Technology Christian Association records

This collection documents the activities of the Technology Christian Association (TCA), a student organization of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).The Technology Christian Association was founded on January 17, 1895, under the auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). Material in this collection, spanning 1905 to 1948, comprises three record formats: scrapbooks, ledgers, and logbooks. The collection is arranged chronologically by format.

Scrapbooks, maintained in several volumes, largely document the activities of the organization from 1905 to 1944, though the dates 1934 to 1941 are not included. The scrapbooks primarily contain clippings from MIT’s student newspaper The Tech, but also include clippings from other newspapers, posters, programs, and ephemera. Events documented in the scrapbooks include sponsored lectures and plays, dinners, elections, Freshman Camp activities, and fundraising.

Bound ledgers, spanning 1927 to 1936 and 1938 to 1940, document the finances of the Technology Christian Association. The ledgers primarily document incoming donations, with entries listing the name of the donor with the date and amount received. Monthly expenses also appear in the ledgers, which include information on Tech Cabin construction. Some ledgers also contain information on bank accounts held by the association. Early ledgers in the collection were maintained by Horace S. Ford, MIT’s Bursar and Treasurer of the Technology Christian Association Advisory Board. Additional ledgers are unattributed.

In 1929, the Executive Committee of the Technology Christian Association decided to build a cabin for the use of MIT students. They were granted use of land at Camp Massapoag, a summer boy’s camp of the Cambridge YMCA located in Dunstable, Massachusetts. Construction of the cabin was completed in September 1930. Two log books maintained at the cabin are included in this collection, documenting its use. Dating 1930 to 1934 and 1946 to 1948, the log books contain signatures of guests and a log of activities that occurred at the cabin. Log books include the signatures of visitors and descriptions of activities that took place. Visitors primarily comprised MIT student groups, but also included families, groups from other colleges, and religiously affiliated groups. In addition to written accounts of activities, some entries include drawings, poetry, and clippings. A brief history of the Tech Cabin prefaces the first log.