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Connecticut Women of the United Church of Christ records, 1928-2020.

 Collection
Identifier: RG5477

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

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.

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

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