Collections

This collection documents the activities, contributions, influence, and interests of women in the First Presbyterian Church (Mount Pleasant, Michigan) 1868-2000, as well as the church's history, activities, events, and members, in meeting minutes, financial records, and materials.

The Trustees of the First Presbyterian Society, Book of Minutes and Accounts, 1868, 1874-1899 (1 volume), documents the activities of the men who tried to build the First Presbyterian Church. The Meeting Minutes, a Constitution, adopted in 1868, and List of Members for 1868 and 1873 are noted as having been copied from earlier and other materials. The volume also includes Meeting Minutes, 1874-1899, and Accounts, 1873-1875, as well as the original subscription list of people interested in paying for the first Presbyterian Church building and land it was built upon, 1873.

The Ladies Aid Society is document in the Records Books, 1869-1934 (6 volumes). The first volume, 1869-1906, includes Society information from 1869 to 1889 which was copied for preservation purposes in 1889 into a new volume, and later recopied on Jan. 8, 1896. The copied records include the revised Constitution of 1889, a summary of total earned money, 1867-1882, a summary of financial accounts, 1882-1895, Lists of Officers, 1869-1898, Treasurer’s Accounts, 1889-1891, and Annual Meetings Minutes and Accounts, 1892-1895. From 1896 through 1906 there are more complete Accounts and Meeting Minutes in the Record Book.

Additionally, the Society is documented in Record Books, 1906-1934 (5 volumes). The 1912-1917 Record Book includes loose 1915 correspondence between the A.B. Felgemaker Organ Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Ralph O. Doughty of the First Presbyterian Church, concerning the purchase and installation of the church’s second pipeorgan. According to the correspondence of October 2, 1915, the Ladies Aid Society paid $700 cash towards the $2,560 purchase price. [Additional, related correspondence is found in the Ralph O. Doughty Correspondence, 1915 collection, which is also housed in the Clarke.]

The Woman’s Christian Missionary Society (WCMS) is documented in its Book of Receipts and Expenditures, 1877-1883 (1 volume), which includes the dues members paid and the names of the members, as well as brief Accounts of money and the types and number of purchased and crafted gifts which were distributed to needy, local families, at least some of whom were church members.

The Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society (WHFMS) is documented by its Record Book, 1906-1912 (1 volume), which includes: Meeting Minutes, Accounts, Programs, a Constitution, a List of Members, and some loose Correspondence.

The Missionary Society is documented by its Record Books, 1920-1927 and 1927-1934 (2 volumes). The Record books include Meeting Minutes, Accounts, and Lists of Members. The first volume also includes By-Laws and completed annual report forms for the Local Report, March 1, 1929, to the Board of National Missions/ the Board of Foreign Missions, of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

The Women’s Association is documented by its Record Book, 1934-1941 (1 volume), which includes its Constitution, By-Laws, Meeting Minutes, and Accounts, Treasurers’ Annual Reports, which include social, service, and membership activities as well as financial information, 1955-1957, 1961, 1964, 1966-1968, 1970-2000, with loose Correspondence, 1971, and Clippings, 1964, 1972 (copies), and Treasurers’ Books, 1925-1962 (2 volumes).

The first of the women’s circles at First Presbyterian Church was the Sylvia Hawkins Society, which is documented through a Memory Book (Scrapbook), 1941-1950 (including Programs, 1941-1949); Record Books (Meeting Minutes, Accounts), 1939-1951 (2 volumes). The first volume includes the Constitution and By-Laws, while the second includes Lists of Members. Also documenting the Sylvia Hawkins Society are a Secretary’s Books of Meeting Minutes and Attendance Lists, 1951-1971 (1 volume), and a Treasurer’s Book, 1941-1951 (1 volume).

The Brooks Circle is documented in its Meeting Minutes Books, 1953-1958 and 1959-1976. Both sets of minutes consist of loose papers.

The Bishop-Brooks is documented by one brief set of Meeting Minutes, January 1978-May 1980 (1 volume).

The Cutler Circle is documented by one set of Meeting Minutes, January 26, 1960-May 27, 1980 (1 volume). The last set of meeting minutes notes that May 27th was the last meeting of the circle and that a new name for a new circle was to be decided in fall 1980.

The Dewitt Circle is documented by three sets of Meeting Minutes, 1951-1954 (1 volume), 1955 (1 volume), and 1956-1966, which consists of loose pages.

The Doughty Circle is documented by two sets of Meeting Minutes, 1951-1952 (1 volume) and 1953-1966, which consists of loose pages.

The combined Doughty-DeWitt Circle is documented by Meeting Minutes, for January-June and October-November 1967 and the 1967 List of Members, which consists of loose pages.

The Junke Circle is document by one book of Meeting Minutes, with correspondence from the missionaries in Wooten, Kentucky, and a List of Members, 1951-1952 (1 volume).

Organizational records include reports, meeting minutes, legal papers, birth records, programs, and materials related to the establishment of the church.

The collection includes reports and meeting minutes of the Board of Trustees and the Quarterly Conference, various legal papers, the pastor’s quarterly reports, birth records, 1839-1880, and other materials related to the establishment of the church.

The collection contains the sermons, newspaper articles, and research of The Reverend Father John H. Goodrow.

These sermons provide an interesting perspective on the ideals of the turbulent years of the 1960s and 1970s, such as discrimination, discussed in a sermon written for July 9, 1972. Such topics were also covered within articles Father Goodrow wrote for the Daily Times of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, which are in this collection. Most of the articles that could be dated within this collection were written during the 1970s and range in topics, including articles discussing South Africa and the United States (1971), community restoration (1973), President Nixon (1974), Indian discrimination (undated), and even an article on cats (undated). Father Goodrow also wrote for other publications, such as The Christian Challenge and The Living Church and local newspapers including the Morning Sun and CMLife. Materials collected to add St. John’s Episcopal Church to the National Register of Historic Places, 1981, complete the collection. For more information about the church, see the finding aid and catalog record for its collection which is also housed in the Clarke.

Processing Note: Acidic materials (1 cubic foot) were copied and the originals were returned to the donor as requested.

This is the official organizational records of The John Goodrow Fund (JHGF), from its 1985 establishment to its 2020 dissolution.

This is the official organizational records of The John Goodrow Fund (JHGF), from its 1985 establishment to its 2020 dissolution. The records include founding documents, dissolution materials, meeting minutes, agendas, reports, budgets, communications (emails and correspondence), fundraising documentation for the annual dinner and golf scramble, insurance, tax, and policy materials. Documentation of Sally Goodrow’s 2009 retirement and 2022 obituary, and a few newspaper clippings (copies) are also included. The records are organized topically and chronologically, according to original order. The collection is in excellent physical condition.

Researchers may be interested in additional materials documenting JHGF and Fr. Goodrow found in the St. John’s Episcopal Church (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) Organizational Records and the Fr. John H. Goodrow Papers, which are both housed in the Clarke Historical Library. Newspaper articles about the JHGF may be found by searching digitized Mount Pleasant area newspapers.

Processing Note: Duplicates, cancelled checks, and newspaper articles were withdrawn during processing. Copies of the articles were retained in the collection.