Guide to the Bellingham Woman's Music Club records
1917-1972

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Overview of the Collection

Creator: Bellingham Woman's Music Club
Title: Bellingham Woman's Music Club records
Dates: 1917-1972 ( inclusive )
Quantity: 4 linear feet.
Collection Number: XOE0051bwmusicclub
Summary: The records of the Bellingham Woman’s Music Club, spanning 1917-1972, document its members’ contribution to Bellingham’s cultural development. The collection includes minute books, yearbooks, scrapbooks, and the club’s constitution.
Repository: Western Washington University
Center for Pacific Northwest Studies

Goltz-Murray Building
808 25th Street
Bellingham, WA 98225-9123
Phone: 360-650-7747
http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/cpnws/

Languages: Collection materials are in English.  
Sponsor: Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the Washington State Legislature to the Washington Women's History Consortium. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical Note

The Bellingham Woman’s Music Club was organized February 22, 1916. It provided a forum for its members to perform musical selections and it organized performances by its members and professionals from elsewhere for the benefit of the public. The club was composed of both active members, who performed, and associate members, who were permitted to attend the meetings. By 1924 it was federated with the Washington State Federation of Music Clubs and the National Federation of Music Clubs. The club endeavored to involve itself in the community. Some of these efforts included providing concerts, offering scholarships for membership, and a large donation of record albums to the public library with station KVOS and Western Washington College of Education.

Content Description

The records of the Bellingham Woman’s Music Club, spanning 1917-1972, document its members’ contribution to Bellingham’s cultural development. The collection includes minute books, yearbooks, scrapbooks, and the club’s constitution.

Minute books contain summaries of meetings, musical selections performed by the active members at the meetings, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and printed programs of the performances and activities the club sponsored. The minute books begin in 1917 and end in 1968. The yearbooks record the officers of the club and include the events planned for the year. Some of the yearbooks are missing, but can be found pasted into either the minute books or the scrapbooks. The scrapbooks include printed programs of musical performances and social activities, photographs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. The scrapbooks date from 1941 to 1972; however, the scrapbook that covers the 1950s was never organized.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :  

The collection is open to the public.

Preferred Citation :  

Bellingham Woman's Music Club records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University Bellingham WA 98225-9123

Administrative Information

Arrangement :

The Bellingham Woman's Music Club records are organized in accordance with the following series and subseries arrangement:

  • Series I: Administrative Records, 1917-1968
    • Sub-series 1. Minute Books, 1917-1968
    • Sub-series 2. Club Constitutions, 1923-1950
    • Sub-series 3. Member Sponsorship Cards, 1960-1961
  • Series II: Yearbooks, 1917-1972
  • Series III: Scrapbooks, 1941-1972

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series I:  Administrative Records, 1917-1968
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Subseries 1: Minute Books 1917-1968
Box/Folder
1/1 Minute Book 1917-1919
1/2 Minute Book 1919-1920
1/3 Minute Book 1920-1923
1/4 Minute Book 1923-1925
1/5 Minute Book 1925-1927
1/6 Minute Book 1928-1935
1/7 Minute Book 1935-1942
1/8 Minute Book 1942-1949
1/9 Minute Book 1949-1954
1/10 Minute Book 1954-1959
1/11 Minute Book 1959-1964
2/1 Minute Book 1964-1968
Subseries 2: Club Constitutions 1923-1950
Box/Folder
2/2 Constitutions 1923-1950
Subseries 3: Member Sponsorship Cards
Additional cards may be found in later volumes of the minute books.
1960-1961
Box/Folder
2/3 Membership sponsorship cards 1960-1961

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Series II:  Yearbooks , 1917-1972
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box/Folder
2/4 Yearbooks 1917-1920
2/5 Yearbooks 1920-1930
2/6 Yearbooks 1930-1940
2/7 Yearbooks 1940-1949
2/8 Yearbooks 1950-1960
2/9 Yearbooks 1961-1970
2/10 Yearbooks 1970-1972

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Series III:  Scrapbooks , 1941-1972
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box/Folder
3/1 Scrapbooks 1941-1943
3/2 Scrapbooks 1947-1948
4/1 Scrapbooks 1948-1949
4/2 Scrapbooks 1949-1950
5/1 Scrapbooks 1952-1964
5/2 Scrapbooks 1961-1962
6/1 Scrapbooks 1963-1966
6/2 Scrapbooks 1965-1967
6/3 Scrapbooks 1967-1969
6/4 Scrapbooks 1969-1972

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Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

  • Corporate Names :
  • Bellingham Woman's Music Club - Archives.
  • Subject Terms :
  • Music -- Societies, etc -- Washington (State) -- Bellingham -- History -- Sources.
  • Scrapbooks -- Washington (State).
  • Women -- Societies and clubs -- Washington (State) -- Bellingham -- History -- Sources.
    • Form or Genre Terms :
    • Scrapbooks -- Washington (State).

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