Woman's Club of Albany :
- Author:
- Woman's Club of Albany (Albany, N.Y.)
- Call Number:
- MSS MSS-139 local
- Abstract:
- The Woman's Club of Albany (WCA) Records include one hundred years' worth of information about all aspects of the Club. The collection is divided into eight series according to the organizational structure and activities of the WCA, flowing from the Board of Directors down to the members. Notably, the collection contains meeting minutes and annual reports for not only the Board of Directors, but for many of the different departments and committees. The WCA's financial history is organized chronologically from the Club's beginning in 1910 to its revitalization in recent years. This collection also documents WCA membership, publications issued by the Club and events and programs hosted by the organization. Scrapbooks retained by WCA members across several decades also are included.
- Historical Note:
- Established in 1910, the Woman's Club of Albany (WCA) dedicated itself to helping women and children as well as improving conditions in its surrounding area. Membership grew quickly, reaching three hundred members by 1912. In 1913 the WCA was incorporated and in 1919, it purchased its Clubhouse. By the 1930s and the beginning of the 1940s the WCA flourished; sufficient funds, an array of events and programs, and a membership of six hundred women, including honorary members such as future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. During the second half of the twentieth century, the WCA attempted to reinvent itself as membership dropped and the Club's financial situation began a decline. In the 1970s the WCA tried to overhaul its image by shifting from activities with a civic emphasis to more social ones. By the 1980s the WCA once again tried to revitalize the organization by establishing itself as a center of cooperation among women in New York's Capital District for civic, literary, and philanthropic works. Despite these attempts, the WCA continued to decline into the beginning years of the twenty first century. By the end of 2003 only three elderly members remained, the Clubhouse needed repairs, and the future of the WCA was in jeopardy. In 2004 five new women discovered the WCA while attending an event hosted in the rented Clubhouse. They joined the organization and were determined to revive it as a center of activity once again benefiting the surrounding community. Since 2004, the Woman's Club of Albany has witnessed great improvement; membership is consistently increasing among women of all ages, the organization has undertaken restoration projects in the Clubhouse, and the WCA is once again involving itself in various philanthropic activities within the City of Albany and the surrounding Capital District.
- Physical Description:
- 15.02 cu ft.
- Access Terms:
- Access to the collection is unrestricted.
- Notes:
- Part of the Archive of the Business, Literary and Miscellany Collection. local
- Subjects:
- Women in charitable work New York (State) Albany, Women New York (State) Albany Societies and clubs, Women New York (State) Social conditions, Women in charitable work, Women Social conditions, and Women Societies and clubs
- Genres/Forms:
- Minutes. aat, Newsletters. aat, Administrative records. aat, Files by subject. aat, Membership cards. aat, Financial records. aat, Photographs. aat, Programs (documents) aat, and Scrapbooks. aat
- Corporate Names:
- Woman's Club of Albany (Albany, N.Y.), New York State Federation of Women's Clubs, and New York State Federation of Women's Clubs
- Geographic Terms:
- New York (State) and New York (State) Albany
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