Archive Record
Metadata
Catalog Number |
ORG 1998.01 |
Title |
Fortnightly Records |
Collection |
Organizations |
Object Name |
Records |
Date |
1881-1994 |
Scope & Content |
The Fortnightly club records consist of an incomplete set of yearbooks from 1893 to 1990, which list members and officers of the club, committees, programs, special events, treasurer's report, federation meetings, and rules. The collection also includes newsclippings dating from 1972 to 1990. Other folders contain meeting minutes (1988-1993) and board meeting minutes (1983-1994), miscellaneous documents (1970-1993), and photographs. Items of note include a score for the "Fortnightly Song," programs from the 1927 "Carnival and Dance" and the 1937 "Historical Pageant and Charity Ball," photographs of the traditional Christmas caroling on the common, 1950s-1970s. Another folder contains material documenting the disbanding of the organization in October 1994. Also of note is an older photograph of a building labeled "The Fortnightly" which was the home of Anne Nowell at 68 Church Street. |
Admin/Biographical History |
The following quote was taken from one of the earliest yearbooks in the collection titled "The Fortnightly, 1881-1893, Winchester, Massachusetts" printed in 1893: "It was on the afternoon of December 19, 1881, that 22 ladies met at the house of Mrs. Nowell to concert measures for bringing forward in a tangible shape some plan for the formation of a woman's club in which mutual good should be aimed at, and the mental, moral and physical improvement of its members promoted. It was also hoped that if the projected organization should grow and strengthen, its influence might be extended beyond its own members, and that from it might emanate broad and practical benefits which should tend to the general elevation of the community in which we live. "At the second meeting held December 27, the club was organized with 22 members, adopting with a few changes the constitution and by?laws of the Home Club of East Boston, whose president was present at the meeting and gave an account of the working of her own club. "After considerable discussion the new association assumed the name 'The Fortnightly.' "At this period women's clubs were comparatively rare, only two prominent ones existing in Boston and its immediate neighborhood. The first officers, therefore, came to the work without much knowledge of the practical details involved in it, and without any experience. Being warmly seconded by the club at large, they developed a policy which interpreted in its largest sense Article II of the Constitution. This article states that 'the aim of this association is to become an organized social centre for united thought and action.'" The Fortnightly is regarded by many as the parent club of many subsequent organizations in Winchester including the Equal Suffrage League and Studio Guild. In 1890, The Fortnightly joined the General Federation of Women's Clubs based in Washington, D.C. and was admitted to the Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs, based in Sudbury, in 1896. On October 4, 1994, The Fortnightly officially disbanded. |
Copyrights |
Permission to publish material from this collection is subject to approval by the Town of Winchester. |
Finding Aids |
A finding aid with detailed information about the contents of the collection is available. Contact the Archives for a copy. |
Subjects |
Clubs Clubwomen Organizations Women Women's education Women's rights Women's suffrage |
Search Terms |
Carnival and Dance Christmas caroling on the Common Church Street Fortnightly General Federation of Women's Clubs Historical Pageant and Charity Ball Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs |
People |
Hatch, Olive Nowell, Anne Priest, Ruth |
Containers |
Fortnightly Year Books Fortnightly Yearbooks and Guestbook Fortnightly Constitution, By-Laws and Rules Fortnightly Miscellaneous Documents Fortnightly Miscellaneous Documents Fortnightly Miscellaneous Documents Fortnightly Board Minutes Fortnightly Regular Meeting Minutes Fortnightly Guestbook Winchester Fortnightly Song Fortnightly Community & Hospital Service Fortnightly Club Disbanding Fortnightly Photographs Fortnightly Programs Newsclippings |