The records include yearbooks; meeting minutes; reports; anniversary celebration menus, scripts, and photographs; policies and procedures; presentation papers and readings; questionnaires; and various administrative subject files. The records are arranged into five series: Yearbooks, Meetings, Birthdays/Events, Photographs, and Administration. The Yearbooks, Meetings, Birthdays/Events, and Photographs series are each arranged chronologically. The Administration series is arranged alphabetically by topic. The collection dates from 1879 to 2015. The Yearbooks series is arranged chronologically and dates from 1949/50 to 2013/14 and consists of the annual printed yearbooks which are distributed to each member. Please note that yearbooks from 1895/96 to 1948/49 are in the Missouri Historical Library under the title Programmes. The yearbooks provide the dates, topics, and presenters for each meeting in the Pioneers program year, which begins in the fall and ends in the spring of the following year. Additional information in the books include lists of officers, lists of members with home addresses, and beginning in 2012/13, a list of all the Pioneers annual program themes since 1879. The Meetings series is arranged chronologically and dates from 1879 to 2015; there are no records from program years 1930/31, 1931/32, and 1932/33. Many meeting records from 2011/12 to 2014/15 are incomplete; other small gaps in the meeting minutes are noted on the folder list. Records in the series include regular meeting minutes, annual reports from officers, and annual attendance lists. Scattered throughout the series are other meeting items such as agenda; executive committee meeting agenda, notes, and minutes; and various materials discussed at meetings or shared with members. These include mid-year treasurer reports, exhibition announcements which related to programs, and annual program proposals presented by the Program Committee upon which the members voted. The Birthday/Events series is arranged chronologically and dates from 1879 to 2014. There are no materials from 1991 or 1993. The 19th century items include invitations, menus, and programs for special events, some of which were fundraisers coordinated by the Pioneers for local charities. In 1904, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs held its biennial convention in St. Louis and all Missouri members were requested to wear badges (Artifact Storage Box 2). Items dated after 1920 include invitations, menus, programs, and scripts for skits performed by members at an annual dinner meeting. In the early years, this meeting was held in January but by the 1930s it moved to spring. Members celebrated the club’s completion of another year and called it the “birthday party.” Two small artifacts served as party favors in 1954 (Artifact Storage Box 1) and an innovative invitation using Q-tips as anchors for a scroll was devised for the 1957 birthday party (Birthdays/Events Box 1/f.14). The Photographs series is arranged chronologically and dates from 1928 to 2007 with many date gaps. Most of the photographs are informal snapshots documenting the entertainment at the Pioneers annual meeting, including the 1993 birthday party for which there are no printed materials. The oldest item in the series is a group photo from 1928 annual meeting. Birthday party photos from 2005 to 2007 exist digitally on three compact discs. The Administration series is arranged alphabetically by topic and dates from 1902 to 2015. The files include newspaper clippings; committee meetings notes, reports, and questionnaires; policies and procedures; and correspondence. There are many papers and reading lists from meetings dating from 1951 to 1988, donated by Betty Grossman. There is also a file on deceased members which includes thank you cards from families, obituaries, and tributes read at meetings.