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Rotary Club of Downingtown records
Notifications
Held at: Downingtown Area Historical Society [Contact Us]PO Box 9, Downingtown, PA, 19335
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Downingtown Area Historical Society. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Rotary Club of Downingtown was established with fifteen members on January 9, 1926 as charter number 2199 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania (Chester County). Part of Rotary International, the Rotary Club of Downingtown is a social and service organization dedicated to promoting service through four "avenues": Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. Although it started as a men's organization, Rotary International voted to allow women into the organization in 1989.
Circa 2012, the Rotary Club of Downingtown disbanded. Remaining members joined the Rotary Club of Thorndale, which was established in 1995 by Jay Edge, and its name was changed to the Rotary Club of Thorndale-Downingtown. The Rotary Club of Thorndale-Downingtown is still active as of 2014.
Bibliography:
Rotary Club of Downingtown. Club History. Circa 1960. Document viewed in collection.
This collection consists of minutes, financial records, correspondence, membership materials, newsletters, clippings, photographs, and other materials relating to the Rotary Club of Downingtown, and the state, district, and national chapters of Rotary International to which it belonged.
Administrative materials include Rotary Club of Downingtown (RCD) minutes and reports, 1932-1970s; RCD Board of Directors minutes, 1978-2004; correspondence, 1981-2005; a copy of the Downingtown club's incorporation papers, 1930; legal papers documenting the club's territorial expansion; the club's mission statement and objectives; and membership and attendance materials, 1940-2000.
Other materials in the collection include rotary newsletters (local, district, and state level), 1979-1986; newspapers and clippings with articles about RCD and Tom Brookover, a member of RCD, who served as Governor for Rotary District 7450 (Southeastern Pennsylvania) from 1979-1980; photographs, printed materials about Rotary International, histories for the RCD and Rotary International; and certificates and plaques received by RCD at various events.
Rotary flags are also present in the collection.
A summary listing of contents is given below; a more detailed inventory is available on-site. Banners with emblem flags Banners with emblem flags Banners with emblem flags Banners with emblem flags Board of Directors Minutes Centennial Parade--Downingtown Rotary Club Certificates Correspondence Directory - Rotary International 75th anniversary History and Student Exchange Incorporation Papers Individual emblem flags (Asia) Individual emblem flags (Europe) Individual emblem flags (North America, including Mexico) Membership & Attendance Minutes - 1970's Minutes July 1, 1936 - June 30, 1939 Minutes July 1, 1947- June, 1952 Minutes July 1, 1952- June, 1956 Minutes July 1932- December 1933 Minutes July 5, 1939 - July 2, 1941 Minutes July 5, 1960- May 30, 1972 Minutes July 7, 1942- July 9, 1946 Minutes June 28, 1956- June 28, 1960 Minutes September 1934- June 1936 Newsletters Past President Pin Past President Pin Photo - Downingtown Rotary Photo - Downingtown Rotary 75th Birthday Photo - Downingtown Rotary Snapshots Photo - Downingtown Rotary Snapshots Program-US Marine Band by West Chester Rotary 1948 Rotary Exchange with Japan Rotary Flags Rotary History in Downingtown Rotary International buttons - two Rotary International History Rotary Objectives Rotary Territorial Expansion
Majority of materials are from Eileen Shaefer, 2012. Additional materials were received from various other sources over time.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Downingtown Area Historical Society directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Downingtown Area Historical Society
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Sarah Leu through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Downingtown Area Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.