Médium

1922 · ref. 16468 — 1922. Collection of three original autograph booklets completed at a joint Young Men's Christian Association Y.M.C.A. and Young Women's Christian Association Y.W.C.A. social mixer held at Iowa State College on September 29 1922. The booklets document organized social interaction between male and female college students during the early twentieth century when campus religious associations sponsored introductions recreational activities and opportunities for students to form acquaintances. Each booklet contains printed spaces for recording participants' names and home addresses all completed in manuscript preserving dozens of contemporary entries from individuals attending the gathering. The combination of standardized printed forms and handwritten personal information records how students established and maintained social contacts within the college's coeducational environment providing names and addresses that may permit further identification of participants. Iowa State College September 29 1922. Three original printed Y.M.C.A.-Y.W.C.A. mixer autograph booklets each comprising four pages twelve pages total. All three are completed in pen and pencil with manuscript names and home addresses entered beneath printed headings. Issued for the same September 29 gathering the booklets provide separate records of introductions made during the event. 1 Y.M.C.A.-Y.W.C.A. Mixer Autograph Booklet. Iowa State College September 29 1922. Four pages. Original printed booklet completed in manuscript recording names and home addresses of individuals encountered during the college social gathering. 2 Y.M.C.A.-Y.W.C.A. Mixer Autograph Booklet. Iowa State College September 29 1922. Four pages. A second completed example from the same event retaining handwritten entries in pen and pencil within the printed autograph format. 3 Y.M.C.A.-Y.W.C.A. Mixer Autograph Booklet. Iowa State College September 29 1922. Four pages. A third completed example preserving additional manuscript entries from the September 29 mixer. The Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. maintained active collegiate associations throughout the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries combining Protestant religious instruction with student social activities and campus programming. At coeducational institutions such as Iowa State College joint events provided organized opportunities for men and women to meet outside formal academic instruction. These booklets preserve the names and home addresses exchanged during one such gathering documenting a specific student social event rather than merely its advertised program. Their printed prompts also illustrate an early method of maintaining personal networks through written contact information decades before electronic communication. Light handling wear consistent with contemporary use; manuscript entries strong and legible throughout. Overall very good condition. Three completed examples of collegiate social ephemera preserving individual names residential information and student interaction at Iowa State College in September 1922. unknown