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81-M237--82-M11

Women's Educational and Industrial Union (Boston, Mass.) Records, 1877-1980 (81-M237--82-M11): A Finding Aid

Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

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Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University
April 2003

© 2003 President and Fellows of Harvard College

Descriptive Summary

Call No.: 81-M237--82-M11
Repository: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
Creator: WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION
Title: Papers, 1877-1977
Quantity: 10 cartons, 2 file boxes, 1 supersize folder
Abstract: Addenda to the records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, a non-profit social and educational agency in Boston, Mass.

Processing Information:

Preliminary Processing: November, 1981
By: Jane S. Knowles

Acquisition Information:

Accession numbers: 81-M237, 82-M11
The addenda were given to the Schlesinger Library in October 1981 by the W.E.I.U.

BIOGRAPHY

The WEIU, a non-profit social and educational agency, was founded in 1877 by Dr. Harriet Clisby, and incorporated in 1880, "to increase fellowship among women and to promote the best practical methods for securing their educational, industrial and social advancement."
In its early years, the organization gave practical help and training programs to women, teaching them how to produce marketable goods and selling their products. Among the social services offered were legal aid for needy women, especially domestics, school lunches, and training and placement for the adult blind and other handicapped. An early Committee on Hygiene, which provided health education and free medical treatment to women, developed into the Committee on Sanitary and Industrial Conditions, which investigated conditions of work in shops and industry. This later evolved into the Research Department.
Current programs of the Special Service Department include Companions Unlimited, a volunteer program to help the isolated of all ages; Mini Mart, Nursing Home Guide, and Housing Service. Other departments are Homemaker Service, Family Day Care, and Career Services. In addition the WEIU offers a daytime lecture series and After Five program, lectures on issues of current interest for young men and women. Rockport Lodge, a vacation home for women, and the Women's Rest Tour Association, a network collecting information about travel abroad for women, are associated with the WEIU. The Union is supported in part by dues, donations and gifts, and in part by its shops.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

These addenda to B-8 consist of organizational records of the WEIU and material on its programs. They include annual reports and other Union publications, brief printed histories, financial records and minutes of the Board of Government (later Trustees), Executive Committee, and other Committees. There are scrapbooks of clippings and a few historical photographs about Union activities.

PRELIMINARY LIST OF ADDED ENTRIES

A card for each of the following appears in the card catalog:
Bean, Ruth L
Clisby, Harriet
Earhart, Amelia
White, Eva (Whiting)
Boston--Social life and customs
Education
Public welfare
Social services
Vocational education

SERIES LIST

CONTAINER LIST

PRELIMINARY INVENTORY


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