other material includes the club constitution and bylaws, a declaration of trust of shares of stocks from 1953; a list of program speakers and biographies from 1971-1972, and a 1972 ballot for the revision of the New Century Club constitution and bylaws.