Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ records, 1928-2020.
Content Description
This collection contains the records of the Connecticut Women of United Church of Christ, now called the Southern New England United Church of Christ Women's Connection. It includes administrative records, including meeting records, annual reports, governance and officers' records, and the records of sub-committees and districts; communications materials, including newsletters, guidebooks, correspondence, and mailing lists; financial records, including budgets, treasurers' reports, receipts, and invoices; records of programs, events, and initiatives; scrapbooks; and photographs.
Dates
- 1928-2020
Creator
- Connecticut Fellowship of Congregational-Christian Women (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Access to this collection is unrestricted and open to the public.
Conditions Governing Use
Items in this collection are subject to U.S. Copyright Law. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine the copyright status of collection items and to secure any permissions necessary for their reproduction and publication. Requests for permission to publish material must be discussed with the archivist or librarian.
Historical
The Council of Congregational Women of Connecticut was organized on October 2, 1928, in a meeting at Center Church in Hartford, Connecticut. On December 31, 1926, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the Women’s Board of Missions had merged. Congregational women across the country were reorganizing themselves as a result of this merger, and in Connecticut this reorganization took the form of the Council of Congregational Women of Connecticut. The Council itself represented a merger of four former organizations: the Women’s Congregational Home Missionary Union of Connecticut, and three branches of the Women’s Board of Missions in New Haven, Hartford, and Eastern Connecticut.
The women’s organization has changed names numerous times over the course of its history. On April 22, 1936, the organization became the Council of Congregational-Christian Women of Connecticut. On April 23, 1947, it became the Fellowship of Congregational-Christian Women of Connecticut. The organization changed names again on April 19, 1950, becoming the Connecticut Fellowship of Congregational-Christian Women. When in 1964 the Connecticut State Conference changed its name to the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, the women’s organization followed suit and revised its name once again, becoming on October 6, 1964, the Women’s Fellowship of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. On May 13, 1997, the organization adopted a name that would better reflect the combination of lay and clergy women in the organization: the Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ. Finally, on January 1, 2020, when the Connecticut Conference joined the Southern New England Conference United Church of Christ, the women’s organization adopted the name that it uses today, Southern New England United Church of Christ Women’s Connection.
From the time of the organization’s founding in 1928, it divided itself into districts representing four geographical regions in Connecticut: the Eastern district, the Hartford district, the Litchfield district, and a fourth district called the New Haven district until 1973 when its name was changed to the Southwestern district. A set of elected officers have led the organization, and it has also executed its administrative and programming functions by means of a variety of sub-committees. To communicate with and guide its members, the group has maintained an active program of writing, editing, and publishing a range of publications: reading lists; various guidebooks for program planning, worship, study, service, and leadership; several newsletters; and booklets to facilitate and document annual meetings.
The group has held regular state-wide and district meetings for administrative and organizational purposes. It has also planned a range of programs providing opportunities for its members to worship, study, and participate in service together. These include leadership training conferences, quiet days, retreats, workshops, trips, and service programs. In the organization’s early decades, it maintained a lending library for its members. In 1955, the organization supported efforts to assist churches in the Housatonic Valley flooded by Hurricane Diane. In 1987, it joined the United Church of Christ boycott of California table grapes.
The organization’s records document the changing roles of women in the church and society and their efforts to recognize women as equal church members and leaders. The records of the Task Force on the Status of Women in Church and Society, the Advisory Commission on Women, the Committee on Women’s Concerns, and the Coordinating Center for Women in Church and Society document the organization’s efforts to redefine women's roles in the church in the wake of women's changing roles in society in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. The organization's Honored Laywomen Award, starting in the 1990s, recognized lay women leaders, and the Pioneer Women Clergy event of 2016 recognized early women clergy members. In 2012, the group drafted the Resolution on Women as Equal Partners in Church and Society, a document affirming their support of women as equals.
The organization continues today to provide opportunities for regional women to join together in worship, study, and service.
Extent
11.22 Cubic Feet (10 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Council of Congregational Women of Connecticut was organized on October 2, 1928. The organization changed names numerous times over the course of its history but on May 13, 1997, became the Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ. From the time of the organization’s founding in 1928, it divided itself into districts representing four geographical regions in Connecticut: the Eastern district, the Hartford district, the Litchfield district, and a fourth district called the New Haven district until 1973 when its name was changed to the Southwestern district. To communicate with and guide its members, the group has maintained an active program of writing and publishing a range of publications, and it has also planned a range of programs providing opportunities for its members to worship, study, and participate in service together. The organization’s records document the changing roles of women in the church and society during the group's history. Records include meeting records, annual reports, governance and officers' records, records of sub-committees and districts, newsletters, guidebooks, correspondence, mailing lists, financial records, program and event records, histories and scrapbooks, and photographs.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into five series. The first series is further arranged into four sub-series, and the third series is further arranged into five sub-series. Records in each series and subseries have been primarily arranged chronologically by start date, and secondarily by topic.
Series 1: Administrative records, 1928-2020
Subseries 1: Annual meetings and reports, 1928-2019
Subseries 2: Executive and State Board meetings, 1928-2019
Subseries 3: Governance and officers' records, 1928-2020
Subseries 4: Sub-committee records, 1931-2006
Series 2: Communications, 1928-2019
Series 3: District records, 1928-2011
Subseries 1: Litchfield district records, 1928-1990
Subseries 2: Hartford district records, 1928-2007
Subseries 3: Eastern district records, 1928-2011
Subseries 4: New Haven district records, 1928-1980
Subseries 5: Southwestern district records, 1967-2010
Series 4: Financial records, 1941-2020
Series 5: Programming and initiatives, 1944-2019
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
A cassette player is required to access material on cassette tape, and a CD player is required to access material on CD.
Acquisition Information
Nine cartons of materials were donated to the Congregational Library & Archives by the Southern New England United Church of Christ Women's Connection in October, 2023; Accession 2023-50. An additional two cartons were donated by the Southern New England United Church of Christ in February, 2024, as part of an accrual to the General Association of Connecticut records; Accession 2024-11.
Processing Information
Processed by Karen Clausen-Brown in April, 2024, using DACS 2019.0.3.
Creator
- Connecticut Fellowship of Congregational-Christian Women (Organization)
- Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ (Organization)
- Council of Congregational-Christian Women of Connecticut (Organization)
- Fellowship of Congregational-Christian Women of Connecticut (Organization)
- Southern New England United Church of Christ Women's Connection (Organization)
- Women's Fellowship of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ (Organization)
- Title
- Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ records, 1928-2020.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Karen Clausen-Brown
- Date
- 2024-04-02
- Description rules
- 3
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Congregational Library & Archives Repository