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Guide to the Sacramento Swiss Clubs collection
MS0046
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Title: Sacramento Swiss Clubs collection
Dates: 1892-2012
Bulk Dates: 1920-2010
Collection number: MS0046
Creator:
Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society
Creator:
Helvetia Verein
Collection Size:
5.5 linear feet
(5 boxes + 1 oversized map drawer)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: This collection consists of the records of the Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society and the United Swiss Lodges of California as
well as a few documents from the Sacramento Helvetia Verein. The Swiss Ladies Society was a Sacramento organization originally
called Sacramento Helvetia Frauen and Toecher Verein. The organization was established in 1922 “to cultivate mutual sociability
among its members and rendering financial aid in case of sickness.” The Society was open to women of Swiss ancestry. This
collection contains many of the club’s meeting minutes and financial records. Together with the men’s Swiss organization,
the Helvetia Verein, these two clubs on May 1, 1981 established a parent organization called the United Swiss Lodges of California.
This organization permitted the Swiss Ladies Society and The Helvetia Verein to gain nonprofit status. The United Swiss
Lodges of California were deeply involved in efforts to erect a statue of John Sutter near Sutter’s Fort and to support the
production of a film about John Sutter’s contribution to Sacramento and California.
Physical location: 1:G:2, 36:L:07, 37:L, MC:15:02
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH 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 patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
[Identifcation of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Sacramento Swiss Clubs collection, MS0046, Center for
Sacramento History.
The Sacramento Swiss Clubs collection was donated to the Center for Sacramento History by the Sacramento Helvetia Verein in
2015 (accession #2015/003).
The Sacramento Swiss Clubs Collection was processed in 2015 by Ruth Craft. The finding aid was prepared in 2015 by Ruth Craft.
Biography / Administrative History
The Swiss Ladies Society was a Sacramento organization originally called Sacramento Helvetia Frauen and Toecher Verein. The
organization was established in 1922 “to cultivate mutual sociability among its members and rendering financial aid in case
of sickness.” The Society was open to women of Swiss ancestry. This collection contains many of the club’s meeting minutes
and financial records. Together with the men’s Swiss organization, the Helvetia Verein, these two clubs on May 1, 1981 established
a parent organization called the United Swiss Lodges of California. This organization permitted the Swiss Ladies Society
and The Helvetia Verein to gain nonprofit status. The United Swiss Lodges of California were deeply involved in efforts to
erect a statue of John Sutter near Sutter’s Fort and to support the production of a film about John Sutter’s contribution
to Sacramento and California.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Sacramento Swiss Clubs collection consists of the records of the Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society and the United Swiss
Lodges of California as well as a few documents from the Sacramento Helvetia Verein. The collection is organized into five
series: Series 1. Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society, Series 2. Sacramento Helvetia Verein, Series 3. United Swiss Lodges of
California, Series 4. Audiovisual material, and Series 5. Artifacts. The Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society series consists mostly
of the club's constitution and bylaws, membership lists, and meeting minutes of the Society. The United Swiss Lodges of California
series includes meeting minutes and correspondence of the organization and records documenting its efforts to erect a statue
of John Sutter near Sutter’s Fort and to support the production of a film about John Sutter’s contribution to Sacramento and
California. Additionally numerous files demonstrate the involvement of the Swiss community in the Sacramento Sesquicentennial
celebration. The collection also contains newspaper articles and letters concerning the ongoing debate about John Sutter’s
treatment of indigenous peoples.
Many of the pages in this collection were on fax paper which had already faded. These pages were photocopied if they were
still legible. Some files contain photographs of activities of the clubs, and the photographs are retained in the folders.
Numerous documents are in German and are not translated.
Series 1. Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society
Series 2. Sacramento Helvetia Verein
Series 3. United Swiss Lodges of California
Subseries 3.1 Administrative records
Subseries 3.2 Sutter film project
Subseries 3.3 Sutter statue project
Subseries 3.4 Sacramento sesquicentennial
Subseries 3.5 John Sutter information
Series 4. Audiovisual material
Series 5. Artifacts
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento Helvetia Verein
Sacramento Swiss Ladies Society
United Swiss Lodges of California
Sutter, John Augustus, 1803-1880
Fraternal organizations--California--History
Swiss Americans--California--History
Swiss American women
Women--Societies and clubs
Center for Sacramento collections accession #2004/027 and 2011/005 pertain to the Sacramento Helvetia Verein and contain
information of a similar nature to many of the documents in this collection.