Christodora House Records, 1897-1991

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#0221
Bib ID:
5012635 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Christodora House
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
12.5 linear feet (31 boxes)
Language(s):
English .
Access:
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection has no restrictions.

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Description

Scope and Contents

Organizational records of Christodora House, a settlement house and social services provider on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The bulk of the records are administrative. These records include minutes and annual reports of the Christodora House Board of Directors, dating from the organization's founding in 1897, as well as documentation of its funding sources and organizational history. There are also records of clubs run by Christodora House, the bulk of which date from circa 1900 through the 1930s, and photographs and scrapbooks, circa 1900 through 1960.

  • Series I: Administration

    Includes administrative correspondence and memos, constitution and by-laws, contribution lists, corporate certificates, funding agency files, Head Worker and Executive Director correspondence, membership lists, newsclippings, promotional materials, program reports, and publications.

  • Series II: Board of Directors

    Includes annual reports, board member correspondence, and minutes.

  • Series III: Clubs

    Includes attendance books, constitutions and by-laws, correspondence, dues ledgers, membership lists and minutes.

  • Series IV: Photographs

    Black and white and color photographs and negatives. Subjects include settlement staff and program participants, neighborhood scenes, settlement buildings, and camp.

  • Series V: Scrapbooks

    Chronologically compiled scrapbooks contain administrative forms, annual reports, correspondence and memos, newsclippings, photographs, program flyers and announcements, promotional materials, publications, special event announcements, and tickets. Items fallen loose from some scrapbooks are contained in folders stored with the scrapbooks. Preservation photocopies of some scrapbooks have been made, and should be used by researchers.

Arrangement

Arranged in five series.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection has no restrictions.

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Christodora House records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Board of Directors, 1995.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

This finding aid was prepared by LaGuardia and Wagner Archives of LaGuardia Community College, The City University of New York for Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by James Moske, 1996. HTML Finding Aid Prepared by James Moske, August 2001.

Revision Description

2010-01-22 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical / Historical

Christodora was founded in 1897 as a settlement house on Manhattan's Lower East Side to provide health care, educational and job training programs and other social services to poor immigrant families. Christodora House also served as a home for art and drama clubs. Christodora's Poet's Guild included Robert Frost Vachel Lindsay and Edwin Arlington Robinson and it inspired Ira Gershwin.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Name
Christodora House CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Gershwin, George, 1898-1937 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Social settlements CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID