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Guide to the Carmichael Improvement Club records
MC 23
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Title: Carmichael Improvement Club records
Dates: 1913-1963
Collection number: MC 23
Creator:
Carmichael Improvement Club
Collection Size:
1 linear ft.
(2 archival boxes)
Repository:
Sacramento Public Library. Sacramento Room
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: The Carmichael Improvement Club formed in 1913 to "improve the general welfare and promote harmony and social unity" in the
newly established Carmichael Colonies, an area bounded by Walnut Avenue and Lincoln Avenue north of the American River northeast
of Sacramento. Over many decades, the club worked to improve roads, expand utilities and services, beautify public land and
host social events in the Carmichael community. This collection of administrative records, meeting minutes, correspondence
and newspaper clippings documents the administration and activities of the club from 1913-1963.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please contact the Sacramento Room.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
Use of the described materials may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Sacramento Public 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], Carmichael Improvement Club records, MC 23, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento,
California.
The Carmichael Colony Improvement Club convened its first meeting on January 25, 1913. The club's purpose was to "improve
the general welfare and promote harmony and social unity" in the Carmichael community. The newly settled Carmichael Colonies
1 and 2, which were approximately bounded by Walnut Avenue and Lincoln Avenue north of the American River northeast of Sacramento,
had fewer than 50 households at the time. The members of the Improvement Club dedicated themselves to improving roads, expanding
utilities and services, beautifying public land and hosting social events.
After ratifying its constitution and by-laws, the Carmichael Improvement Club quickly established committees on roads and
began to address issues like electrification, telegraph communications and rodent control. In June 1913, Mary Deterding was
elected president. She and her husband Charles were the first modern settlers to Carmichael. They had purchased land in
the Carmichael area in 1907 and operated the 425-acre Deterding Ranch.
Carmichael Improvement Club meetings regularly drew over 100 attendees by the early 1920s, a decade that saw significant transitions
for the club and community. In 1920, club committees were concerned with township consolidation, a new community clubhouse,
a co-operative cannery, roads and beautification. The club shortened its name from Carmichael Colony Improvement Club to Carmichael
Improvement Club and incorporated in 1923 as Carmichael Community, Inc. In the decades to follow, the club continued to work
with utility companies, government agencies and other civic organizations on various community projects. Among their many
undertakings, they requested that phone service be expanded in Carmichael (1930); lobbied PG&E for natural gas lines to be
extended to the community (1938); pushed for the formation of Sanitation District #9 covering the Carmichael area (1959);
provided input into the construction of freeway Routes 249 and 288 (1963); and supported the construction of a new public
library building (1960-1963). The club also sponsored social events and groups like its annual pancake brunch, a community
band and a local Boy Scout troop.
This collection consists of administrative records, meeting minutes, correspondence and newspaper clippings documenting the
administration and activities of the Carmichael Improvement Club, 1913-1963. Administrative records include a draft of the
club's application for incorporation (ca. 1923), by-laws (1941), and a brief historical list of club projects (ca. 1960).
The club's initial constitution and by-laws are included in the first volume of meeting minutes. Correspondence (1962-1963)
includes letters to the California State Division of Highways and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors concerning plans
for the construction of Route 249 and Route 288 (1963) as well as meeting invitations and membership notices. Newspaper clippings
files contain articles by and about the Carmichael Improvement Club: "Carmichael's Yesteryears" columns from The Carmichael
Courier, which sample old meeting minutes from the Improvement Club; articles about the formation of a Carmichael sanitation
district (1959); and announcements of club speakers and meetings.
This collection is organized into four series:
- Series 1. Administration
- Series 2. Minutes
- Series 3. Correspondence
- Series 4. Newspaper Clippings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Clubs -- California -- Carmichael -- History
Carmichael Improvement Club (Calif.)
Carmichael (Calif.) -- History -- Sources