Brown alumnae first formed a "temporary organization of Women Graduate of Brown University" in 1900. The group of women formally organized in 1901 as the Andrews Association, named after Brown President E. Benjamin Andrews, a strong supporter of the Women's College in Brown University. In 1906, without substantial change in its purpose, the association changed its name to the Alumnae Association of Brown University. In the 1950s and 1960s, the organization was sometimes known as the Alumnae Association of Pembroke College in Brown University or the Pembroke College Alumnae Association, but the official name apparently never changed. Two years after the merger of Pembroke College and Brown University, in 1973, the Alumnae Association merged with the Associated Alumni of Brown University.
Although the association grew substantially over its seventy two year life, its structure remained fairly constant. Elected officers, including a president, treasurer, and a few vice presidents, formed an executive board, responsible for the general management of the organization. In the 1940s, a board of directors, which included the executive board and other representatives, assumed the overall management of the association. The former executive board became the executive committee, which, among other tasks, carried out the decisions of the board of directors. The membership met in annual and special meetings. Alumnae club representatives and others occasionally gathered on campus as the Alumnae Council, which was not a decision-making body.
The Alumnae Association at first was open only women who had graduated from the Women's College but later was comprised of all women who had attended Brown. The association always facilitated continued contact among alumnae and served as an important fund raiser for what became Pembroke College, particularly through the Brown Alumnae Fund, which later became the Pembroke College Fund. In its early years, however, the association also played an important part in campus life, providing social activities and female role models for women taught almost exclusively by male professors. In addition to officers, committee members, and a large body of regular paying and non-paying members (at times non-paying members did not receive publications), the Alumnae Association had a small paid staff in the Alumnae Office on campus, published a newsletter, worked with class agents to raise monies, organized class secretaries who collected class notes for the newsletter, and encouraged members to form Alumnae Clubs in their cities. The first clubs, in Boston and New York, were formed in 1909; after 1973, most clubs merged with the alumni clubs. The paid staff included an executive secretary, and later a newsletter editor and others; these salaries were provided by the association and the university. The Brown Alumnae Fund and Pembroke College Fund had their own board of trustees and paid staff. The association's relationship to class officers and other alumnae bodies is difficult to ascertain as, for example, the class secretaries at one time had a committee within the association and at another formed their own organization which had representation on the Alumnae Association's board of directors.
This collection is divided into 8 series: I. Andrews Association II. Governance III. Officers IV. Fundraising A. Annual funds B. Scholarships, loans, memorials and other fundraising projects C. Buildings V. Committees VI. Other Alumnae Association activities VII. Clubs VIII. Alumnae office and class officers
Series I: Andrews Association contains constitutions, annual Andrews Association reports, and other material documenting the activities of the alumnae association before its name change.
Series II: Governance consists of an organizational chart, constitutions and by-laws, and minutes, agendas, and reports from executive board, executive committee, and board of directors meetings, and from the annual meetings. Annual meeting minutes and reports include reports from a variety of committees. In addition to documenting the decision-making and decisions made by the Alumnae Association, this series provides information about the association's relationship to Brown University and its corporation (e.g., the campaign for an alumnae trustee). The series contains information relating to activities documented in all of the remaining series. For background on decisions regarding the constitution, see series V. Also see the Alumnae Record (University Archives: 1-ZA B812a) which contains annual or semi-annual reports.
Series III: Officers contains lists and election ballots describing officers and the election process, as well as papers of specific officers, particularly President Sophie (Schaffer) Blistein and Executive Secretary Gertrude Allen McConnell, and early treasurer's accounts.
Series IV: Fundraising is divided into three subseries, each arranged chronologically. For material about class agents, who played a large part in raising funds, see series VIII. Several committees (see series V) were involved in fundraising, in particular, see the Academic Committee, Brown Social Hall Fund Committee, Play Committee, Quality Group Magazine Committee, Scholarship Committee, Semi-centennial Anniversary Committee, and the Soliciting Committee.
Subseries IVA: Annual funds contains accounts, lists of donors, reports, correspondence, and broadsides, pamphlets, newsletters, form letters, form letters, and cards used to raise money for the Brown Alumnae Fund, which became the Pembroke College Fund ca. 1954. Also in this subseries are a program and report from the Pembroke College Development Fund, which may have been part of the Pembroke College Fund. For a history of the BAF, see the 1944-1953 scrapbook.
Subseries IVB: Buildings contains accounts, pamphlets, and newsletters documenting alumnae efforts to raise funds for several campus buildings. This subseries also includes an inventory of alumnae gifts located in several buildings. Subseries IVC: Scholarships, loans, memorials, and other fundraising projects consists of reports, programs, correspondence, by-laws and other material documenting several alumnae funds for specific purposes, such as scholarships or a garden. Subseries IVA contains additional information about each of these, and other, specific funds.
Series V: Committees consists of lists of committee members, minutes, reports, scrapbooks, broadsides, programs, and correspondence documenting many Alumnae Association committees throughout its history. Additional committee reports are located in series II, particularly within the annual meeting reports. This series is arranged alphabetically by committee name. A file containing committee reports dating from 1971 through 1973 was not interfiled; researchers should consult the description accompanying this folder, which is entitled "various committee." Many early committee reports include detailed descriptions of female student life on both the Brown University campus, and at other institutions, particularly women's colleges, such as Radcliffe College.
Series VI: Other Alumnae Association activities is arranged chronologically and contains invitations, reports, scrapbooks, programs, lists, clippings, an events register, a cookbook and other material documenting many of the activities sponsored by the association, including the Alumnae Council.
Series VII: Clubs consists of a list, instructions and a handbook prepared by the Alumnae Association for club leaders, and individual club records, including minutes, announcements, programs, correspondence, clippings, by-laws, and accounts. This series is arranged alphabetically by state, and then alphabetically by club names. Many clubs changed their names several times, reflecting changes in the title of the Women's College in Brown University. The common progression was from the Brown Association (or Club) of Placename, to the Pembroke College of Placename near the 1971 merger. The records are filed according to the most recent name found in these files. Although many of the clubs led a fairly independent life, technically they reported to the Alumnae Association; thus, their records are contained in this collection. One exception is the Pembroke Afternoon Reading Group, which grew out of the Providence club but became a separate entity. PARG forms a separate collection in the archives (OF-1S-8zp).
Series VIII: Alumnae office and class officers, arranged chronologically, contains a handbook, minutes, broadsides, accounts, and other material. For more information about the newsletter, see the editor's papers in the University Archives.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Alumnae Association Records, OF-1S-7zp, Brown University Library.
This collection is divided into 8 series.