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American Association of University Women (AAUW), Syracuse Branch, Records

A description of its records at Syracuse University


The adult education holdings are collectively known as the
Alexander N. Charters Library of Resources for Educators of Adults.

Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 5 Mar 2010



Biographical History

The AAUW (formerly known as the American Association of University Women) was formed in 1881. The Syracuse Branch, which is heavily represented in this collection, was founded in 1889. There was also a Cazenovia Branch founded in 1969, for which there are several folders in the collection.

Members of the AAUW are women who have graduated from college with a Baccalaureate degree or higher. Today there are over 100,000 members in over 1,000 branches.

The mission of AAUW is to "advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research." To this end, branches meet regularly, plan and host events, work towards program, legislative and membership activities, and fundraise for AAUW scholarship awards. AAUW emphasizes advocacy for women and women's rights. The national organization has several periodical publications, Graduate Woman and Outlook, and occasionally publishes research material like How Schools Shortchange Girls as well as other material like The Change Management Toolkit to help members become more effective. Additionally, the branches regularly publish newsletters for local members.

More information is available on the AAUW's website at http://www.aauw.org/


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The American Association of University Women (AAUW), Syracuse Branch, Records consist of clippings, directories, files, minutes, photographs, publications, recordings, reports, scrapbooks, and other materials spanning from 1923 to 2007. The branch is still active.

Administrative material contains annual reports, bylaws, directories, membership information, job descriptions, financial records, and examples of the letterhead. It also includes material that is not specific to the organization, like guidelines for running meetings using parliamentary procedure and information on sexual harassment, diversity and education.

Audio-visual material contains two VHS and one audiocassette from between 1990 and 1992.

Cazenovia Branch files include material from the former branch of the AAUW founded in 1969 in Cazenovia, New York. There are branch bylaws, minutes from meetings, member directories, newsletters, and more. The material ranges in date from 1967 to 1980.

Material about the AAUW Conventions has been separated by National and State and include some programs and registration forms

Correspondence includes official correspondence like letters sent to all branches by the president of the national organization and also personal correspondence like thank you notes from local widowed members.

The Educational Foundation is a long lasting program to financially support women scholars. Branches of AAUW raise funds to support the fellowships and grants. The Educational Foundation also funded research about women in education, which resulted in many publications. There was a special program in the 1970s in which African educators visited AAUW branches to compare educational systems. The Syracuse Branch was chosen to host two African teachers in 1979 and the collection has memorabilia from that visit. The folders also include annual reports, financial information, lists of donors, directories and application information for the fellowships and grants, and research publications.

Memorabilia includes the numerous clippings and scrapbooks in the collection as well as awards and certificates earned by the Syracuse Branch. The newspaper clippings are most often from the local newspaper as announcements of AAUW activities or articles mentioning AAUW members. The scrapbooks include both photographs of events as well as newspaper clippings.

Minutes include general meeting minutes, executive board meeting minutes, and minutes from the special group, Armchair Travelers, but are inconsistent. For example, the years 1995 through 2000 are not represented in the branch minutes. In addition to branch meetings, there is also a folder of minutes from three 1989 meetings of the National Association of Social Workers.

Projects are both national and local in scale. The State Fair programs, the Scholarships list and the Talent Bank project were local, while the Women's Work/ Women's Worth and Legislation projects were national.

Publications includes newsletters and periodicals as well as single publications. Newsletters include the local Syracuse Clarion, the New York State newsletter, and a national newsletter, as well as a few miscellaneous newsletters. The periodicals are four titles from the national AAUW organization.

The Miscellaneous folder includes local information about other Syracuse organizations, notes about this collection, and some forms used by AAUW.


Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is alphabetical by subject. Folder contents are primarily in chronological order.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Related Material

Additional AAUW material may be found in the Mary Gardiner Jones Papers.


Subject Headings

Corporate Bodies

American Association of University Women.
American Association of University Women. Syracuse Branch.

Subjects

Adult education of women -- United States.
Leadership in women -- United States.
Leadership skills for women.
Teenage girls -- Education.
Women -- Education.
Women -- Law and legislation -- United States.
Women -- Political activity -- United States.
Women in education.

Genres and Forms

Awards.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Compact discs.
Correspondence.
Directories.
Minutes (administrative records)
Newsletters.
Photographs.
Reports.
Scrapbooks.
VHS.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

American Association of University Women (AAUW), Syracuse Branch, Records,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of the AAUW, 1989-2007, 2011


Table of Contents

Administrative material

Audio-visual material

Cazenovia Branch

Conventions

Correspondence

Educational Foundation

Memorabilia

Minutes

Projects

Publications

Miscellaneous


Inventory