CONCORD BRANCH OF THE NEW ENGLAND GRENFELL ASSOCIATION RECORDS, 1926-1964
Vault A75, Grenfell, Unit 1
EXTENT: .8 linear foot (2 containers)
ORGANIZATION: Organized in three series: Series I: Correspondence, Minutes, Annual Reports, 1926-1964; Series II: Membership, 1926-1964; Series III: Financial, 1926-1964.
HISTORY: The International Grenfell Association, founded by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, was incorporated in Canada in 1914. Its original mission was to provide health care, educational, religious, social welfare, and community services support to fishermen in Newfoundland and along the Labrador coast. Gradually, the primary focus became medical care for the region through various nursing stations and the Curtis Hospital in St. Anthony, Newfoundland. Three offices in New York, Boston, and London were responsible for gathering money and new and used clothing through independent, local branches of the Grenfell Association, one of which was the Concord Branch. Sir Wilfred Grenfell supplemented this funding through the collection and sale of native crafts, including small ivory carvings of dogs and seals, models of kayaks, soapstone lamps, snowshoes, beadwork, and hooked rugs and mats (Grenfell hooked textiles).
The Concord Branch of the New England Grenfell Association first met on 27 January 1926 at the Union Church in West Concord. By the end of the first year Concord was the 11th, and largest, branch in New England. Annually, they contributed $100.00 for upkeep of a bed at the Curtis Hospital, and contributed smaller sums to Dr. Curtis for discretionary purposes. In 1951, after twenty-five years, the branch was still supporting the “Concord Bed,” with various local church organizations and a girls’ club continuing to contribute to the Grenfell Mission. In 1964, however, in the face of an aging and steadily declining membership, as well as difficulties in fundraising, the decision was made to terminate the Concord Branch.
SCOPE AND CONTENT: correspondence, 1947-1964, includes letters documenting officers and directors, membership, specific donations by the Concord Branch to the Grenfell Mission in Labrador, and the decision to disband the Concord Branch in 1964; Records of Concord Branch of the New England Grenfell Association contains minutes of Executive Board and Annual Meetings of the Concord Branch 1926-1957; annual reports, 1951, 1955 and a clipping, [ca. 1951]; membership lists and associated information is inclusive, 1926-1964; financial information includes treasurer’s reports, expenditures, dues, 1926-1964 (bound book) and additional loose treasurer’s reports, 1944-1964; checkbooks, 1943-1948 and 1948-1959; bankbooks, 1926-1948, 1931, 1948-[ca.1953], 1959-1964; cancelled checks, 1947-1959
SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: Probable source Sarah Ripley Bartlett.
PROCESSED BY: Sheryl Peters, April 2007; revisions to finding aid, C. Manoli-Skocay, April 2007
Container List
Series I. Correspondence, Minutes, Annual Reports, 1926-1964
Box 1, Folder 1:
Correspondence and associated materials, 1947-1964
Box 1, Folder 2:
Records of the Concord Branch of the New England Grenfell Association, 1926-1964 (meeting minutes in bound book)
Box 1, Folder 3:
Annual Reports, 1951, 1955, and clipping, [ca. 1951]
Series II. Membership, 1926-1964
Box 1, Folder 4:
Membership lists and associated information, 1926-1949 (bound book)
Box 1, Folder 5:
Membership lists and associated information, 1948-1954 (spiral-bound notebook)
Box 1, Folder 6:
Membership lists and associated information, 1955-1964 (spiral-bound notebook)
Series III. Financial, 1926-1964
Box 1, Folder 7:
Treasurer’s reports, 1930-1964 (bound book)
Box 1, Folder 8:
Treasurer’s reports, 1944-1964 (loose records)
Box 1, Folder 9:
Checkbooks,1943-1959.
Box 1, Folder 10:
Bank books , 1926-1964.
Box 2, Folder 1:
Cancelled checks, 1947-1950
Box 2, Folder 2:
Cancelled checks, 1951-1954
Box 2, Folder 3:
Cancelled checks, 1955-1959
c2007 Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.
Not to be reproduced in any form without permission of the Curator of Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.
Mounted 28th April 2007. rcwh.