The Smith Club of Hartford, Connecticut was founded in 1896 as a means for former Smith College students, including non-graduates, to socialize.
The papers of the Smith Club of Hartford span a century from 1896 to 2003 with the bulk of the records being from the 1980s and 1990s. The earliest, handwritten registers of minutes and membership from 1896 to 1920 describe the social nature of the club which continues to be a main feature of the Club. The Club's records detail the events, lectures, and fundraisers held since its start in 1896, especially how central fundraising for the Alumnae Fund has been. The correspondence sheds light on problems of attracting and keeping members, hosting profitable fundraisers, and involving young alumnae. Changes and updates in the Club's events schedule show how the Club attempts to deal with these challenges and gives the researcher a sense of the changing sensibility from socializing to networking for the Club as it entered the twenty-first century.
This collection is organized into four series:
The records are open for research according to the regulations of the Smith College Archives without any additional restrictions.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the documents must be requested from the Smith College Archives. Smith College owns copyright to any published material relating to college events and activities. Provenance and copyright ownership of other materials is unknown and researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Smith Club of Hartford, Box #, Smith College Archives
The Smith Club of Hartford records were donated over a period of time to the Smith College Archives from a variety of sources.
- 90. Alumnae Association
This series covers the largest time-span of the Smith Club of Hartford records. The records begin with the founding of the club in 1896 through 1920. The minutes jump to the 1980s and continue through the late 1990s. The minutes by the Secretary cover Board meetings as well as General Body meetings and are fairly complete for the 1980s and 1990s. Copies of meeting announcements have been included with the minutes.
The membership files contain membership directories, recruitment mailings to Hartford area alumae, and member participation questionnaires. Most material in the membership files is concentrated between 1989 and 1992.
The correspondence includes invitations to non-Club events, information and newsletters from the Smith Alumnae Association, and letters between members regarding Club events. Like the membership files, the correspondence files from the 1989-1992 program years contain the most information.
The financial series includes Treasurer's records as well as information on the Club's fundraising events. Because fundraising for the Smith College Alumnae Fund is a high-priority for the Club, the Treasurer made periodic reports regarding the amount of the Club's bank account.
The fundraising files include advertising and correspondence related to the Club's fundraising activities. Records about the Club's annual book sale and the beginning of its partnership with Hartford-based chef David Glass to sell chocolate mousse cakes are found in this series.
The general files include material that was mailed to Club members and mailings announcing individual events. The rest of the Club's records are arranged in the alphabetical files. These alphabetical files contain records of specific, non-annual events and miscellaneous notes.