Bible Class Record Books, ca.1929-1940
Scope and Contents
The records are divided into three series: Administrative series, Publicity series, and the Services series. The Administrative series, 1926 to 2001, is arranged into three subseries which are each arranged alphabetically: Board of Directors Meetings, 1926-2001; Reports, 1960-1990; and Subject Files, 1924-2010. The Publicity series, 1895-1996, is arranged alphabetically. The Services series, 1936-1952, is also arranged alphabetically.
The Board of Directors Meetings subseries, 1926-2001, contains meeting minutes, some agenda, treasurer reports, reports from staff and committees, and other documents used during board meetings. This series also includes minutes and reports presented at the organization’s annual meetings. Correspondence and memos among board members and director, voting proxies, and reports that are not part of the minutes appear after 1971. There may not be minutes for each meeting of the year. There are no meeting materials for the years 1969 to 1970, nor for 1991 to 1998.
The meeting minutes provide information on the types of services and activities sponsored by the League. For example in the 1946 annual meeting report is a narrative about Girl Scout Troop #74, which was organized for the hearing impaired, admitting hearing girls as well. The League worked with the Mission Free School to coordinate the troop. The report also reveals the work of various committees: Evening Entertainment, Sewing Club, Bible Class, and Outings.
The Reports subseries contains statistical data on clients in various formats and financial data for the years 1960 to 1990. The Financial Review Reports span from 1981 to 1983, including monthly, quarterly, and year-end reports on expenses, income, program service fees, and units of service. The Mobile Unit Statistics vary in format from 1968 to 1990, and include both monthly and multi-year reports that provide demographic information on clients such as age and race, the location of tests, statistical test results, and service cost analysis graphs (1980-1983).
The PIE Reports span from 1974 to 1990. These are quarterly reports with pie charts that rank percentage of services rendered, referral sources, and income sources. The report also includes the amount of cash received for the quarter, client demographics, and breakdowns by location of service, either Manchester Road or downtown office. The Statistical Log reports are often titled “monthly” but the information is quarterly. Information in the reports includes client demographics, sources of referrals for service, services provided, and the total number of clients and appointments. Some of the reports divide the report by location at which the client was served.
The Units of Service reports span from 1976 to 1989. The reports record professional staff time units and they vary through the years from monthly to quarterly to annual. Some reports are summaries for the Center as a whole, some are monthly summaries by staff name. The Zip Code reports span from 1980 to 1990, but are multi-year. These reports account for the number of clients served within the United Way list of zip codes for the St. Louis region.
The Subject Files subseries, 1924-2010, covers a wide variety of topics relating to the organization. Significant items include the 1924 articles of incorporation, by-laws, constitutions, and legal documents relating to property. There is a very small amount of correspondence. Older materials include meeting programs saved by staff and/or members who attended national hearing association conferences, a few of which were held in St. Louis. General files on personnel date from 1960 to 1975, and illustrate the organization’s growth. There are several files of forms and correspondence with the United Way, from whom the Center received a significant portion of its annual budget.
The Publicity series, 1895-1996, consists of newsclippings, brochures, form letters mailed to local organizations, radio scripts, and events flyers. The earliest item is a brochure from The Gallaudet Society of St. Louis dated 1895. The newsclippings collected by staff relate to the League/Center’s activities and also to topics of general interest to the hearing impaired from local and national papers. Brochures are either produced for the Center, distributed by the Center, or belong to other St. Louis agencies.
Three publicity scrapbooks contain primarily newsclippings but also brochures and League event flyers spanning from 1920 to 1949 (no materials for 1940 to 1943). The earliest scrapbook, Vol.1, holds clippings that relate to the founding of the League, early letters, and brochures.
The Services series, 1936-1952, includes sources presumably used by the League in carrying out its classes and programs to the hearing impaired community. There are two small booklets published in 1946 relating to hearing aids: Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Or So You Have a Hearing Aid (by George J. Stuber) and My G. I. Hearing Aid (by Sgt. Dave Watson). Most of the series contains publications regarding lip reading exercises. There is only one file on sign language and an undated outline of a program offered by the Center.
Dates
- ca.1929-1940
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
From the Collection: 5.3 Cubic Feet ( (12 boxes; 3 oversize folders))
Language of Materials
English
Creator
- From the Collection: Center for Hearing and Speech (Creator, Organization)
- From the Collection: St. Louis League for the Hard of Hearing (1924-1964) (Creator, Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Repository