Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alumni Club of Washington, DC records
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Scope and Contents
The records of the MIT Club of Washington, DC document the activities and membership of the club from the 1940s to 2004. The records include flyers and announcements of major club events and annual club meetings, minutes of meetings for the years 1956 to 2001, as well as club newsletters from 1970 to 2004. Also included are lists of club members, area alumni directories, information regarding membership and club-related correspondence.
Correspondence and meeting minutes records dated from 1993-2001 were maintained and arranged by club Executive Director Barbara Gordon. The correspondence sections contain all notes/emails sent to the Board, lists of Board members, program plans, and other documents representing the operations of the Club.
The only digital material in the collection is the video of the "World War II Remembrances Dinner, talk by Col. Melvin Rosen (MIT ’39)" which consists of DVD video files.
Dates
- Creation: 1940 - 2006
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open.
Conditions Governing Use
Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.
Historical Note
The MIT Club of Washington, DC was established in 1899 in order to serve area alumni and alumnae. On February 18, 1899, twenty-five MIT alumni gathered at Columbian University (now George Washington University) in Washington and drafted the club’s constitution. The purpose of the organization as outlined in the constitution was “to bring together former students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology residing in or near the nation’s capital, for the purpose of promoting the interests of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and of each other, through social intercourse and cooperation.”
The club members also felt that being located in the nation’s capital gave the organization a unique opportunity to offer assistance to alumni and alumnae working in civil service for the government. The club’s early aims also included a focus on assisting area alumni with and keeping records regarding the civil service exam.
The club was hosted many events, from monthly luncheons and seasonal celebrations to lectures and events dealing with contemporary issues of the time. Being situated in the nation’s capital provided the club with both a robust member base and a list of potential speakers. Notable events were the 1953 “Space Travel--How Soon?” lecture delivered by Wernher Von Braun; a 1959 presentation by James R. Killian, Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Science and Technology; and a 1991 lecture, “Technology’s War: Lessons from the Persian Gulf,” delivered by Donald J. Atwood, Deputy Secretary of Defense.
In 1999 the club celebrated its 100th anniversary, and it continues to serve the Washington, DC area alumni with information about MIT and other alumni and hosting events.
Further information regarding the club’s current activities can be found on the club’s web site at http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/washingtondc/index.shtml.
Extent
3.24 Cubic Feet (6 letter manuscript boxes, 2 legal manuscript boxes, 1 half letter manuscript box)
3.2 Gigabytes (11 digital files)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The MIT Club of Washington, DC was established in 1899 in order to serve area alumni and alumnae. This collection documents the activities and membership of the club from the 1940s to the present (2004). The records include flyers and announcements of major club events and annual club meetings, minutes of meetings for the years 1956-1994, correspondence, and club newsletters from 1970 to 2004.
Physical Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Source of Acquisition
The records were transferred to Distinctive Collections (formerly the Institute Archives and Special Collections) in May 1978 by the Alumni Club of Washington, DC. Additional material from the Alumni Association was accessioned in 2003 and 2004, and material was transferred in 2004 from the Alumni Association Collection (AC 10).
The "World War II Remembrances Dinner, talk by Col. Melvin Rosen (MIT ’39)" video was originally stored on DVD. Joe Carrano, digital archivist, transferred the files off of the DVD in 2022 March.
Processing Information note
Some collection descriptions are based on legacy data and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. Description may change pending verification. Please contact the MIT Department of Distinctive Collections if you notice any errors or discrepancies.
Processing Information
Joe Carrano, digital archivist, transferred the files from the World War II Remembrances Dinner, talk by Col. Melvin Rosen (MIT ’39)" DVD using the Brasero program to an ISO disk image. He then extracted the files using tsk_recover. The DVD player software and other examples of products you could make with the softare were deleted and only the video was retained. The disk image was also not retained.
Processing Information
Becca Tibbitts, Processing Associate, processed seven binders containing club meeting minutes and correspondence, as well as one binder relating to a 1993 National Conference of the Advancement of Research conference. Materials were removed from binders and placed in acid-free folders. Boxes 8 and 9 were added to the collection.
In addition, the boxes from Series I, II, III, and V were re-numbered to 4, 5, 6, and 7, respectively. Boxes 4-7 also received new barcodes.
Subject
- Title
- Guide to the Records of the MIT Club of Washington, DC
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2021 July 20: Edited by Lana Mason to remove aggrandizing terms in the historical note description.
- 2022 March: Digital archivist, Joe Carrano, updated to reflect the 2022-055 digital media transfer accession
- 2023 January 31: Processing Associate, Becca Tibbitts, updated to reflect the 2019-066 accession. Boxes were re-numbered.
Repository Details
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US
distinctive-collections@mit.edu
