Finding Aid to the Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. Finding Aid to the Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. North Jersey History Center
The Morristown and Morris Township Library One Miller Road Morristown, NJ 07960
Overview of Collection Civic Association of Morristown Civic Association of Morristown Records 1905-1942 HM51 MSS Civi 1 MSS box History of the Civic Association of Morristown

In December of 1905, the Civic Association of Morristown, New Jersey, was formed by a group of Morristown citizens whose aim was to better the civic life and affairs of the town. By 1906, membership totaled two hundred and fifty-four. In 1910, the Women's Town Improvement Committee, with three hundred and fourteen members, was organized as a group within the Association that February. Between the years of 1905 and 1915, the Civic Association helped to improve the quality of life for Morristown's citizens.

The Civic Association was responsible for initiating Morristown's first sewage system and for installing an electric lighting system. They also helped to improve the gas service, the trolley system, and the general condition of the streets in town. They raised funds for the old Morristown Library and Lyceum, both before and after the 1914 Lyceum fire, and expended money on books for a Children's Library. Although the group officially stopped it's activities in 1915, it did not completely cease to exist until 1940.

At the time of its dissolution, the Civic Association disbursed its' assets to the Women's Club of Morristown (orignally the Women's Town Improvement Committee) and the Morristown Library and Lyceum.

Sources:

Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. HM51 MSS Civi. Dissolution letter; Meeting minutes and correspondence, 1940.

Scope and Content of the Records

The records of the Civic Association of Morristown, 1905-1942, include Constitutions and By-laws, Reports and Addresses, Meeting minutes and correspondence and a scrapbook of the Association's Women's Town Improvement Committee.

 Arrangement of the Records

This collection is comprised of five folders. They are arranged in a general chronological order, according to their contents.

Important Information for Users of the Collection

This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Most of the material in the Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942 may be photocopied. 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.

Acquisition Information

According to a letter to the Morristown Library, the records were donated to the library in 1942 by John H. B. Corriell, Treasurer of the Civic Association of Morristown.

Preferred Citation

Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.

Processing Information

Described and encoded by Mary McMahon Dawson, Archivist, 2008

 Container List Records, 1 1 Meeting minutes and correspondence, 1905-1910. 1 2 Meeting minutes and correspondence, 1910-1914; 1940; 1942. 1 3 Constitutions and By-laws, 1906-1911. 1 4 Reports and Addresses, 1911-1912. 1 5 Scrapbook: Women's Town Improvement Committee, 1910-1918.