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Galesburg Book Review Club Records

 Collection — Folder: 1
Identifier: RH-A-4404

Scope and Contents

The booklets contain information about when and which club member was hosting which meeting, along with two other roles of co-hostess and reviewer. Half of the booklets list overall club roles, like the current president and secretary. The paper notes for the Galesburg Book Review Club detail a variety of things, like the host, the reviewer, the book discussed, and elections for club positions, like president. The notes are written both by hand and by typewriter, with the date at the top, and the format seems to depend on the secretary taking the notes, who usually signs off at the bottom of the paper. Some of the notes have words crossed out and corrected with pen, whether they were taken on a typewriter or by hand. While some portions of the notes are dedicated to housekeeping matters, most of the notes’ content is dedicated to the book they were reviewing that month, which the reviewer would select. The notes recorded a summary of the book’s contents, several of which were on the lives of people like Lucy Audibon or William Faulkner. A few attendance sheets are included with the member’s names and attendance records.

Dates

  • Creation: 1980-1986

Biographical / Historical

The paper records claim that the club’s last meeting was in May of 1986, while the earliest record is from 1982. The last mentions of the club outside of members’ obituaries is from 1973, where the meeting place is advertised in the newspaper. From the contents of the notes, it seems that the club disbanded due to a lack of members which was disproportional to the amount of work that went into preparing the meetings. Many of the members were also older women, some of whom had frequent health issues that led them to leave the club, while others simply had conflicting schedules. Outside of reviewing books, the club did activities like gathering money to purchase books for the Galesburg Library or planning summer picnics and other outings.

Extent

1 folders (A folder containing eight booklets and a number of papers ) ; The booklets in the collection range in size between 3 inches by 3 inches and 4.5 inches by 6 inches.

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The collection is composed of eight booklets and a number of papers detailing the notes of the Galesburg Book Review Club from 1982 to 1986, though the dates in the booklets go as far back as 1980.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

From the Galesburg Charleston Memorial District Library.

Physical Description

The booklets range in size between 3” by 3” and 4 ½” by 6”. The booklets are made in a variety of colored construction paper stapled together with either a stamp or sticker of some kind stuck on the front. No two colors or stickers are repeated, and only one booklet doesn’t have a sticker on the front cover. The notes are written both by hand and by typewriter, with the date at the top, and the format seems to depend on the secretary taking the notes, who usually signs off at the bottom of the paper. Some of the notes have words crossed out and corrected with pen, whether they were taken on a typewriter or by hand.

Overall, the collection is in good condition. A few of the booklets are aged on the inside, but reading is still legible, and the paper covers are intact. The secretary’s’ notes are in good condition as well. They all have signs of aging, along with some crinkling to the tops of the pages, but all writing is legible. Both on the typed and written notes, there are a few words crossed out here and there and corrected or added on to. The sheets are rather thin, but not overly brittle. The exceptions are a few pages near the back of the stack from 1983 and earlier with two large water stains that bled the ink out across the writing. With a little difficulty, most of the words are still decipherable. These pages are paperclipped together.

Title
Galesburg Book Review Club Records
Status
Completed
Author
Meena Jacobs, Mallory Heslinger
Date
2023-11-08
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository

Contact:
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490