A Guide to the Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas, Records, 1961-1996

Historical Note

Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas, is an ecumenical community of Christian women in the San Antonio area "who wish to manifest their unity through fellowship, study and cooperative action." The Unit is affiliated with the national organization of Church Women United (CWU), as well as the Texas and Area 7 levels of the organization.

CWU in San Antonio was originally formed in 1920 as the Federal Protestant Women's Association. In 1931, the organization's name was changed to Protestant Women's Organization; in 1934, it became the Council of United Church Women; and in 1954, the name was changed to Church Women United of San Antonio. The current bylaws state the organization's name as Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas.

The purpose of CWU in San Antonio, as stated in its bylaws, is to "encourage church women to come together in a visible fellowship to witness to their faith in Jesus Christ and, enabled by the Holy Spirit, to go out together to every neighborhood and nation as instruments of reconciling love." The Unit meets at least four times a year, for the "ecumenical celebrations" of World Community Day, World Day of Prayer, and May Fellowship Day, and for its annual meeting in September. Other meetings are scheduled for forums and leadership training events.

In addition, CWU in San Antonio supports ecumenical action through advocacy and service in local and national ministries. It also awards annual scholarships to deserving high school students from member churches and to women entering or returning to the workforce, and works with organizations with similar goals such as the Texas Conference of Churches, the World Council of Churches and the United Nations.

The national organization of CWU was founded in 1941. Today, its national headquarters are in New York City, and it has 1200 local and state Units in the United States and Puerto Rico, which "represent 25 million Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christian women." Members work nationally and internationally in partner groups on common issues and emphases. Annual "ecumenical celebrations" and international or "global relations" events are held to further the organization's goals. On the local level, members work in such areas as prison ministries, literacy and job skills training, and food banks.

_{Sources: Church Women United website (www.churchwomen.org/) and the Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas, Records ("Organization - Bylaws", Box 1, Folder 2; "Organization - History", Box 1, Folder 4; and "Activities - Ecumenical Action/Advocacy and Service", 1985, Box 9, Folder 8.)}

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Scope and Content Note

Reports, minutes and proceedings, correspondence, printed materials, photographs, and scrapbook materials document the organization, structure, and activities of Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas, (1955, 1961-1999). Scrapbook materials document the organization from 1927-1941, 1944-1949, and 1953 when the organization existed under its prior names, the Federal Protestant Women’s Association, the Protestant Women’s Association, and the Council of United Church Women. In addition to scrapbook materials, minutes, reports, and records document 1941.

The bulk of the collection documents CWU in San Antonio’s local organization and local community work. Documentation of the Unit’s work on the area level--Area 7, includes materials of other area Units’ participation in Area 7 (the Blanco County Unit, Bourne Unit, Comal County Unit, Guadalupe County Unit, Hill Country Unit, Randolph Area Unit, San Antonio Hispanic Unit, San Antonio Metropolitan Unit, and Uvalde Unit.) Materials also document the Unit’s attendance at the Texas State Assemblies and its participation in the nation-wide ecumenical celebrations of "May Fellowship Day,""World Community Day,""World Day of Prayer," and "Fellowship of the Least Coin."

Materials are arranged into three series, Organization, Activities, and Scrapbooks.

Organization contains materials on the Unit’s history, structure, bylaws, and membership, as well as meeting minutes, financial reports, newsletters, yearbooks, publicity materials and newspaper articles. Also included are minutes and reports for Area 7 meetings and Texas State Assemblies, including a slide show of the 1985 Assembly.

Activities contains materials on the San Antonio Unit’s ecumenical advocacy and service work, primarily on the local level. Though printed material on approximately forty-five organizations is included here, the Unit’s work with the Bexar County Detention Ministries, the San Antonio Coalition for Children, Youth and Families, and the San Antonio Literacy Council is documented in the greatest detail.

Scrapbooks for 1953 and the prior years noted above provide the only records of the early years of the organization, with the exception of 1941. Scrapbooks for 1955, 1961 to 1986, and 1993 to 1996 supplement other series’ documentation of the Unit’s membership, organization, and activities of these years and extend knowledge and understanding of the Unit’s history and work.

Materials within folders are arranged chronologically or alphabetically by subject.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions on these materials.

Usage Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Records must be obtained from the Archives and Special Collections, University of Texas at San Antonio Library.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Church Women United in San Antonio Records, 1961-1996, MS 15, Archives and Special Collections, University of Texas at San Antonio Library.

Acquisition Information

All materials were donated by the Church Women United in San Antonio, Texas, in 1996 and 2004 (Acc. #1996-004, 1996-007, 2004-097, 2004-111, 2004-017, 2004-019).

Processing Information

Processed by Katie Salzmann, Processing Archivist, August 1996. Materials reprocessed by Kathy Rankin, Archivist, in September 2004.

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 Note to Researchers 

For related collections available in the UTSA Archives, see also: Church Women United in Texas—Western Hills Unit (MS 124) and Church Women United in Texas (MS 39).

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Detailed Description of Collection

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