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United Way of Cass-Clay Photograph Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Photo 2130

Scope and Contents

The United Way of Cass-Clay Photograph Collection is comprised of photographic prints, slides, and negatives. The photograph prints have been broken down into three series; the Event Series, the People Series, and the Community and Organizations Series. The photographic prints are followed by the Slide Series, and they are followed by the 35mm Negative Series.

The majority of the photographs in the Event Series are color snapshots taken at various events from the mid-1980s and early 1990s. The photographs that are pre-1970 are more formal black and white photos professionally taken. They cover various United Way/United Fund events, including dinners, awards, campaign kickoffs, and other fund raising events.

The People Series include portraiture and snapshots of United Way executives and volunteers. Of special interest is a series of photographs of Jim Adelson, KXJB-TV news anchor.

The Community and Organizations Series features photographs of various community organizations and people that are served by the United Way. This includes the Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts, Camp Courage, Fargo Union Mission, Florence Crittenton Home, Nokomis Child Care Center, North Dakota House of Mercy, Red Cross, and the YMCA/YWCA.

There was a large number of slides in the United Way collection. Some were originally house in slide boxes and in envelopes. Several slide shows were still in the slide carousals at the time of donation. In these cases the slides were kept in their original order, and the title of the slide show, and label on the envelope/box was maintained and they are listed as part of the Slide Series. There were also a number of slides that were loose within the donation. A survey of these slides found that a number of them were duplicates, of poor quality, or commercially produced. If this was the case they were removed from the collection. Those that remained were identified by organization or topic.

The final series in the collection is the 35mm Negative Series. This series contains both black and white and color negatives. Each sheet contains a negative film strip maintained in the original order. Most of the negatives correspond to snapshots found throughout the collection. They were all taken in the 1980s and 1990s.

Dates

  • 1947-1990s

Conditions Governing Access

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

Conditions Governing Use

Copyrights to this collection remain with the NDSU Archives.

Biographical / Historical

The first organization in Fargo, N.D. that sought to coordinate a community wide effort to help meet human service needs was the Community Welfare Association. Started in 1927 this organization solicited funds from the community and operated a Community Chest that distributed these funds to some twenty different organizations. The American Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, YMCA, YWCA, and the Salvation Army were some of the organizations that received money from this Community Chest. The Community Welfare Association raised $68,397 during their first campaign in 1927 but the economic downturn after 1929 made building on this initial success difficult. The Community Welfare Association exceeded their 1927 campaign total only once during the next 13 years. World War II precipitated, among other things, an economic upturn in the country and this was reflected in the funds that the Community Welfare Association was able to raise. The Community Chest was called the War Chest from 1942 to 1945, and the association campaigns were able to raise over $100,000 during these years. After 1950 the association saw consistently larger amounts of funds raised. The 1950 campaign was able to raise just over $100,000 and by 1973 the campaign raised $500,000. By the year 2000 the campaign raised 2.7 million dollars.

The mission of working effectively with people and resources to meet the human service needs of the community has not changed since 1927 but the organization has changed over the years. In 1957 the Community Welfare Association became the United Fund of Fargo. In 1958 Moorhead organized a united fund in their community. In 1964 the Moorhead and Fargo United Funds merged to become the United Fund of Fargo-Moorhead. In 1967 the organization became the United Fund of Fargo-Moorhead-Dilworth when Dilworth, Minnesota joined. In 1973 the United Fund changed its name to the United Way and in 1974 West Fargo joined the organization. In 1976 the United Way of Fargo-Moorhead-DilworthWest Fargo became United Way of Cass-Clay.

As of the year 2000 the funds raised by the United Way of Cass-Clay support fifty-two human service programs through thirty-six member agencies. The continually increasing support of the organization by the Fargo and Moorhead communities reflects their ability to organize volunteers and staff and direct resources to serve the people of Cass and Clay counties.

Extent

674 photographic prints; 1854 slides Photographic Prints

Language of Materials

English

Overview

The United Way of Cass-Clay Photograph Collection is comprised of photographic prints, slides, and negatives. The photograph prints have been broken down into three series; the Event Series, the People Series, and the Community and Organizations Series. The photographic prints are followed by the Slide Series, and they are followed by the 35mm Negative Series.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by United Way of Cass-Clay, 2000, (Acc. 2595).

Legal Status

The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the United Way of Cass-Clay Photograph Collection
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States