The records of the Mutual Improvement Club consist of two yearly programs, printed in 1913 and 1914, which contain lists of officers, members, meeting places, and topics covered during meetings. The club had 23 active members and 5 honorary members in 1913. The club’s official colors were blue and white and it had a club song composed by Mrs. Gertrude Anderson, a club president.
Although the stated topic of study was home economics, the Mutual Improvement Club covered a range of topics, as documented by their committees. Included among the committees were Social, School, Sick, Art, Sewing, Parliamentarian, and Chaplain. During the club’s second year, committees on Current events, the Press, and Financial matters were also added. In addition to the executive committee, representatives of the Mutual Improvement Club also worked with the Village Improvement and Christian Union Society. The club regularly held meetings each month.

There is no accession record relating to the acquisition of the Mutual Improvement Club collection.

Women’s Progressive Club 31/6/13

For additional information on the Mutual Improvement Club’s members and their families, see William E. Bigglestone’s They Stopped in Oberlin: Black Residents and Visitors of the Nineteenth Century. Oberlin, Ohio, 2002 edition.

Phillips, Wilbur H. Oberlin Colony: The Story of a Century. Oberlin, Ohio, 1933