Records of the Window Shop, 1939-2004

The records of the Window Shop were donated by various officers, each of whom kept her or his own files. Because there was extensive duplication of minutes and financial records, but no complete set, the processor combined the donors' board and committee minutes, financial statements and reports, and board correspondence to produce one chronological run of each record type. The scholarship files were not intermingled, however, because their provenance may have meaning. They overlap in some categories. Original folder headings were retained in most cases; additional notes added by the processor are in square brackets.

Additional material received between 1995 and 2004 (accession numbers 95-M154, 2004-M37) were added to the collection in June 2017 and are housed in #38a. A few items were added to #38. All other files remain in the same order.

To protect the privacy of Window Shop employees and aid recipients, the processor screened documents for such personal information as salaries, pensions, evaluations, loans, and descriptions of problems. Copies of such documents with the sensitive information removed are in the collection. In the few cases in which entire documents were removed, there are notes to that effect. The original documents will be re-integrated when the restrictions expire. Case and scholarship files are closed in their entirety (see "Access" above). Names of scholarship recipients, scholarship amounts, and schools attended are open to research.

Series I, Organization and history (#1-38a, 1277at-1284at), contains the articles of incorporation; by-laws; papers re: the 10th and 20th anniversaries; histories and articles by members and others; information and notes on the Window Shop history compiled by Dorothy Dahl; histories on related topics; and information by and about board members and staff, including oral histories, tributes, obituaries, etc.

The various histories and articles in this series provide conflicting information about dates and events; the financial statements and board minutes in Series II are more reliable sources. Most of the oral histories were conducted in 1984-1985 by board members. Some have both transcripts and tapes, some only one or the other. Transcripts are generally correct, but not verbatim. Employees discuss coming to the United States, how they got involved with the Window Shop, their work, and their Window Shop experience: friendships, relations with customers, etc.

Series II, Administration (#39-267), includes minutes of the executive committee and board of directors; lists of board members and a few photographs; some committee reports and correspondence; board members correspondence; board subject correspondence; general correspondence; correspondence about the dissolution; board mailings (memos, reports, agendas, etc.); president's annual reports; Elizabeth Aub's appointment book/diary entries; financial records; filings for government agencies; financial correspondence; and public relations materials.

The minutes of the executive committee contain information about employees and applicants for assistance. Because of the private nature of the information, these minutes are closed to research until 75 years from the date of the most recent document in any folder. Minutes containing no personal information were left where originally filed with the board minutes (see #57, 59).

The board minutes and correspondence document the evolution of purpose and approach to the refugee situation, including philosophical disagreements about treatment of employees; financial and other difficulties of expansion; problems encountered by the restaurant business; and so on. Audits and filings for government agencies were removed from the minutes and filed with the financial records.

The records of the Personnel Practices and Scholarship Committees are in Series III; the few records of other committees (Budget, Finance, Investment, Nominating, and Termination) contain correspondence, minutes, reports, and notes.

The board's subject correspondence files retain their original contents and headings; they are arranged chronologically. These files document the cooperation between the Window Shop and the New England Christian Committee for Refugees, the Boston Provident Association, and various Cambridge organizations; work for displaced persons legislation, the United States Committee for Refugees and the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Refugees; Hungarian refugees; and Eleanor Roosevelt's visit and tour in 1950. Records of the Maxwell Fund (1943-1949), which aided English and Scottish children in the United States, and several folders of Massachusetts Displaced Persons Commission correspondence, were removed and cataloged separately.

The board's general correspondence, arranged chronologically, contains most correspondence with government agencies, customers, vendors, and others outside the Window Shop. Some letters belonging in this category were found, and left, with board member correspondence (#91-105). The correspondence concerning the dissolution of the Window Shop and sale of its property is primarily with the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and includes copies of agreements, mortgages, minutes, and other documents.

The Elizabeth Aub appointment book/diary entries contain references to individuals and their problems, and are closed for 75 years from their date of creation.

The extensive financial records include comparisons of costs/expenses over time, and financial statements (with profit/loss, average daily number of customers, assets, liabilities, budgets, audits, comparisons, cash receipts and disbursements), filed by date of year to which figures refer. The account book (#140) and the 1939 financial statements (#143) contain the earliest records of the Window Shop, and plans for the coffeehouse. Also included are treasurer's reports (some also filed with board minutes), kept separately for the Window Shop and the various assistance funds; check stubs, which are closed (see "Access," page 1) to protect the privacy of aid recipients; required filings for government agencies (Internal Revenue Service, and various Massachusetts agencies), which include lists of officers, assets, disbursements, etc.; financial correspondence, filed by original subject headings, re: private loans to the Window Shop, mortgage and banking arrangements, property assessments, etc.; and general financial correspondence.

The processor discarded financial statements from brokers and securities firms (summary copies are in the yearly financial reports); bank statements and canceled checks (except where there were no check stubs); and receipts and invoices for services and supplies.

Public relations materials include advertising correspondence with newspapers, magazines and radio stations; printed material (advertisements, leaflets, booklet of Christmas items, postcards, placemats, menu, stationery); die cuts, including rocking horse insignia designed by Cyorgy Kepes; engraving plate with mats; and photographic negatives of various Window Shop items, and the logo. The publicity scrapbook contained many items re-taped indiscriminately onto pages: dates and other captions no longer matched the attached items. The processor dismantled the scrapbook, removed the tape, and placed the items in #248-249. Included are a few manuscript recipes and notes.

Series III, Program (#268-1275), contains notes on the history of the New England Christian Committee for Refugees guest houses in Cambridge and Medford, and guest book (1940-1942); guest log and report for Friendship House (1942); recipe booklet for the Cambridge Boathouse Teas; correspondence, reports, city licenses, and photographs of gift shop and restaurant operations; extensive personnel and pension records; legal documents, correspondence, and architectural plans for buildings and alterations; and records of the assistance funds.

Personnel files contain applications for employment, information about salaries, bonuses and pensions, and other related documents that identify individual employees; they are closed for 75 years from the date of the most recent document in each folder. Folders on personnel practices, arranged chronologically, are open to research. They contain advice to employees, wage rates, minutes and reports of the Personnel Practices Committee, correspondence about the pension plan, and related topics. Correspondence with individual employees about their pensions was transferred to their respective files (see #400-492).

More than half this archive documents the collection and dispersal of the assistance funds. There are history and reports (#324); fund appeals; records of contributors; a statistical compilation by the Window Shop of scholarship recipients; and extensive records of the Scholarship Committee.

The Scholarship Committee records contain reports (#359), lists of members, awards, minutes, records of applicants and recipients (photocopies of index cards with summaries of contacts with applicants, and supporting material, arranged alphabetically for unsuccessful applicants), case files, and correspondence with applicants, recipients, and other organizations. The minutes discuss individual applicants by name, and are closed for 75 years from the date of the most recent document in each folder. With the exception of application blanks, form letters, and an exhaustive list of "People Helped" (photocopied, with names removed, see #377f+), the applicant/recipient files are similarly closed.

The case files are arranged alphabetically within each of the following chronological categories, as determined by the latest document in each folder: 1) "Window Shop Employees Helped" (1948-1975, scattered; #400-492), 2) 1939-1959 (#493-690), 3) 1960-1969 (#691-893), 4) 1970-1979 (#894-994), and 5) 1980-1987 (#995-1240). The processor created a complete case/scholarship file folder list (#399) for each category. Each list is closed for 75 years from the most recent date. Not all grantees have files, and not all files are of grantees. The category "Window Shop Employees Helped" was established by Window Shop members; no attempt has been made to determine whether additional employee folders are filed in other categories. Files may contain information about educational and/or other forms of assistance. The 1939-1959 section contains many social service case files, in addition to requests for tuition assistance, but there are few records for the 1940s.

Files of scholarship applicants may contain college transcripts, recommendations, citizenship information, financial documents, correspondence, and supporting documents. Correspondence with applicants and recipients (#1241-1245), and, in general, all records containing personal information and reports of action taken by the Window Shop are closed; those merely listing recipients, scholarship amount, and school attended are open. The letters "c" and/or "f" on loan lists signify, respectively, that the committee kept an index card, or a folder on the individual.

The correspondence with other organizations is arranged chronologically and includes information about other scholarship sources and foundations. Correspondents include Boston-area colleges and universities.