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COLLECTION Identifier: 81-M237--82-M11: M-89: Vt-12

Additional records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, 1877-1977

Overview

Addenda to the records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, a non-profit social and educational agency in Boston, Mass.

Dates

  • Creation: 1877-1977

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by the Women's Educational and Industrial Union is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

13.33 linear feet ((10 cartons, 2 file boxes) plus 1 supersize folder, 1 videotape, 2 reels of microfilm)

These addenda to B-8 consist of organizational records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union and material on its programs. They include annual reports and other Union publications, brief printed histories, financial records and minutes of the Board of Government (later Trustees), Executive Committee, and other Committees. There are scrapbooks of clippings and a few historical photographs about Union activities.

HISTORY

The Women's Educational and Industrial Union, a non-profit social and educational agency, was founded in 1877 by Dr. Harriet Clisby, and incorporated in 1880, "to increase fellowship among women and to promote the best practical methods for securing their educational, industrial and social advancement."

In its early years, the organization gave practical help and training programs to women, teaching them how to produce marketable goods and selling their products. Among the social services offered were legal aid for needy women, especially domestics, school lunches, and training and placement for the adult blind and other handicapped. An early Committee on Hygiene, which provided health education and free medical treatment to women, developed into the Committee on Sanitary and Industrial Conditions, which investigated conditions of work in shops and industry. This later evolved into the Research Department.

Current programs of the Special Service Department include Companions Unlimited, a volunteer program to help the isolated of all ages; Mini Mart, Nursing Home Guide, and Housing Service. Other departments are Homemaker Service, Family Day Care, and Career Services. In addition the Women's Educational and Industrial Union offers a daytime lecture series and After Five program, lectures on issues of current interest for young men and women. Rockport Lodge, a vacation home for women, and the Women's Rest Tour Association, a network collecting information about travel abroad for women, are associated with the Women's Educational and Industrial Union. The Union is supported in part by dues, donations and gifts, and in part by its shops.

SERIES LIST

  1. Series I. Annual reports, History, 1-13
  2. Series II. Governing Boards and Committees, 14-106
  3. Series III. Financial records, 107-120
  4. Series IV. Programs and publicity. Includes photographs and other visual material, 121-156, 193v-210

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 81-M237, 82-M11

The addenda were given to the Schlesinger Library in October 1981 by the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Related Material:

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library. See the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.) Records, 1894-1955 (B-8), the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.) Additional records, 1877-1974 (M-89; B/W872ed), the Additional records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.), 1877-2004 (MC 610), the Audiotape collection of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.), 1986-2000 (T-362), the Videotape and motion picture collection of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.), 1979-2001 (Vt-12; MP-61), and the Crittenton Women's Union Records, 2005-2014 (MC 1039).

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Carton 1: Folders 1v-17v
  2. Carton 2: Folders 18v-30
  3. Carton 3: Folders 31v-42v
  4. Carton 4: Folders 43v-60v
  5. Carton 5: Folders 61v-83v
  6. Carton 6: Folders 84v-106
  7. Carton 7: Folders 107v-120
  8. Carton 8: Folders 121-137v
  9. Carton 9: Folders 138f+-156, 193v-194v; 157-192v no longer exist
  10. Folio Box 10, 12-15: Folders 195v (Folio Box 10); 196v, 200v (Folio Box 12); 197v (Folio Box 13); 198v (Folio Box 14); 199v (Folio Box 15)
  11. Carton 11: Folders 201-210

Processing Information

Preliminary Processing: November, 1981

By: Jane S. Knowles

Title
Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.). Additional records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, 1877-1977: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00215

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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