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.
Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. HM51 MSS Civi.
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.
This collection is comprised of five folders. They are arranged in a general chronological order, according to their contents.
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
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.
Civic Association of Morristown Records, 1905-1942. North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Described and encoded by Mary McMahon Dawson, Archivist, 2008