Historical Note
The Mothers Club at Oregon State was established in 1933 during the
annual Women's Weekend with the following purpose: "We pledge our support
to preserve all traditions of Oregon State College, to futher its interest
at all times, and to cooperate with students, alumni, faculty, and the
President." Membership was extended to all women who supported this
purpose and chapters (units) were established throughout the state. By
1935, units had been established in Corvallis, Hood River, Medford, and
Pendleton. In the mid-1980s, there were 17 units: Beaverton, Aloha, and
Sunset; Albany; Coos Bay and North Bend; Corvallis; Eugene and
Springfield; Junction City, Harrisburg, and Monroe; Klamath Basin; Lake
County; Lebanon, Sweet Home, and Brownsville; Mid-Columbia; Portland;
Salem; Tillamook County; Pendleton and Umatilla County; Wallow County;
Union County; and Morrow. Members included alumnae, mothers of current and
former students, faculty and staff, and other supporters of Oregon
State.
The Mothers Club (also known as the Moms Club) sponsored a variety of
activities to promote Oregon State, raised funds for scholarships, and was
active in Women's Weekend (later known as Mother's or Mom's Weekend) on
campus.
Content Description
The Oregon State University Mothers Club Records consist of records of
the statewide organization as well as the units in Eugene and Springfield;
Corvallis; Pendleton and Umatilla County; and Salem.
The statewide organization records include annual reports and annual
meeting minutes; secretary's records; executive board files; scholarship
records; OSU Foundation materials; state directories; and scrapbooks. The
scrapbooks comprise the bulk of the statewide records and include
clippings, photographs, ephemera, meeting minutes, and reports. The
scrapbooks include extensive information about unit activities.
The Eugene and Springfield Unit records include annual reports, bylaws
and consitutions, correspondence, financial statements, meeting minutes
and agendas, membership lists, photographs, and publications. Most of the
records are arranged chronologically as they were originally housed in
notebooks. The records also document the activities of the Unit's Quilt
Committee, which created quilts that were raffled to raise funds for
scholarships, and include photographs of the quilts. Artifacts include a
banner and a pair of orange gloves and a bell that were used as part of
the ceremonial opening of the unit's meetings.
The Corvallis Unit records consist of minutes and financial records for
1934-1940 and three scrapbooks for the period 1934-1976 that document the
activities of the unit. They primarily consist of clippings and ephemera
with a few photographs. The Corvallis records also include an undated
recipe booklet (circa 1970s) for coffee and tea breads served at the
unit's Fall Coffee.
The Pendleton (Umatilla County) records include meeting minutes,
newspaper clippings, event guest lists, correspondence, and related
materials. The Salem Unit records include the unit's bylaws (1953) and
minutes for 1941-1951.
All photographs in the collection are affixed in scrapbooks. They
include color and b/w prints, primarily of statewide and unit officers and
unit activities.