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YWCA of Silicon Valley Records
MSS.2006.01.01  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Silicon Valley was established in 1905 to provide fellowship, mutual aid, and spiritual and professional guidance to young working women. The records included in this collection range from 1905 to 2005 and include budgets, clippings, correspondence, financial statements, minutes, memoranda, photographs, printed material, registries, reports, scrapbooks, slides, and videos.
Background
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) originally formed in England in 1855. In the United States the YWCA combined evangelism and pragmatic activism to provide for the physical, social, mental, and spiritual needs of young women living on their own. The organization strove to provide “wholesome” activities for women and girls living in cities and to develope civic-minded female leadership. In addition to Christian guidance, local YWCA braches offered residences, cafeterias, job training, daycare, exercise, crafts, camping, dances, and other services. By 1906 the U.S. YWCA had over 186,000 members. In 1907 it incorporated and established its headquarters in New York City. Today YWCA branches function fairly autonomously and respond to local needs and conditions. Currently, there are nearly 300 U.S. branches serving some 2 million women, and there are chapters in more than 122 countries.
Extent
30 boxes (18 linear feet)
Restrictions
Copyright has been assigned to the San Jose State University Library Special Collections and Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files from or derived from these collections is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Availability
This collection is open for research.