Guide to the La Vendimia Women's Club Records MC 68

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room

Title: La Vendimia Women's Club Records

Identifier/Call Number: MC 68

Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet 2 Archival Boxes

Date (inclusive): 1959-1969

Abstract: The La Vendimia women's club, operating from 1959 to roughly 1969, existed in the Rancho Cordova area, located approximately 11-miles east of Sacramento, California. Collection record types include photographs, brochures, certificates of acknowledgement/appreciation, correspondence and newspaper clippings.

The La Vendimia women's club – its title, Spanish for "vintage or harvest of grapes" – was founded in 1959 in a rapidly expanding Rancho Cordova area in an effort to meet the intellectual and social needs of women. Founding members included Gayle Coppin, Joanne McKee, Barbara Reece and Myrtle Frank. Meeting activities included presentations on botany, floral arrangement, interior design, hair styling, music, art, home economy, fashion and hat making, while scholarly lectures addressed everything from contemporary literature to handwriting analysis to hypnosis to local history. La Vendimia ceased operation in 1969/70. Overall, the collection provides a meaningful window into middle class life in Sacramento's eastern suburbs as powered by the presence of both Mather Air Force Base and Aerojet.

[Identification of item], La Vendimia Women's Club Records, MC 68, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.

Records are divided, chronologically, into 5 separate scrapbooks, each covering a specific range of time. Book One covers 1959 to 1961; Book Two, 1961 to 1962; Book Three, 1962 to 1964; Book Four, 1964 to 1966; Book Five, 1966 to 1969. Within each, the researcher will find photographs, brochures, certificates of acknowledgement/appreciation, correspondence and newspaper clippings. Books One, Two and Three are in Box One; Books Four and Five are in Box Two.