The Brookside Woman’s Club was first organized in 1921. The club was federated in 1929 with Mrs. Frank Tiger as the first president. In 1984, the women’s club was incorporated. Its purpose was “to promote friendliness, to further the intellectual and cultural interest of its members and to render social service to the community.”
The club met monthly between September and May. These meetings might include guest speakers, arts and crafts, and various topics of discussion. In addition to these meetings, the club hosted field trips to museums, gardens, and many other destinations. Fundraisers, such as luncheons, auctions, and fashion shows, were hosted by the club in order to raise money for scholarships for students. Furthermore, the club made donations to various organizations, including The Brookside and Mendham Libraries, The Food Pantry, The Battered Women’s Organization, The Phoenix House Restoration Project, the local Rescue Squad, The Girl Scouts, and the local Project Graduation. In addition to the regular monthly meetings, there were also monthly executive board meetings. These discussed the financials of the club, as well as any other pertinent business.
In addition to the main club, there were two subgroups associated with the Brookside Woman’s Club in the later years of the organization: The Reading Group, a book club, and The Brookside Belles, a choral group. The Brookside Belles sang in concerts that were hosted at adult care centers, retirement homes, senior citizen organizations, as well as at private homes.
The women’s club produced several scrapbooks detailing events and meetings of a particular year (spanning from September to May). The club was particularly prolific in scrapbook making in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In May of 2010 the women’s club held its last meeting. In June of the same year, the club was officially dissolved. The officers for the last year of the club’s existence are as follows: President—Janet Soukup; Program Chair—Marjorie Anderson; Secretary—Wanda Van de Water; Treasurer—Penny Geary; Historian—Mary Anne Thornberry; Trip Lady—Tish Kelley.
This collection contains meeting minutes from both the general meeting and the executive board meeting from 1997 until 2008. Additionally, the newsletters produced by the club between 1998 and 2006 are included. Due to privacy concerns, some of the newsletters and membership lists have been moved to Series I, Subseries B. Please see the arrangement of the records for a complete detail of removed items.
The collection also contains financial records and administrative records such as bank statements, a certificate of dissolution and budget information dating from 1998-2012. Also included are pamphlets, photographs, and various ephemera. These items date between 1945 and 2011, with the bulk of the material from between 1994 and 2000. The pamphlets date from 1945 and from 1950-1977. They contain various information about the club for each year, including officers, member lists, meeting topics, and events. The photographs are from the New Jersey State Convention of Women’s Clubs from between 1991 and 1994. There are photos of club events that did not make it into the scrapbooks—these are dated 1994-1999, with the bulk between 1997 and 1999. The scrapbooks created by the club are arranged chronologically with one exception due to boxing constraints. The scrapbooks date from 1978 to 2007, with the bulk of the material dating between 1996 and 2007. The topics covered include club meetings, trips, fundraisers, fashion shows and choral performances. The scrapbooks are primarily comprised of photographs, fliers, and newspaper clippings. In addition, there are also two copies of the book
This subseries was arranged in the manner in which it was received. It contains meeting minutes to both the general meetings and the executive board meetings, as well as newsletters. Due to privacy concerns, several newsletters and directories were relocated to Series I, Subseries B. The following is a listing of the 25 relocated documents: 2000-2001 Directory; 2001-2002 Directory; 2002-2003 Directory; 2003-2004 Directory; Programs and Membership List 2006-2007; Programs and Membership List 2007-2008; Member List 2004-2005; Literature Group List (2007-2008); January 1998 Newsletter; October 1998 Newsletter; November 1998 Newsletter; December 1998 Newsletter; March 2000 Newsletter; March 2001 Newsletter; February 2002 Newsletter; October 2002 Newsletter; November 2002 Newslettr; January 2003 Newsletter; February 2003 Newsletter; October 2003 Newsletter; November 2003 Newsletter; March 2004 Newsletter; September 2004 Newsletter; October 2005 Newsletter; March 2006 Newsletter
This subseries was arranged in the manner in which it was received. It contains financial information of the club including bank statements and budget information. This subseries is RESTRICTED to non-members until 2088.
This subseries contains documents such as books and photographs. It is organized chronologically, with the exception of the copies of
This subseries contains scrapbooks created by the club. It is arranged chronologically with the exception of the scrapbook created for the 1992-1993 year due to its size.
These records are open to researchers. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Most of the material in the Brookside Woman's Club Records, 1945-2012 [bulk 1991-2006], may be photocopied, however some of the material has been restricted until 2088. Only Brookside Woman’s Club members may access these files. This material is a permanent part of the History Center’s collections and researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
The Brookside Woman's Club Records, 1945-2012 [bulk 1991-2006] were donated to the library by Janet Soukup, President of the Brookside Woman's Club, in March 2013.
Finding Aid arranged, described and encoded by Kate Van Riper, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center Intern, Spring 2013.