War Work Council Hostess House Committee minutes and reports, 1917-1920

File — Box: 4, Reel: 381, microdex: 4

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Hostess House Committee of the War Work Council is responsible for the oversight of the hostess house program of the YWCA of the U.S.A. during World War I. Hostess houses are established as a safe place for women visiting military camps to rest, eat and entertain their loved ones. Committee meeting minutes include updates from hostess houses and their needs, requests for new hostess houses, discussion of staff duties and the management of the hostess house and procedures for the hostess houses as military camps are disbanded following the war. Following meeting minutes are records of the actions taken in regard to each hostess house and a timeline of the development of each house. These house records are arranged alphabetically by hostess house name.

Dates of Materials

Creation: 1917-1920

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

From the Record Group:

This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.

However, by agreement with the YWCA of the U.S.A., microdexes known to contain financial records or personal health information (usually on job applications) were not digitized and/or not published in our online repository as part of the CLIR Digitizing Hidden Collections grant. These microdexes may still be accessed on the original microfilm, and digital files may be made available to individual researchers upon request.