OOP (Marion, Iowa) records

Collection

Identifier: IWA0528

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The OOP records date from 1867 to 2005 and measure 3 linear feet. The bulk of the collection is made up of minutes spanning most of the club's existence (with a few gaps), annual yearbooks listing program topics, and albums containing histories, photographs, and memorabilia [Contents of two of the history albums were removed from three-ring binders and placed in folders to better protect the items].

History of the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs, 1893-1968 was separated from the collection and placed with printed works.

Dates

Creation: 1867-2005

Creator

OOP (Club : Marion, Iowa) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The records are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

In 1867 five young women in Marion, Iowa, who had attended the Marion Female Seminary invited ten others to join them and organized a study club known first as the S.S. Society and then the Young Upstarts or YUS-Atheneum. While at the Seminary they had been part of the Theristriai Society (meaning "gleaners of knowledge") started by Beulah Small, the preceptress of the Marion Female Seminary. In 1880 the group adopted the initials OOP as its name. The initials stood for "Our Own Pioneer" society; ten years later the group adopted the Latin motto "Opus Optimum Praestat", meaning "best work excels". In 1891 ten members of the club withdrew and formed a separate club called Theristriai. OOP was federated with the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs from 1894 to 1900 and once again federated in 1909. The OOP was still in existence at the turn of the twenty-first century and was one of the oldest continuous women's clubs in Iowa.