1932-1945

File — Box: 2, Folder: 41

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: 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.