Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Mortar Board Records, 1929-1975
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Mortar Board
- Title
- Mortar Board Records
- Dates
- 1929-1975 (inclusive)19291975
- Quantity
- 1 cubic foot
- Collection Number
- MG371 (collection)
- Summary
- Minutes of meetings, correspondence, activity plans and plaques awarded by this honor society at the University of Idaho.
- Repository
-
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu - Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Mortar Board, Inc., is a national honor society of college seniors, which recognizes in its membership the qualities of superior scholastic ability, outstanding and continual leadership, and dedicated service to the college or university community.
The University of Idaho chapter was organized in 1921, and chartered by the national organization in 1923, although no records exist until 1929. Among their activities were selling mums for homecoming, serving as hostesses for campus functions, sponsoring the Spinster Skip dance and the Narthex table, a tea which honored outstanding junior women, and overseeing the May Fete during which plaques were awarded to outstanding freshmen and sophomores. The group remained active on campus until the mid 1970's when apathy set in. In recent years attempts have been made to revitalize the group.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The first recorded meeting of the University of Idaho chapter of Mortar Board was held at the Blue Bucket, October 1, 1929; its officers were President, Laura Clark; Treasurer, Ruth Newhouse; and Secretary, Marylou Craven. Minutes for all subsequent meetings through 1956 were originally contained in a three ring notebook, but were transferred to folders during processing. Many years are missing, indicating either that regular meetings were not held or that no minutes were kept.
Other records, mostly dating from the 1960s, include chapter reports, historian's correspondence from the national organization, plans for the May fete, membership lists, correspondence from the national organization, and the national membership directory for 1979-1982. An index to the Quarterly, the publication of Mortarboard, is also part of the collection.
Several scrapbooks of activities and two plaques awarded to outstanding sophomores conclude the records.
A final item is a membership register for the Cardinal Key , another honorary group, for the years 1934/1935-1945.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/1-3 | Mortar Board Records 221 items
|
1929/1930 - 1955/1956 |
| 1/4 | Chapter reports and programs 6 items
|
1964-1969 |
| 1/5 | Historian 18 items
|
1966-1975 |
| 1/6 | May fete 10 items
|
1964-1972 |
| 1/7 | Membership lists 23 items
|
1921-1969 |
| 1/8 | National Council meetings, annual 3 items
|
1967-1968 |
| 1/9 | National conferences, triennial 2 items
|
1964 |
| 1/10 | National correspondence 26 items
|
1966-1969 |
| 1/11 | National membership directory 1 item
|
1979-1982 |
| 1/12 | Quarterly index 2 items
|
1964-1967 |
| 1/13 | Scrapbook 1 item
|
1938-1952 |
| 1/14 | Scrapbook 1 item
|
1960/1961 |
| 1/15 | Scrapbook 1 item
|
1966/1967 |
| 1/16 | Mortar Board plaque presented by Leah Tuttle Buchanan in honor of the sophomore woman with the highest scholastic average 1 item
|
1953/1954-1960/1961 |
| 1/17 | Plaque presented by Mortar Board in honor of the sophomore women with the highest scholastic average 1 item
|
1962-1971 |
| 1/18 | Cardinal Key membership register 1 item
|
1934/1935-1945(?) |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Other Creators
-
Corporate Names
- Mortar Board (Society). University of Idaho Chapter
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen
1995
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
