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Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History© 2016 Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Heather Crocetto
The collection is open for research.
There are no restrictions.
Records of the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington, Collection # RG 197, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Gift of John Marr in 2012.
Founded in 1915, the Kiwanis Club is an international community service organization. Originally for men only, the Arlington Kiwanis started accepting women members in 1988 after the international organization voted to change the membership rules. Until World War II, activities centered on youth work, such as picnics for underprivileged children and the Boy and Girl Scouts. During the war, there was more emphasis on patriotic and civil defense activities. After the war, emphasis returned to raising money to give to local charitable groups and to youth development organizations.
The Old Dominion Kiwanis Club was organized by the Kiwanis Club of Arlington on August 21, 1947, and received its charter as the Fairlington Kiwanis Club on October 11, 1947. On August 1, 1954, the name of the club was changed to the Kiwanis Club of Old Dominion to include a portion of Alexandria, the Shirlington area, and Columbia Pike in Arlington. It became the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington (KCSA) on August 12, 1968. It is part of the 20th Division of the Capital District of Kiwanis International.
This record group is comprised of files donated by John W. Marr, a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington, including information about the KCSA and its activities, as well as files of the 20th Division of the Capital District Kiwanis (of which KCSA is a member), and Kiwanis International. Very few of the records should be considered the "official records," although it does include copies of some official reports sent in to the Kiwanis International headquarters. It also has some historical background papers, which would be of interest to current Kiwanis members.
This collection is 3.75 linear feet and ranges between 1965 and 2013, although the bulk of the material is from the 1990s and early 2000s; there is also a good amount of material from the 1970s. The documents are financial and administrative, and only come from the donor, so there are no full runs of meeting minutes or other administrative materials. However, the collection showcases a wide range of KCSA activities, including newsletters and other publications from Kiwanis groups throughout Northern Virginia, fundraisers, and financial materials. There is also one folder of photographs. Some of the records exhibit water damage.
Record Group 197 is organized into six series. Series 1 is the files about the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington (KCSA) and has been divided into subseries: Administration, Correspondence, Finance, History, Meetings, Membership, Newsletters, and Programs. Series 2 is devoted to the 20th Division, Capital District, and includes some files about other Kiwanis Clubs in the Capital District. Series 3 has Kiwanis International files and publications, and Series 4 is comprised of files about Arlington, Virginia, including volunteer opportunities and the Inter-Service Club Council of Arlington. While some photographs are included in individual files (marked by *), additional photographs found loose make up Series 5 and artifacts make up Series 6 .
Some of the files in RG 197 arrived at the archives with titles on them, but most were not organized. The archivist, after sorting through the collection, devised an arrangement dividing the files into the different levels of Kiwanis membership, which encompasses the first three series. The files with quotation marks (") are those named on the files received from Mr. Marr, but the dates were assigned by the archivist. Some files were subdivided by date. Most of the publications and papers were loose in the boxes and were organized into individual files by the archivist.
Researchers can look at Record Group 98: Ki-Wives of Arlington, VA , for insight into the female "wing" of the Kiwanis, which was only open to men until 1988. The main Arlington Kiwanis Club's records are found in Record Group 102: Kiwanis Club of Arlington .