ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202
COLLECTION: OGL #108
DATES: 1909-1984
SIZE: 1.25 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The North Dakota Dames Club Records were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection. The acquisition records are unavailable. An addition was donated by Lillian Witmer of Grand Forks, North Dakota, on May 8, 1979 (Acc.#79-595). Kathie Anderson of Grand Forks deposited a second addition in January 1985 (Acc.#85-1363).
ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
The group which eventually became the North Dakota Dames Club became an official organization on November 12, 1909, although they had met informally before that date. As they were first organized, they were known as the No Name Club. A constitution was created on November 25, 1912, and the group changed its name to North Dakota Dames Club on December 11, 1912.
The objectives of the North Dakota Dames Club were "to unite its membership in practical cultural work" and the "furtherance of good fellowship" within the club. Members included faculty wives of the University of North Dakota, Wesley College, the Human Nutrition Laboratory of the United States Department of Agriculture Research Service, and the Charles R. Robertson Laboratory of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Total membership in the club from 1909 until 1984 was 143 members.
The Club maintained several annual traditions, including a spring luncheon, a tea with the Round Table Club and the creation of a cookbook. Meetings were usually held every other week, and a wide variety of subjects and presentations were examined. Travel, music, art, literature, history and cooking were only a few of the subjects discussed. By in large, most programs were presented by Club members, although several outsiders have addressed the group in the past.
The North Dakota Dames Club records consist of minutes of meetings (1909-1980), membership rolls (1909-1978), and treasurer's records (1923-1961). The constitution and by-laws are included, as are three histories of the Club, written in 1959, 1974 and 1984.
Folder 1. Constitution, by-laws, minutes, volume 1: 1909-January 19, 1916
2. Minutes, volume 2: February 2, 1916-January 6, 1925
3. Minutes, volume 3: January 30, 1925-May 24, 1938
4. Minutes, volume 4: October 4, 1938-May 12, 1953
5. Minutes, volume 5: September 22, 1953-December 9, 1958
6. Roster of members and historical notes, 1909-1978
7. Minutes, volume 6: January 6, 1959-January 19, 1965
8. Minutes, volume 7: February 2, 1965-February 3, 1970
9. Minutes, volume 8: February 17, 1970-December 10, 1974
10. Treasurer's book, 1923-1961
11. What They Had in Mind: Fifty Years in the Dames Club, 1909-1959; North
Dakota Dames Club History, 1909-1974
12. Minutes, volume 9: January 14, 1975-May 13, 1980
13. North Dakota Dames 75th Anniversary, 1909-1984
Return to: Women's Organizational Records
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