Records of the Northwestern Club of Chicago

The records of the Northwestern Club of Chicago, covering the years 1947-1976, include copies of the By Laws and Objectives; records of the Membership Committee; records of the Alumni Directory Committee; records of the Board of Directors; General Correspondence; Financial Records; records of the Program Committee; records of Other Committees; and Program files.

Copies of the By Laws and Objectives include the 1961 By Laws and amended versions written in 1962, 1967 and 1973. The basic objectives of the club are also included here together with a small amount of correspondence specifically related to the drafting or amending of these documents.

The Membership Committee records, for the years 1965-1973, consist chiefly of yearly membership lists (in some cases three or four revisions) are included for the years 1965-1971. Membership Committee correspondence is also included except for the 1970-1971 academic year. A membership survey and report for 1966-1967 and a membership report for 1972-1973 are included.

The Alumni Directory Committee records, for the years 1959-1973 (records for 1969/1970 and 1971/1972 are missing), consist of correspondence and other documents (i.e. contracts, reports, publisher's information) relating to the production of the directory. A brief history of the production of the Alumni Directory for the twenty editions that appeared between 1924-1958 is included in Box 1 Folder 12. Copies of the directories are located in the Reading Room (Deering 110) of the University Archives.

The records of the Board of Directors, for the years 1947, and 1949-1974, consist of correspondence; meeting announcements, agendae, and minutes; a few attendance charts, various reports to the Board, and lists of incoming and outgoing directors, officers and/or committee chairpersons. Usually in May or June the Club elects a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. For 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 there are separate folders for each annual Board meeting. Otherwise annual board meeting materials appear at the end of each folder for the year. Following the annual Board meetings the new president submits to the Board of Directors, his appointees for committee chairpersons for the coming year.

Much of the General Correspondence (August 1962-July 1974) consists of incoming and outgoing letters of Club officers, particularly the President. In most cases, correspondence relating to the various committees or program events is filed with other material pertaining to these groups or activities. However, for the most part, the original order of those files has been retained, so that some committee and/or program correspondence may be found filed with the General Correspondence.

With the exception of 1963-1964, the Financial Records (covering the years 1963-1974), each folder includes copies of the annual budget, periodic financial statements, and bank deposit records. Correspondence and memoranda specifically related to the finances of the Club is placed at the back of some folders. Some folders also include financial statements for various specific events which in most instances has been filed separately with other material relating to each activity.

In most cases, each folder of records of the Program Committee (for the years 1947-1974) includes a list of events held each year, schedules of possible speakers and committee meeting announcements, agendae, minutes, reports and correspondence. In some cases there are records of attendance and contributions for each activity. A more complete record of attendance and membership dues may be found in two bound ledgers labelled "Events" filed in Box 5.

The records of several Other Committees are also present: including the Athletic Committee, the Development Committee, the Dues Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Public Relations Committee, the "Rah" Committee, the Treasurer and the "Near Northwesterners". These committee records, 1947-1974, are not complete but they do contain correspondence and memoranda, and occasional membership lists, nominee lists and newspaper clippings. The "Near Northwesterners" and the "Rah" Committee were both offshoots of the main club, so their records have been filed following those of other committees.

The remaining records are Program files. Two bound volumes labelled "Events" cover the periods August 1967-June 1971 and August 1971-June 1976 respectively. These volumes record all events, locations and speakers, and complete lists of members in attendance, and their addresses and dues contributions.

The remaining materials relate to Programs from October 1962 through June 1974. Each folder covers a different event and contains at least an announcement notice, or letter concerning the event. For most events one may find correspondence, lists of persons at the speaker's table and financial statements for expenses incurred for the event. Between 1968 and 1970 the notecards for introductory remarks made by the president were included together with biographies of or articles about the speakers. The majority of programs were luncheons with guest speakers. Other annual events include a Golf Outing in August, a Football Banquet in October or November (until 1973 when it was discontinued), one or two Theatre Dinners during the winter and a Spring Dinner Dance (begun in 1971).