Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential
Center
Fremont Federation of Women
LH-206 LH-361
Introduction
Agency History
Scope and Content
Inventory
Addenda
Introduction
Information on the formation and activities of the Fremont Junior Federation of Women can be
found in Local History Collection 285.
Agency History
The Fremont Federation of Women=s Clubs was organized June 16, 1903 by women from various
local civic and literary groups with Mrs. George Zimmerman elected as its first president. These
founding groups included Sorosis, Cosmopolitan Club, Ideal Club, Monday Afternoon, Browning
Club, Coterie, Matinee Musical, and Birchard, Croghan, Sparks, and McPherson Chautauquas. In
1939 the Federation sponsored the Fremont Junior Federation of Women.
The ladies at first met in churches or schools and occasionally at the home of a member. In 1926,
Mary Miller Hayes donated the home of her parents, 506 Court Street, Fremont, Ohio, to the
Federation in memory of her mother, Nancy Otis Miller. The organization has met there since. The
organization advocated the development of intellectual endeavors, social fellowship, and community
service to broaden the appreciation of the cultural aspects of life.
Over the years the Federation has worked in many ways to improve the quality of life in the Fremont,
Ohio, area. Some of its projects include a movement for street cleaning, beautification of the city
through the planting of shrubs and the distribution of seeds to school children, the organization and
funding of a Visiting Nurse service, the creation of a Boy Scouts program, a juvenile detention center
for children from unfit homes, and one of the first playgrounds in the United States.
Scope and Content
The majority of items in this collection relate to the regular meetings of the Fremont Federation of
Women. Although formal minutes of meetings exist for only a short span, 1973 to 1986, newspaper
clippings (either in loose form or as part of scrapbooks), help identify the organization=s activities.
The clippings and scrapbooks extend from 1953 to 1968; 1967 to 1989; 1969 to 1971, and 1971 –
1987. Annual program booklets also add to an understanding of the projects undertaken by the
membership. The booklets are continuous from 1922 to 2001. Other items include photographs of
activities, material from the state and national organizations, and special sections of the local
newspaper (Fremont News Messenger) covering the various women=s organizations. There are also
program booklets of other women=s clubs from the area and around the state of Ohio.
Inventory
5.5 linear ft.
Box 1
Folder 1 Minutes of Regular Meetings & Executive Board Meetings
March 15, 1973 - June 18, 1980
2 Minutes of Regular Meetings & Executive Board Meetings
Sept. 18, 1980 - May 1986
3 History
4 Easter Souvenir - City Federation of Women=s Clubs 1913
5 Fremont Messenger - Women=s Club Section Feb. 2, 1937
6 Court Street Property
7 Miscellaneous
Box 2
Folder 1 President=s Notes, Material 1956
2 Notes on Programs
3 Mrs. George Zimmerman
4 Correspondence
5 Other Women=s Clubs - Programs
6 General Federation of Women=s Clubs - Program Aids
7 Ohio Federation of Women=s Clubs - Directories
8 The Buckeye
9 AHome for the Holidays@ Tour & Luncheon, Dec. 12, 1968
10 Photographs
Box 3
Folder 1 Newspaper Clippings - n.d., 1896-1943
2 Newspaper Clippings 1944-1959
3 Program Booklets 1922-1923 - 1930-1931
4 Program Booklets 1931-1932 - 1947-1948
5 Program Booklets 1948-1949 - 1972-1973
6 Program Booklets 1974-1975 - 1989-1990
7 Program Booklets 1990-1991 - 2000-2001
Box 4
Code of Regulations, March 27, 1941
Scrapbook 1953-1954
Scrapbook 1954-1955
Scrapbook 1955-1956
Scrapbook 1956-1957
Scrapbook 1957-1958
Scrapbook 1958-1959
Scrapbook 1958-1959
Scrapbook 1959-1960
Box 5
Scrapbook 1960-1961
Scrapbook 1961-1962
Scrapbook 1962-1963
Scrapbook 1964-1965
Scrapbook 1965-1966
Scrapbook 1966-1967
Scrapbook 1969-1970
Scrapbook 1970-1971
Fremont News-Messenger Women=s Club Edition 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1974
Box 6
Folder 1 Child Study Club 1943-1944
2 College Club of St. Louis 1928-1929
3 Cosmopolitan Club 1909-1933, 1962
3-A Cosmopolitan Club
4 Coterie 1909-1932, 1942, 1953-1957
5 Economic Club 1926-1927
6 Ella Waggoner Shakespeare Club 1908-1909
7 Etudier Club 1949-1951
8 Florida Federation of Garden Clubs 1927-1928
9 Fremont Business and Professional Women=s Clubs 1951-1958
10 Fremont Emblem Club 1971-1975
11 Fremont Sorosis 1951-1952
12 Garden Club of Ohio 1938-1950
13 Gibsonburg Sorosis 19221-1932
14 Investigators 1921-1925
15 Mary Fitch Circle of the King=s Daughters 1928-1958
16 Miscellaneous
17 Mother=s Study Club 1956-1957
18 No Name Club 1975-1976
19 Ohio Farm Women=s Clubs 1927-1930
20 Order of the Eastern Star 1938
Box 7
Folder 1 Progress Club 1953-1954
2 Somerville History Club 1927-1928
3 St. Joseph=s Study Club 1945-1946
4 Tourist Club Tourist Guide Book 1927-1929
5 University Women=s Club 1945-1946
6 Wednesday Club (Circle) 1928-1930
7 Wellington Sorosis 1928-1929
8 The Wilson Bulletin 1924
9 Woman=s Club - Bellefontaine, OH 1927-1928
10 Woodville Book Guild 1949, 1959
Addenda
Ac. 5754
1 ½ linear ft.
Box 8
Ledgers
Executive Board and Regular Minutes of the Fremont Federation of Women
May 1904 - May 1913
May 1913 - April 1922
January 1922 - September 1926
October 1926 – February 1929
April 1929 – August 1930
November 1930 – April 1933
June 1933 – February 1941
February 1941 – November 1950
November 1950 – May 1957
May 1957 – January 1963
February 1963 - September 1967
October 1967 – March 1973
Ac. 5809
¼ linear ft.
Box 9
First Vice President’s Records 1967 – 1989
Program Committee Records 1971 - 1987