North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council Records

Collection

Identifier: Mss 275

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers for the State Homemakers' Council have been organized into twelve series: Historical Material, Constitution and Bylaws, Meeting Minutes, Treasurer's Records, Procedural Information, Meeting Planning; Programs, Lessons, and Projects; Annual Meeting Programs, Reports, Contests, Newsletters, and Subject Files. The Historical Materials Series includes documents detailing the organization of the Homemakers' Council in 1941 and 1942. This series also includes "Landmarks in Our First Ten Years", which is a brief historical timeline of the council's activities. There is an additional timeline of the council from 1951 to 1967. Additional histories of home economics and extension work can be found in the subject files. The Constitution and Bylaws Series consists of the original constitution and bylaws formulated at the 1942 organizational meeting. The Meeting Minutes Series consists of three ledgers for 1941 through 1984 that contain the meeting minutes from all of the annual meetings, as well as committee reports, minutes from the Executive Board meetings, and voting and ballot information. The Treasurer's Records Series includes three ledgers for 1944 through 1969, as well as professional audits from 1975 through 1989, and a variety of treasurer's reports for 1956 through 1989. The Procedural Information Series includes pamphlets, brochures, and leaflets used to inform local clubs about proper procedures for meetings and ceremonies. Some of the information includes general guides about what the Homemakers' Council is and what its purpose was, while other pamphlets explain how to conduct a club meeting, how to develop a club constitution, and how to conduct a successful meeting. Other leaflets direct the election of officers, the duties of officers, candle lighting ceremonies, installation ceremonies, initiation ceremonies, and anniversary ceremonies. This series includes songs, poems, anecdotes, and other information provided to the clubs for use at their meetings. The Meeting Planning Series contains planning information for local club meetings prepared by the Homemakers Council. This includes an outline for meetings, elections, and planning for major club projects. The information helps clubs select appropriate projects and lesson topics as well as understand the basic business and ceremonies that need to be conducted at club meetings. This series also includes leaflets that brief local clubs on special occasion meetings and activities such as National Home Demonstration Week and County Homemakers' Day. Some of the leaflets included in the series consist of listings of lesson packets that clubs could order from the state council for use at their regular meetings. A related item, found in the NDSU University Archives, is a publication of the Cooperative Extension Service, Focus on the Modern Family. These circulars, used by the council and clubs, contain a variety of information, from current home economic trends to program and lesson ideas. The Programs, Lessons, and Projects Series includes documents used to plan projects among the various counties. Projects belonged to one of three categories; food, clothing, or home improvement, and these categories rotated every year. Home demonstrators would give presentations on the same category to all the clubs in a particular county until it was time to rotate the categories again. In a three year period, the counties would have offered project demonstrations to local clubs in all the categories. This series includes not only the documents used to plan and track demonstrations, but also a sampling of lessons and projects used at the club level. The Annual Meeting Programs Series consists of programs for each annual meeting 1943 to 1988, and a 50th anniversary program from 1992 (50th Anniversary: Backward Glance-Forward Look). These folders not only include the meeting programs, but also programs from one or more banquets held during the annual meeting. Many of these programs are unique handmade booklets that varied according to the theme of the meeting. They usually include a meeting itinerary, and sometimes include other information such as listings of officers and guest speakers. The banquet programs include a menu and an itinerary of the banquet's events such as scheduled performers. The Reports Series includes histories and annual reports from individual clubs given at Achievement Day celebrations in 1938 and annual reports circa the 1950s. This series also includes a report from the president and committee recommendations from the 1949 annual meeting, letters reporting club members' success in planting gardens, reports from the Peace Garden Committee (1961-1963), reports from the state council given at a national council meeting (1947-1949, 1953), and a report given to a Homemakers' Club from a delegate to the national meeting (1962). The Contests Series consists of information from various contests sponsored by the Homemakers' Council. Some of the contests were held annually, such as the song contest, while others were only held once, such as the logo contest. The Associated Country Women of the World Essay Contest information includes a list of all the contestants as well as the winning essays from each of the three state districts. The Homemaker's Creed Contest information consists of correspondence, a book of creeds, as well as the winning creed and its copyright certificate. There are also copies of all the contest entries for 1944-1945. The logo contest information consists of only the winning entry. The State Song Contest includes sheet music for several years, as well as copyright certificates for some of the winning entries. There is also correspondence regarding the entries and the winners. Some of the correspondence concerns a dispute over copyright and the resulting income from the sales of a winning song. The Rediscover North Dakota contest includes entries and correspondence for two years in both a poetry and an essay division. The Newsletters Series consists of several newsletters published by the Homemakers' Council over the years. These include the Council Review, Council Comments, Horizons, and The North Dakota Homemaker. The Council Review was essentially a report of the annual Council meetings and was meant to be used for planning at the county and club level. The Council Review included information such as the minutes from the annual meeting, a list of officers, a list of delegates to the annual meeting, and suggestions for programs and lessons. There is only one issue of the Council Comments, and that is for the spring of 1969. This newsletter consists of messages from the state officers and reports from committee chairmen. There are several issues of the newsletter Horizons, from 1969 to 1977. This newsletter came out about three times a year, in the spring, the fall, and in the winter. It includes a message from the president, and information about what activities various Homemakers' Clubs were participating in, as well as committee reports and general news. The North Dakota Homemaker includes the introductory issue from 1979, a bonus issue from 1980, and four quarterly issues from 1981. Finally there is a single issue from 1991 of the North Dakota Extension Homemakers Newsletter, and two issues (Spring 1994 & 1995) of the North Dakota Association for Family & Community Education Newsletter. These newsletters consisted of general news, information about officers, and news from various homemakers' clubs. The Subject Files Series includes a variety of information including; certificates and awards, correspondence, lists of delegates attending annual meetings, directories of personnel, Kibbel Memorial, newspaper articles, press releases, resource material, and scholarships. There is a transcript of a speech given at the 1930 Master Farm Homemakers' Recognition Banquet. This speech was broadcast over the radio throughout the state. Other items in the subject files include a series of histories related to homemakers' clubs, home economics, the Homemakers' Council, and extension work. There is a brochure and correspondence featuring prominent women in the state who earned degrees in Home Economics ("Four 'First Ladies' of North Dakota...). Some papers of Grace De Long are also included in the subject files. The De Long papers consist of correspondence, certificates, brochures, newspaper articles, and a tribute book given to her upon retiring (March 9, 1960). This book consists of cards, telegrams, and letters from De Long's friends and coworkers from her career as a State Home Demonstration Leader since 1927, and an even earlier position with the Extension Service in 1921. There are also photographs and newspaper clippings from De Long's retirement banquet where she was presented with a stereo/phonograph console from North Dakota club members in appreciation for her years of service.

Dates

1918-1995.

Creator

North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council. (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection are held by the Institute for Regional Studies.

History

Although the North Dakota Extension Homemakers' Council was not organized on the state level until the 1940s, the beginning of extension home demonstration work in North Dakota began much earlier. In 1913 Mildred M. Veitch was hired to assist farm wives in "the elimination of drudgery without material increase in cost." The early 1920s saw the organization of homemakers clubs across the state with the assistance of the Extension Service's home demonstration agents. By 1930 there were 419 clubs and a total membership of 7,116 women. Although discussions had been held regarding organizing a state homemakers council, a formal meeting was held at the NDAC Farm and Home Week on February 10, 1941. After discussions and voting held by county councils, meetings were held on February 11-12, 1942 to formally organize the North Dakota Homemakers' Council. By the 1970s it also became known as the North Dakota Extension Homemakers Council, and was incorporated in 1979. The homemaker’s council became the largest women's organization in North Dakota. Apparently in 1992, the council changed its name to North Dakota Association for Family and Community Education. The Homemakers' Council served as a broad unit that assisted individual homemakers' clubs at the state and county level. The council provided home demonstration leaders for use at the county and local level. The county home demonstration leaders were usually women who worked with a male county extension agent. As the county extension agent provided information and assistance to farmers, the home demonstration leader did the same for the farmer's wife. This provided a well rounded government service organization that supported family farms. The Homemakers' Council sought to ease the homemakers' lives as well as improve their standard of living and aid in financial planning. The demonstration leaders developed economical food supply projects such as growing garden vegetables and canning and preserving the produce. Other projects included making your own clothing and economical methods for decorating and improving your house. Doit-yourself projects, such as remodeling your own kitchen, were popular among the homemakers' clubs. The homemakers' clubs and the state council were not only involved in baking and sewing. Many issues discussed at annual meetings included controversial community and human interest issues such as the quality of care patients received at the State Hospital in Jamestown, providing proper immunizations to their families, and how much violence children were exposed to through the media (such as television, magazines, and comic books). An additional project the Homemakers Council participated in was collecting oral histories of club members. This project was begun in 1985 and resulted in a series of books published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These oral histories can be found in a separate collection, the North Dakota Extension Homemakers' Council Oral History Project (Mss 262).

Extent

2.4 Linear Feet (2.4 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Organized in 1942 to assist individual homemakers' clubs at the local level. Circa 1992 the council changed its name to North Dakota Association for Family and Community Education. It assists individual homemakers' clubs at the state and county level. The Homemakers' Council sought to ease the homemakers' lives as well as improve their standard of living and aid in financial planning. Many issues discussed at annual meetings included controversial community and human interest issues such as the quality of care patients received at the State Hospital in Jamestown, providing proper immunizations to their families, and how much violence children were exposed to through the media. The council's records include Historical Material, Constitution and Bylaws, Meeting Minutes, Treasurer's Records, Procedural Information, Meeting Planning; Programs, Lessons, and Projects; Annual Meeting Programs, Reports, Contests, Newsletters, and Subject Files.