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Finding Aid to the Second District of the California State PTA (San Francisco PTA) Records, 1907-2006 (bulk 1927-1975)
SFH 21
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Title: Second District of the California State PTA (San Francisco PTA) Records
Date (bulk): (bulk 1927-1975)
Date (inclusive): 1907-2006
Collection Identifier: SFH 21
Creator:
California Congress of Parents and Teachers. Second District.
Physical Description:
47 boxes
(31.0 cubic feet)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: The San Francisco PTA Records cover nearly 100 years of the activities of the Second District of the California State PTA,
from its early days as the San Francisco Congress of Mothers in 1908. These extensive records were maintained by the district
office. The collection contains board meeting minutes, bylaws, periodicals, directories known as yearbooks, and scrapbooks
covering procedures, history, and publicity.
Physical Location: The collection is stored off-site. A minimum of two working days’ notice is required for use.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
The collection is open for research, with photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Please call the San Francisco History
Center for hours and information at 415-557-4567.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Second District of the California State PTA (San Francisco PTA) Records (SFH 21), San Francisco
History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
The San Francisco PTA, formally known as Second District of the California State PTA, donated the collection in 2006.
Photographs have been transferred to the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.
Some items were transferred to the San Francisco Unified School District Records (SFH 3).
The following titles were added to the book collection:
Waiting to move the mountain, California Poets in the Schools 1994 Statewide Anthology, 30th Anniversary Issue, Perie Longo, [San Francisco, Calif.], California Poets in the Schools, 1994.
The Life and Personality of Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Winifred Black Bonfils, San Francisco: John Henry Nash, 1928, no. 263 of 1000.
Researchers are encouraged to see also Mrs. Joseph (Elizabeth) Morcombe San Francisco, Second District, California Congress
of Parents and Teachers (PTA) Records, [1914]-1937, (SFH 12). See also First Mothers Club Scrapbook, 1894-1928. See also Series
9 of the San Francisco Unified School District Papers, (SFH 3). See also John W. Geary School PTA Records, 1930-1974, (MS
3595), California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA. For national PTA records, see National Congress of Parents and Teachers
Records, 1896-1965, (MS N2772), Richard J. Daley Library, University of Illinois, Chicago. For California PTA records, contact
the California State PTA.
Related Materials not in San Francisco Public Library's holdings
Deffterios, Margaret N.
History of the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, thesis/dissertation). Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley, 1958. (A similar title,
History of the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1900-1944, edited by Margaret H. Strong, Los Angeles: California Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1945, is in the library's book collection
as well as in this collection (in the series
History of PTA Books). National Congress of Parents and Teachers.
History of the California Congress of Mothers: From Date of Organization, May 8, 1900, to June 30, 1913. Complied by Mrs. M. C. Kennedy. Los Angeles: State Congress of Mothers, 1913.
National PTA.
The PTA Story: A Century of Commitment to Children. Chicago, IL: National PTA, 1997.
Twining, Harry LaVerne.
History of the California Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. Los Angeles: California Congress of Mothers, 1908.
During processing, some of the scrapbooks were dismantled and put into file folders. Covers were removed. Photographs were
transferred to the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.
America's kindergarten movement gained momentum in the first three decades of the twentieth century when public school systems
gradually began to adopt kindergarten education. As the movement swept through America, groups of local women formed independent
Mothers Clubs to discuss how they could collectively address the problems their children faced in the home and in society.
These clubs were the genesis of today's Parent Teachers Association, or PTA, as it is commonly known.
Spawned by the kindergarten movement, the National Congress of Mothers gained national prominence when Phoebe Apperson Hearst
and Alice McLellan Birney convened the first National Congress of Mothers on February 17-19, 1897 in Washington, D.C. and
elected Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson as vice president. At the time, Birney wrote in a notebook, "How can the mothers be educated
and the Nation made to recognize the supreme importance of the child?" The organization's formal charter was drawn up in 1900.
with Theodore Roosevelt serving as chairman of the Advisory Council.
Locally, the Mothers Club of the San Francisco Boys Club was organized in 1894. The group's name was changed to First Mothers
Club in 1923. A Mothers Club was formed at Occidental Free Kindergarten in 1895. By 1897, the California Home and School Child
Study Association was formed in San Francisco, with school principals in charge. The San Francisco Congress of Mothers was
organized in 1907 by the merger of the Mothers Clubs and the California Home and School Association. Meanwhile, the Federation
of Mothers Clubs was formed in Los Angeles. This organization became the California Congress of Mothers and Child Study Circles
and joined the national organization in 1902. In 1911, the state organization became the California Congress of Mothers and
Parent-Teacher Associations, later the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, and in the 1970s, the California State
PTA.
Mothers Clubs formed federations based on regional lines. In 1910, the Northern California Congress of Mothers was formed
with membership from the Bay counties. This group was likely also known as the Bay Federation of Mothers Clubs. In 1912, the
Bay Federation of Mothers Clubs reorganized as the Second District of the California Congress, representing nine counties.
Los Angeles was already known as the First District. In 1927, the state Congress reorganized the Second District to include
only San Francisco. The earlier Second District was then referred to as the Old Second District.
The Second District's activities mirrored the ideals and initiatives set forth by the national PTA. Strongly believing that
child-rearing skills be developed through training, PTA mothers banded together to educate fellow mothers in home-making skills,
cooking and nutrition, sewing, hygiene, road safety and tax awareness. These women worked to improve the relationship between
home, school, and youth. The organization evolved along with the rest of society. More recently, individual clubs raise considerable
funds to supplement the schools' budgets. Second District is also known as San Francisco PTA.
The San Francisco PTA Records cover nearly 100 years of the activities of the Second District of the California State PTA,
from its early days as the San Francisco Congress of Mothers in 1908. These extensive records were maintained by the district
office. The collection contains board meeting minutes, bylaws, periodicals, directories known as yearbooks, and scrapbooks
covering procedures, history, and publicity. While the collection largely documents the Second District since 1927, when redistricting
made it a strictly-San Francisco district, there are also minutes and publicity record books of the original Congress. The
records document the group's objectives and activities which continue to focus on child welfare and educational support, from
its establishment as a conglomerate of Mothers Clubs to its currently-known name as the San Francisco PTA.
Researchers are encouraged to see also Mrs. Joseph (Elizabeth) Morcombe San Francisco, Second District, California Congress
of Parents and Teachers (PTA) Records, [1914]-1937, SFH 12. The Morcombe PTA Records consist chiefly of publicity record books
with newspaper articles by Mrs. Morcombe, from 1929 to 1937. Also included in that collection are some organizational history
documents from 1914 to 1937.
The collection is organized into these record groups: Record Group 1. Administrative; Record Group 2. Publications and Reports;
Record Group 3. Publicity; and Record Group 4. Reference Materials; then further organized into thirteen series: Series 1.
Minutes and Agendas; Series 2. By-Laws; Series 3. Life Membership; Series 4. Yearbooks and Directories; Series 5. Procedures;
Series 6. History, Annual Reports, and Committee Reports; Series 7. Unit and Section Records; Series 8. Publications; Series
9. Publicity Books and Ephemera; Series 10. Photographs and Realia; Series 11. History of PTA Books; Series 12. California
Congress/PTA; and Series 13. Pamphlet Collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California Congress of Parents and Teachers. Second District. -- History
Child welfare -- California -- San Francisco
Education -- California -- San Francisco
Parents' and teachers' associations -- California -- San Francisco -- History