Papers of the Women's Social Club of the University of Nottingham, 1932-1997

The collection comprises:

• Committee meeting minutes. 1949-1997 (UN UU 3/1);
• Annual General Meeting minutes. 1966-1996 (UN UU 3/2);
• Agenda papers. 1975-1995 (UN UU 3/3);
• Annual financial statements and related financial papers. 1967-1997 (UN UU 3/4);
• Lists of committee members. 1932-1974 (UN UU 3/5);
• Account books. 1958-1992 (UN UU 3/6);
• Newsletters. 1989-1997 (UN UU 3/7);
• Treasurer's reports, secretary's reports, neighbourhood group reports, a copy of the club constitution, and a copy of children's Christmas party sub-committee guidelines. 1967-1988 (UN UU 3/8);
• Notices, circulars, and other printed items including 'Welcome to Nottingham', a guide distributed to newcomers in the area. 1967-1995 (UN UU 3/9);
• Correspondence. 1967-1991 (UN UU 3/10);
• Group photograph of a visit to Leeds Ladies Social Club. 1989 (UN UU 3/11).

The Women's Social Club was formed in 1932, primarily to create a social forum for wives of academic staff of University College Nottingham (now the University of Nottingham). As members lived in a wide area across Nottinghamshire, 'neighbourhood groups' were organised, from 1968, in areas where a number of members were resident. Each area had a representative who liaised with the secretary of the club and was responsible for disseminating circulars, arranging events and submitting annual reports on activities. From the 1960s, the club became active in welcoming wives of overseas staff and women members of university staff to Nottingham as well as organising activities such as coffee mornings, charity events, children's parties, day trips, and lists of items for sale.

The club thrived throughout the 1980s and a newsletter was launched. The number of day trips organised in each year also increased over the decade. By the end of the 1990s, however, the club was suffering falling numbers (and a rising average age) of members and discussions on its future sustainability began to appear in minutes of the mid 1990s. The club was still in existence in 1997.

The collection has been divided by document type into series. Within these series, items have been arranged chronologically. Extensive weeding of the collection has been undertaken with the removal and disposal of lists of members' names and addresses, financial papers other than annual statements, printed material produced by other organisations (usually tourism providers), and selected correspondence.

ACCESS: Pending full cataloguing, access is limited and is only available to registered readers with advance notice and agreement.

LANGUAGE: English

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright in the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

COPYRIGHT: Permission to make published use of any material from this collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk). The Department will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the reader.

The collection was acquired by the University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections on three separate occasions between 1982 and 1999.