Documents concerning young women's Christian associations in the West Indies in addition to the history of the YWCA of the U.S.A. Foreign Division and secretaries working abroad. An interested group in Haiti corresponds with the YWCA of Canada concerning the development of an association there. In Puerto Rico an existing association works with the YWCA of the U.S.A. Foreign Division for leadership development and a grant for the development of Y-Teen programs. In addition, a trainee from Puerto Rico makes arrangements to study in the United States. Additional documents concerning the YWCA in the West Indies include association summaries and correspondence discussing the needs of associations in the West Indies. The Foreign Division of the YWCA of the U.S.A. sends secretaries as representatives of the YWCA of the U.S.A. to work in other countries as advisors, leaders and trainers where they train local leadership and strengthen programs. Newsletters from the Foreign Division to the secretaries serving abroad keep them informed of the happenings in the department's, major news concerning the YWCA of the U.S.A. and selected updates from the foreign field. The Foreign Division field staff manual provides details to the secretaries concerning their terms of service and job expectations including policy and procedure for travel, time off, medical needs, salaries, hours of work, furlough and length of term. Additional documents include correspondence and notes containing updates on former Foreign Division secretaries and two versions of "At Home Abroad" a historical summary of the work of the YWCA of the U.S.A. in foreign countries.
West Indies and Foreign Division
1951-1960
155 frames (1 partial reel)
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections. However, by agreement with the YWCA of the U.S.A., microdexes known to contain financial records or personal health information (usually on job applications) were not digitized and/or not published in our online repository as part of the CLIR Digitizing Hidden Collections grant. These microdexes may still be accessed on the original microfilm, and digital files may be made available to individual researchers upon request.
To the extent that it owns copyright, YWCA of the USA has retained copyright in its works donated to Smith College, but has has authorized Smith College Special Collections to grant permission to publish reproductions or quotations from the records on its behalf. Copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For those few instances beyond fair use, or which may regard materials in the collection not created by YWCA of the USA, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
West Indies and Foreign Division, Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History, MS 00324, Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Box 3: Series 1; Series 2; Series 3, Reel 233
smith_ssc_324_r233_m004