Historical Note
The Women of Fairhaven was a charitable and social organization based
in Fairhaven, Washington. The club was founded in 1948 to support the Fairhaven
Boys' and Girls' Club. The Women of Fairhaven assisted in the construction of
the Fairhaven Boys' and Girls' Club annual parade floats, supported their
weekly dances, organized picnics, and donated goods for their club house.
The club also sought to involve itself other ways in the community.
They raised money on behalf of the Mt. Baker Kidney Center, Skagit Preschool
Association for the Rehabilitation of Children (SPARC), Bellingham Visiting
Nurses Association, and provided financial support to community members in
need. The club ceased meeting in the late 1980s.
Content Description
The Women of Fairhaven records span the dates 1948-1988, and comprise
administrative and financial records, correspondence, records regarding club
Activities, and documents relating to the Fairhaven Hotel. The records document
the club’s charitable activities and social gatherings. It also documents the
social activities of the Fairhaven Boys' and Girls' Club. These records provide
a vibrant glimpse of Bellingham’s youth activities during the late 1940s and
community life from the late 1940s to the mid 1970s.
Administrative and financial records span the period 1948-1988, and
contain two minutes notebooks (1948-1951, 1960-1963). The minutes notebooks
record the organization’s first meeting and bylaws, as well as notes from later
gatherings. The financial documents (1955-1988) including receipts, checks, and
an insurance policy. These financial records cover the fundraising efforts of
the Women of Fairhaven.
Correspondence spans 1949-1986 and consists almost exclusively of
thank-you notes documenting the charitable activities of the club.
Club activities records reflect the organization’s charitable work,
fundraising events, and other gatherings and events from 1948-1975. This series
includes photographs, newsletters, and newspaper clippings. Also included in
the club activity records are scrapbooks (1948-1975) documenting the charitable
and social activities, as well as other events of the Fairhaven Boys' and
Girls' Club. The scrapbooks also include articles detailing the fiery
destruction of the Fairhaven Hotel on July 19, 1953, then the meeting place of
the Fairhaven Boy’s and Girl’s Club. It also documents the fire’s effects on
the community including the efforts of the Women of Fairhaven to find a new
location for the Fairhaven Boys' and Girls' Club.
The collection also contains materials pertaining to the history of
the Fairhaven Hotel. These comprise duplicates of Fairhaven Hotel restaurant
menus, and letters from Mary Larrabee Bourque, responding to questions posed by
E. Rosamond Ellis, a local historian and club member, about the construction of
the hotel and what life was like growing up in the old Fairhaven Hotel.