Guide to the Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club Records

Processed by UCSC OAC Unit.
The University Library
Special Collections and Archives
University Library
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California, 95064
Email: specoll@library.ucsc.edu
URL: http://library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/
© 2003
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Note

Area, Interdisciplinary, and Ethnic Studies--Women's Studies Social Sciences--Sociology--Social Movements

Guide to the Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club Records

Collection number: MS 159

The University Library

Special Collections and Archives

University of California, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

Contact Information:

  • Special Collections and Archives
  • University Library
  • University of California, Santa Cruz
  • Santa Cruz, California, 95064
  • Email: specoll@library.ucsc.edu
  • URL: http://library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/
Processed by:
UCSC OAC Unit
Date Completed:
October 2003
Encoded by:
M. Carey
© 2003 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club Records,
Date (inclusive): 1919-2008
Collection number: MS 159
Creator: Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club
Extent: 2 document boxes, 13 flats

15 linear ft.
Repository: University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library. Special Collections and Archives
Santa Cruz, California 95064
Abstract: This collection includes the business papers, correspondence, minutes, scrapbooks and artifacts of the Santa Cruz Business and Profewssional Women's Club.
Physical location: Stored in Special Collections & Archives: Advance notice is required for access to the papers.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection open for research. Use of the scrapbooks, Boxes 3-11, is limited due to the fragile physical condition of the items.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Preferred Citation

Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club Records, 1919-2008. MS 159. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club in 2002, 2014.

Organizational History

In every decade since its founding, the Business & Professional Women/USA has been actively involved in key issues that affect women, starting with helping women gain the right to vote in 1920. The organization then continued to grow by opposing laws that denied jobs to married women in the '30s, supporting women in the Armed Forces in the '40s, working for civil rights in the '50s and '60s, and influencing landmark legislation (including Title IX) in the '70s, Retirement Equity in the '80s, and Family Medical Leave in the '90s. Today the BPW/USA is in a position to lead a public policy charge to achieve workplace equity and work-life balance, while promoting equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information. With its 30,000 members in 1600 local organizations represented in every congressional district in the country, BPW/USA is the leading advocate on work-life balance and workplace equity issues. Local BPW organizations provide members with professinal development programs, networking, participation in grassroots activism, and opportunities to support scholarships for disadvantaged women.
The Santa Cruz Business & Professional Women's Club, organized in 1928, was the oldest and largest club in the area. In fact the Santa Cruz Club organized the area's other two clubs; the San Lorenzo Valley BPWC in 1944 and the Socaptos (Soquel, Capitola, Aptos) BPWC in 1948. Earlier it had helped form the Watsonville BPWC.
Since it's beginning, the Santa Cruz BPW took an active role in civic affairs. Some examples include lobbying successfully to prevent an admission fee to Big Basin State Park, furnishing the first room in the Civic Auditorium when it was built, spearheading the Santa Cruz city "Birthday parties" and also introducing the Small Business Clinic in California.
With an eye to the future, the Santa Cruz BPW purchased it's first clubhouse. This clubhouse was, however, destroyed in the floods of the late 1950s. With re-development funds, insurance money, and a bit of fund raising, a new piece of land was bought. There the Club built a new clubhouse in the early 1960s. This clubhouse served as a source of income for the local chapter and provided a meeting place for many of Santa Cruz's various women's organizations, from the SCBPW themselves to the Native Daughters of the Golden West and the Soroptimists. However, in 2000 the declining membership of the Santa Cruz Business & Professional Women's Club decided they no longer needed a private clubhouse and sold the property in order to benefit one of the club's favorite causes, education. With the proceeds of the sale, the Santa Cruz Business & Professional Women's Club members gave a gift of $200,000 to the University of California, Santa Cruz to endow a Karl Pister Leadership Opportunity Award (LOA) in the club's name. This award, $10,00, is presented annually to two female students who have completed a course of study in a local community college, have shown leadership qualities and have need of the funds. The club also endowed a scholarship at Cabrillo College, the local community college, aimed at young women enrolled in a professional course of study who need help with the expenses that this type of education often incurs.
Since the BPW sold its clubhouse, they have given away more than $200,000 in scholarships to deserving women students. This $22,00 for scholarships, given every year in perpetuity is the legacy of Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club, all due to the smart members in the 1950s and 1960s who were farsighted enough to build the clubhouse, and in 1995 to the other smart members who knew when to sell and where to put the money for the greatest benefit to the women of the local community.

Scope and Contents Note

This collection consists of business papers, correspondence, minutes, scrapbooks, photographs and artifacts. The early business records, 1930-1949 were lost and the scrapbooks damaged when the clubhouse was flooded in the late 1950's. The scrapbooks consist mainly of newspaper clippings documenting the activities of the BPW, and miscellaneous ephemera collected by the members.
Box 15, "Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's CLub: Eighty Years of History. 1928-2008" gives a full history of the club.

Arrangement

The material is organized into 5 series: Business Papers & Minutes; Scrapbooks; Publications; Photographs; Artifacts.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Women in business--California
Clubs--California--Santa Cruz
Women--California--Societies, etc.


 

Series 1 Business Papers & Minutes, 1950-84

Physical Description: 28 folders

Scope and Content Note

This series contains the business papers of the club, mostly pertaining the purchase and construction of the clubhouse after the 1958 flood and the club minutes.

Arrangement

The material is arranged chronologically.
Box-folder 1:1-5

Business Papers

Box-folder 1:1

Papers of Incorporation, 1950-51

Box-folder 1:2

Santa Cruz Land Title Co. Bill of Sale, Grant Deed for 126 Plymouth St. clubhouse, 1959

Box-folder 1:3

U.S. Treasury Department & Internal Revenue Service, 1965

Box-folder 1:4

Agreement for clubhouse construction - Milton Macken, 1966

Box-folder 1:5

California Franchise Tax Board, 1970

Box-folder 1:10-15, 17-22, 24-25; 2:1-9

Minutes

Box-folder 1:10

Membership Committee Report, 1954-55

Box-folder 1:11

State Convention Program, 1956

Box-folder 1:12

Western Regional Conference, Summary of Proceedings, 1957

Box-folder 1:13

Committee, Reports, 1958

Box-folder 1:14

1959

Box-folder 1:15

1960

Box-folder 1:17

1961

Box-folder 1:18

1962

Box-folder 1:19

1963-64

Box-folder 1:20

1965-66

Box-folder 1:21

1967

Box-folder 1:22

1968-69

Box-folder 1:24

1974

Box-folder 1:25

1975

Box-folder 2:1

1976

Box-folder 2:2

1977

Box-folder 2:3

1978

Box-folder 2:4

1979

Box-folder 2:5

1980

Box-folder 2:6

1981

Box-folder 2:7

1982

Box-folder 2:8

1983

Box-folder 2:9

1984

 

Series 2 Scrapbooks, 1930-1989, 1928-2008

Physical Description: 9 folders, 11 flats

Scope and Content Note

This series contains loose items from the scrapbooks and the club scrapbooks. The early scrapbooks, Boxes 3-11, have been water damaged and use of this material is limited. The scrapbook in Box 15 covers the full history of the Club from 1928 to 2008 when it disbanded.

Arrangement

The material is arranged first by size, then chronological order.
Box-folder 1:6-10,16,20-21,23

Loose Scrapbook items

Box-folder 1:6

1935-36, 1938

Box-folder 1:7

1940, 1942, 1945

Box-folder 1:8

1947-49

Box-folder 1:9

Copy of scrapbook pages, 1953-55

Box-folder 1:10

1954-55

Box-folder 1:16

1960

Box-folder 1:20

1965-66

Box-folder 1:21

1967

Box-folder 1:23

1970-71

Box 3-12, 15

Scrapbooks

Box 3

May 1931-May 1934

Box 3

April 1947-April 1948

Box 4

1934-1936

Box 5

1936-1939

Box 6

1939-1947

Box 6

1948-1949

Box 7

1933

Box 7

1948-1949

Box 8

2 albums, 1951-1952

Box 8

1953-1954

Box 9

1954-1955

Box 9

1956-1957

Box 10

1957-1958

Box 10

1958-1960

Box 11

1961

Box 11

1961-1962

Box 11

1969-1970

Box 12

1962-1969

Box 15

Santa Cruz Business and Professional Women's Club, Eighty Years of History 1928-2008

 

Series 3 Publications, 1945-49

Physical Description: 2 folders

Scope and Content Note

This series contains miscellaneous issues of the official publications of the state and national clubs.

Arrangement

The material is arranged by title.
Box-folder 2:10

California Woman, Feb.1945 - Feb.1949

Box-folder 2:11

Independent Woman, April 1949

 

Series 4 Photographs, 1930-1960s

Physical Description: 3 folders

Scope and Content Note

This series contains the loose photos. Most of these photographs are unidentified.

Arrangement

The photos are arranged by size.
Box-folder 2:12

4 x 5 photographs, 1930-1960s

Box-folder 2:13

5 x 7 photographs, 1940-1965

Box-folder 2:14

8 x 10 photographs, 1930-1960s

 

Series 5 Artifacts, 1919-1980s

Physical Description: 2 flats

Scope and Content Note

This series contains the club artifacts.

Arrangement

The material is arranged by size.
Box-folder 13

Contributor's plaque & Key for 2nd Annual Conference, Peninsula District, Calif. Federation of BPW clubs, April 24-25,1954

Box-folder 14

Case containing brass plaque for 126 Plymouth St. clubhouse, "Call to Order" bell with hammer, misc. gravels, 1919-1984