Travelers Aid Society of
Minneapolis Records
Summary Information
Travelers Aid Society
of Minneapolis Records
1906-1975
Travelers Aid Society
of Minneapolis
1.5 linear
feet
Language: English
sw0028
The Travelers Aid
Society of Minneapolis began as a protective service for young women and
immigrant groups moving into the city. After years as a department of the
Minneapolis YWCA, it became an independent agency in 1930 . It served transient
men, women, and families until its operations were transferred to Community
Information and Referral Services, a division of the Minneapolis United Way, in
1975. The records contain board and committee minutes, annual and monthly
reports, financial records, and correspondence.
University of
Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History
Archives
Access and Use
The records of the Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis were given to
the Social Welfare History Archives on May 26, 1977, by Marjorie J. Carpenter,
director of Community Information and Referral Service, a division of the
United Way of Minneapolis.
Open for use in Social Welfare History Archives reading room.
Please contact the Archivist for copyright information.
Arrangement and description of the records was done by Karen Mason in
1980.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into seven series:
- Series 1. Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
- Series 2. Board of Directors and Annual Meetings
- Series 3. Committees
- Series 4. Correspondence
- Series 5. Financial records
- Series 6. Study on Services to Travelers
- Series 7. Print Material
Historical Note
The Travelers Aid department of Minneapolis was established in 1895 by
the Woman's Christian Association of Minneapolis (WCA) in close cooperation
with the Young Women's Christian Association of Minneapolis (YWCA). In 1909,
the YWCA assumed full administrative and financial responsibility for the
agency and established a Travelers Aid Committee.
The original function of Travelers Aid was providing protective
services for young women and immigrant groups moving into the metropolitan
area. Travelers Aid volunteers and staff met young women at the train station
(and later bus depot); provided lodging at the WCA home and other social agency
residences; offered information and referral services; aided transients in
making travel arrangements; and, by 1910, conducted an employment service for
transient women.
In 1930, the YWCA, with the encouragement of the Council of Social
Agencies, reorganized Travelers Aid as an independent agency affiliated with
the National Association of Travelers Aid Societies. An independent board
assumed executive control. The purpose of Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis
(TAS) is stated in the 1930 Articles of Incorporation: "To provide information,
advice, guidance and protection to all travelers who by reason of unfamiliarity
with the city, inexperience, illness, infirmity or other disability, or
otherwise, are in need of assistance or adjustment to the community."
During the Great Depression, the work of TAS expanded to meet the
needs of increasing numbers of transient men, women, and families. Case work
services and cooperation with the entire social service community increased.
World War II brought new demands in caring for military transients and their
families. In the following decades, TAS gained funding from the United Fund and
expanded its operations, including, in 1961, services at the Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport.
By 1971, however, the United Way suspended its support of TAS, in
accordance with a 1968 study by the Council of Social Agencies and the
Community Health and Welfare Council recommending the termination of TAS and
the assumption of its services by other existing social agencies. TAS survived
another four years through contributions by individuals and organizations,
including an agreement with the Metropolitan Airport Commission to support the
airport facility in 1974. Lack of permanent funding remained a continuing
problem. On June 1, 1975, TAS agreed to transfer its operations to Community
Information and Referral Services, a division of the United Way.
Collection Scope and Content Note
The Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis records consist of minutes of
meetings, monthly reports concerning the activities of Travelers Aid matrons,
financial records, correspondence, and clippings which document the
organization's activities from 1906 until its demise in 1975.
Records of the early years of Travelers Aid work in Minneapolis,
particularly for the period when it was the responsibility of the WCA and the
YWCA, are limited and sporadic. Records for the period 1906 to 1930 include
statistical reports by Travelers Aid workers that enumerate the nationalities
of persons helped; the kinds of problems encountered (e.g., loss of ticket,
language difficulty, runaway); type of service rendered (e.g., lodgings or
employment secured); and religious or other types of organizations to which
individuals were referred for assistance. These statistical reports, along with
narrative accounts of "special cases" for each month, illustrate both the
routine aspects of the work, such as providing travel information and
assistance, as well as the important link provided by Travelers Aid between
individuals and social service agencies in the city. They also help to document
a portion of the transient population moving in and out of the Minneapolis
area. The "special cases" reports also reflect the view that female "matrons"
had of their responsibility to help others, especially young women in need of
moral guidance. A final report of the Travelers Aid Committee written at the
time of the reorganization in June, 1930, by Jessie B. Carey, chairman of the
Committee, is filed with the board of directors minutes, June 1930.
Records of the Travelers Aid Society after its reorganization in 1930
illustrate the changing nature of the work of both paid staff and volunteers to
meet changing conditions in society. During World War II, Travelers Aid
provided USO services in train depots by maintaining "Troops in Transit"
lounges. As the automobile became the dominant mode of transportation and
travel by train and bus decreased, there was less demand for the work of TAS in
bus and train stations, as indicated in 1967 by the construction of a new
Greyhound Bus Company terminal in Minneapolis that did not allocate space for
TAS. Minutes and correspondence of the 1960s and 1970s relate to efforts to
maintain the Society as its functions were increasingly being provided by other
social agencies.
Related Material
Unpublished inventory available. Please contact Archives for more
information.
Subject Terms
- This Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis records are indexed under
the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries.
Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
search the catalog using these headings.
- Travelers Aid
Society of Minneapolis
- Travelers Aid
Society of Minneapolis--Archives
- Women, services for--United
States--20th century
- Transients, relief of--United
States 1929-
- World War, 1939-1945--Social
aspects--United States
Detailed Description of the Records
| Location |
Title |
| |
Series 1. Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
1930-1931, 1952
Note Documents include the Articles of Incorporation of the Travelers
Aid Society of Minneapolis adopted December 11, 1930; bylaws of the Society
amended February 12, 1931; and Amendments of the Articles of Incorporation made
January 16, 1952.
|
|
Box 1 |
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws 1930-1952 Box 1, Folder 1
|
| |
Series 2. Board of Directors and Annual
Meetings 1906-1975
Note Series 2, Board of Directors and Annual Meetings, contains
material from the Travelers Aid Committee of the Minneapolis YWCA, which
directed the activities of the Travelers Aid matrons until 1930. Records
include minutes of meetings, occasional financial reports, and monthly reports
prepared by the matrons containing statistical accounts of persons helped and
narrative reports of "special cases" for the period 1906-1930. There are also
annual reports for the years 1910, 1919-1922, and 1926 and copies of "Travelers
Aid Information Blanks" submitted to the National Travelers Aid Society for the
years 1919-1922 and 1925-1926.
Records of the Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis (post-1930)
include minutes of meetings of the board of directors and minutes of annual
meetings and membership meetings, which served as annual reports. Lists of
directors and committee membership are filed at the beginning of each year's
minutes. Also included are forms from Travelers Aid Association of America
requesting information for an inventory on budgeted professional casework staff
positions(1969).
|
|
Box 2 |
Board of Directors, Minutes, Reports, and
Lists 1906-1942 Box 2, Folder 2-21
|
| |
Board of Directors, Minutes, Reports, and
Lists 1943-1975 Box 2, Folder 13 to 21
|
|
Box 3 |
Annual Meetings 1919-1974 Box 3, Folder 22
|
| |
Annual Reports to National Travelers Aid
Society 1915-1926 Box 3, Folder 23
|
| |
Report to Travelers Aid Association of America on Staff
Positions 1969 Box 3, Folder 24
|
| |
Series 3. Committees 1938-1972
Note Series 3 contains minutes of meetings of Travelers Aid Society
committees. Minutes of the Service Committee, however, span the years 1938 to
1966. This committee evaluated the services of Travelers Aid and the needs of
the community, recommended policy changes, and interpreted TAS activities to
the Board. Activities of the Personnel Committee are documented in minutes from
the period 1941-1966. Also included is a personnel manual developed by the
committee and adopted by the board in 1944. Minutes of the Membership Committee
for the period 1938-1962 include a set of membership standards adopted in 1962.
These document the structure and organization of TAS, staff qualifications,
record-keeping policies, and services to the community. Also included are
minutes of the Nominating Committee (1945-1972), the Committee of General
Passenger Agents (1939), Finance Committee (1948-1965), Planning Committee
(1950), Public Relations Committee (1948-1949), Subcommittee on Housing for
Transient Boys (1941), and the USO Committee (1951).
|
|
Box 3 |
Committee of General Passenger Agents 1939 Box 3, Folder 25
|
| |
Finance Committee 1948-1952, 1962-1965 Box 3, Folder 26
|
| |
Membership Committee 1938-1956, 1962-1965 Box 3, Folder 27
|
| |
Nominating Committee 1945-1972 Box 3, Folder 28
|
| |
Personnel Committee 1941-1966 Box 3, Folder 29
|
| |
Planning Committee 1950 Box 3, Folder 30
|
| |
Public Relations Committee 1948-1949 Box 3, Folder 31
|
| |
Service Committee 1938-1966 Box 3, Folder 32
|
| |
Subcommittee on Housing for Transient Boys 1941 Box 3, Folder 33
|
| |
USO Committee 1951 Box 3, Folder 34
|
| |
Series 4. Correspondence, 1915-1974,
Note Series 4 contains incomplete early correspondence, which includes
letters written in 1915 by individuals expressing appreciation for assistance
or repaying money that had been lent them. Also included are letters written in
1922 to YWCA officers in towns throughout Minnesota concerning travelers’ aid
work in their communities.
More recent correspondence relates to personnel and board members.
The bulk of the correspondence resulted from the 1968 recommendation by the
Community Health and Welfare Council of Hennepin County that TAS operations be
discontinued. (The committee's report, "Services to People on the Move," is
filed in folder 64.) Subsequent correspondence concerns the anticipated loss of
United Fund monies and the consideration of alternative ways to provide
travelers aid services.
Among the correspondents are TAS executive directors, George Spano
and Thelma Hample; TAS board president, Philip A. Braum; and Elva D. Walker and
Omar Schmidt, president and executive director of the Community Health and
Welfare Council of Hennepin County. This correspondence is arranged in
chronological order.
|
|
Box 3 |
Correspondence 1915-1946 Box 3, Folder 35
Note 1915, 1922, 1945-1946
|
| |
Correspondence 1961-1969 Box 3, Folder 36
|
| |
Correspondence 1970-1974 Box 3, Folder 37
|
| |
Series 5. Financial Records 1921-1975
Note Series 5 contains scattered monthly and yearly financial
statements and budgets of the Travelers Aid Committee of the YWCA for
1921-1926; monthly treasurer's reports for 1938-1975, including financial
statements regarding USO activities for the years 1943-1946; proposed budgets
of TAS for 1944-1945, the 1947 budget submitted to Community Chest and Council
of Hennepin County, and information on the 1973 and 1975 budgets; financial
authorization forms for TAS bank accounts from 1944 to1948; audit reports for
1957-1974; and charities registration statements submitted to the Minnesota
secretary of state in 1965 and 1975. Also included are federal and state tax
returns for 1960-1962 and 1974. Oversize material consists of statements of
cash transactions submitted to the United Fund of Minneapolis Area, 1958-1968,
and records of receipts and disbursements, including lists of checks paid
out
|
|
Box 3 |
Treasurer’s Reports 1921-1926 Box 3, Folder 38
|
| |
Treasurer’s Reports 1938-1949 Box 3, Folder 39
|
| |
Treasurer’s Reports 1950-1961 Box 3, Folder 40
|
| |
Treasurer’s Reports 1962-1975 Box 3, Folder 41
|
|
Box 4 |
Budget 1943-1975 Box 4, Folder 42
|
| |
Audit Report 1957-1974 Box 4, Folder 43-60
|
| |
Financial Authorization Forms 1944-1948 Box 4, Folder 61
|
| |
Charities Registration Statements 1965, 1975 Box 4, Folder 62
|
| |
Federal and State Tax Returns 1960-1962, 1974 Box 4, Folder 63
Note 1960-1962, 1974
|
|
Box Flat 5 |
Statements of Cash Transactions 1958-1968 Box Flat 5, Folder 1
|
| |
Receipts and Disbursements 1957-1969 Box Flat 5, Folder 2
|
| |
Series 6. Community Health and Welfare Council Study
Committee on Services to Travelers, 1968
Note Series 6 is a study of Travelers Aid Society of Minneapolis,
"Services to People on the Move," prepared by the Family and Child Welfare
Committee of the Community Health and Welfare Council of Hennepin County. The
committee concluded that TAS services duplicated those of other public and
private agencies and should be discontinued. Also included is an interim
committee report containing responses to questions raised during the study. The
reactions of TAS board members to the report are filed in folder 36.)
|
|
Box 4 |
Community Health and Welfare Council Study Committee on
Services to Travelers 1968 Box 4, Folder 64
|
| |
Series 7. Printed material 1944-1946,
1968-1974
Note Series 7 contains chronologically arranged print materials
including a1944 brochure regarding Travelers Aid's "Troops in Transit" lounges;
a printed program of the 1946 annual meeting; and clippings of editorials and
other newspaper articles concerning the 1968 "Services to People on the Move"
study and the efforts to find funding for TAS in the final years of its
existence.
|
|
Box 4 |
Printed Material 1944-1946, 1968-1974 Box 4, Folder 65
|
|
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