Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Arcadia Women's Institute fonds
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Level of description
Fonds
Repository
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1915-1990 (Creation)
- Creator
- Arcadia Women's Institute (Arcadia, Yarmouth County, N.S.)
Physical description area
Physical description
30 cm of textual records
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The first Women's Institutes were organized in Nova Scotia in 1913 by the Department of Agriculture to improve social conditions and provide education and instruction to their members. The Institute was established in response to a national movement, originating in Ontario in 1911. The goal of the movement was to encourage the education of rural women. In Arcadia, Yarmouth County, N.S., the Women's Institute was organized on 10 August 1915. Eighteen women initially signed on with eighteen more joining in the next few months. Monthly meetings were held, often in members' homes, and the group was funded by an annual grant from the Department of Agriculture, membership dues and by raising money locally. The group focused its early attention on sending Red Cross comfort packages and money to soldiers during World War I. One of the group's first major accomplishment, the Arcadia Cenotaph, was erected by the Institute in the early 1920's, marking the deaths of five local soldiers during the War. The Institute was instrumental in establishing a community hall in 1923, and is still responsible for its maintenance. Because the Women's Institute could not own land or property, the Village of Arcadia Improvement Society was established to legally hold the mortgage and ownership of the monument and the hall. In the early years the group was involved with youth and education but the school involvement was dropped when schools amalgamated in the 1950s. By the mid 1920s six standing committees had been established: legislation, home and school, health, home economics, agriculture, and home industries. Other activities were exchanging recipes, musical performances, crafts, discussions on social issues, starting a library, and village improvement. The Women's Institute remains active in Arcadia.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of complete minute books, including detailed minutes of monthly meetings, membership lists and accounts; receipts for maintenance of the Community Hall and Cenotaph; payroll book; membership book; and scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings of articles related to the Women's Institute.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Records were received from Barbara White of the Arcadia Women's Institute.
Arrangement
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Script of material
Location of originals
Y MS 3 86
Availability of other formats
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Finding aids
Associated materials
Related records can be found in the Village of Arcadia Improvement Society fonds, Y MS 3 86, Yarmouth County Museum and Archives and the Wallace Bay Women's Institute fonds, North Cumberland Historical Society.
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.