Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Ki-Wives of Arlington Virginia, Collection # RG 98, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History

Acquisition Information

Gift of Arlington Ki-Wives Vice President Blanche Kirchner in 2000.

Historical Information

The Ki-Wives of Arlington was founded in 1951 as a sister organization to the Arlington Kiwanis Club. Like the Kiwanis Club, the Ki-Wives sought to foster good will and fellowship among members, who were wives of Kiwanis members, and to provide the means to render altruistic service and to build a better community. Also in 1951, the Council of Ki-Wives was founded as an umbrella organization of local Ki-Wives Clubs. Its name became Ki-Wives National in 1964 and Ki-Wives International in 1975.

With dwindling membership in the 1980s and 1990s, the Arlington club disbanded at the end of May 2000.

Scope and Content

Record Group 98 houses the official records of the Arlington, Virginia, branch of Ki-Wives International, dating 1951-2000. Also included are some incomplete unofficial records of Ki-Wives International, dating 1964-2000. The record group measures approximately five linear feet.

The Arlington club's records document the club's activities, including luncheon meetings with presentations on civic topics and fundraising activities such as bazaars, fashion shows, and progressive dinners. Correspondents include a few regional and national political figures that the club contacted as potential speakers, such as Ivy Baker Priest (1956) and Patricia Nixon (1957). The club then donated the money earned to a variety of Arlington and Northern Virginia charities such as the Salvation Army, Hospice of Northern Virginia, and the Arlington Food Assistance Center. The correspondence includes many thank-you letters from such organizations. In 1956, the Ki-Wives began to sponsor Keyettes Clubs, service organizations for high school girls, and the records of both the local and national groups reflect this work.

Types of material include: bylaws, minutes, financial records, correspondence, newsletters, officers' and committee reports, clippings, photographs, and a scrapbook (ca. 1970-ca. 1990). The entire scrapbook, which contained photographs, clippings, and paper memorabilia, has been photocopied. Subsequently the photographs were removed for preservation storage.

The Ki-Wives International portion of the collection document its relationship with its branches, with some bylaws, minutes, and activity reports from the branches.

Arrangement

Record Group 98 is organized into seven series by type of material. The first six series are different types of administration records for the Arlington Ki-Wives, while Series 7 contains records from Ki-Wives International. Arrangement within series is generally chronological, with Series 3, Financial Records , being divided into five subseries, and Series 4, Officers and Committees , arranged alphabetically by committee name.

Related Material

RG 102, Kiwanis Club of Arlington Records , and RG 197, South Arlington Kiwanis Club Records , document the activities of the local Arlington Kiwanis.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Arlington (Va.)
• Arlington County (Va.)
• Kiwanis International
• Women -- United States -- Societies and clubs.
• Women in community organization

Adjunct Descriptive Data