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Guide to the Berkeley Day Nursery records, 1909-1970
BANC MSS 74/102 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Berkeley Day Nursery records,
Date (inclusive): 1909-1970
Collection Number: BANC MSS 74/102 c
Creator:
Berkeley Day Nursery
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 cartons, 2 boxes
Linear feet: 7.05
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Berkeley Day Nursery records relate to the management and daily operation of the nursery school which served working mothers
in Berkeley, Albany, and Kensington, Calif. Records include correspondence, reports, articles of incorporation, by-laws, minutes,
enrollment statistics, financial materials, printed brochures, and clippings concerning the nursery.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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.
[Identification of item], Berkeley Day Nursery records, BANC MSS 74/102 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
The Berkeley Day Nursery Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Mrs. E. O. Lawrence, a former President, on December
4, 1973.
The Berkeley Day Nursery, a non-profit corporation founded in 1908 by a group of Berkeley women, was a pioneer in nursery
care for the children of working class mothers. Subsidized by the city of Berkeley, the Berkeley Community Chest, and later,
the United Crusade, its operating funds were also derived from income on a small endowment, from gifts and bequests, and from
fees determined on a sliding scale by the parents' ablility to contribute. The nursery was managed by a Board of Directors
consisting of 24 women who were unpaid volunteers interested in community service. An executive director appointed by the
directors and small staff of employees were responsible for daily operation. The Berkeley Day Nursery functioned for many
years until increasingly strict state requirements for personnel and programs resulted in its closing in November 1965; the
corporation was dissolved on December 11, 1969.
The Berkeley Day Nursery Records, 1909-1970, relate to the management and daily operation of the nursery school, founded in
1908 and dedicated to the care of children of working mothers of Berkeley, Albany, and Kensington, Calif. The records include
articles of incorporation, by-laws, minutes of board meetings, correspondence, executive director's and superintendent's reports,
which include enrollment statistics, reports of committees, financial and legal records, printed brochures, and clippings.
The collection will provide detailed insight into past practices in early childhood education, as well as examples of social
and economic conditions of family life in the Berkeley area, community involvement in charitable work, and the status and
employment of women, particularly those who worked as teachers in the nursery school. Descriptive titles of records used by
the Berkeley Day Nursery have been retained throughout.