Overview of the Collection

Historical Note

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Restrictions

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series 1: Plainfield Papers, 1924-1995

Kiwanis Club of Plainfield [1924-1995]

Finding aid prepared and encoded by Anna Henderson in April 2008.

Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, Michigan, on January 21, 1915. The name "Kiwanis" means "we trade" or "we share our talents." It was coined from an American Indian expression, Nunc Kee-wanis. In the early years, Kiwanis clubs focused on business networking, but even then, members were serving the needs of the poor. By 1919, the organization had changed its focus from business to service.

Kiwanians are volunteers changing the world through service to children and communities. Kiwanis members help shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, mentor the disadvantaged, and care for the sick. They develop youth as leaders, build playgrounds, raise funds for pediatric research, and much more.

Kiwanis became an international organization in 1916 with the organization of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario. Kiwanis limited its membership to the United States and Canada until 1962 when worldwide expansion was approved. Kiwanis was also a male-only organization until 1987, when, after years of debate and growing support, women’s membership was overwhelmingly received. Today, Kiwanis International is composed of about 8,000 clubs in 96 countries with more than 260,000 members and about 320,000 youth. Each year, these clubs sponsor nearly 150,000 service projects and raise more than $107 million.

Objects of Kiwanis International

The six permanent Objects of Kiwanis International were approved by Kiwanis club delegates at the 1924 Convention in Denver, Colorado. Through the succeeding decades, they have remained unchanged.

Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs

Kiwanians around the globe have one common goal: To serve the children of the world. Kiwanis advocates this vision every day by providing opportunities to serve for every member of a community through Service Leadership Programs. Through these opportunities, youth and young adults around the world become competent, capable, and compassionate leaders.

Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs include the following:

Circle K International (CKI) is the premiere university service organization in the world sponsored by Kiwanis International. With clubs on more than 550 campuses globally, programming is based upon the tenets of service, leadership, and fellowship.

Key Leader is a leadership experience for today's youth leaders. It focuses on service leadership as the first, most meaningful leadership development experience. A Key Leader learns the most important lesson of leadership—leadership comes from helping others succeed.

Key Club - 245,000 high school leaders from 24 countries unite every day to provide service in their homes, schools, and communities, and complete more than 12 million hours of service. Key Clubbers work to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa, stop premature birth, and battle for the rights of children in their communities.

Builders Club - Nearly 40, 000 middle and junior high students in 1,300 clubs in 18 nations contribute service to school and community while developing leadership and people skills. Builders Club members implement practical service-learning principals as they focus on supporting organizations that focus on the needs of children.

K-Kids is a student-led community service club for elementary students that teaches members the value of helping others through participation in community service projects and club activities.

Terrific Kids is a student recognition program that promotes character development, self-esteem, and perseverance. Students work with their classroom teacher and establish goals to improve behavior, peer relationships, attendance, or schoolwork. Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive, Capable.

Bring Up Grades (BUG) is a program designed to provide recognition to students who raise their grades into an acceptable range, and maintain or continue to raise them from one grading period to the next.

Aktion Club members in more than 200 clubs in seven nations allow adults living with disabilities to develop initiative and leadership skills through hands-on service. These adults return to the community the benefits, help, and caring they have received.

Plainfield Kiwanis Club

The Plainfield Kiwanis Club [1924-1995] was founded in 1924 and was an active branch of Kiwanis International until it was disbanded in September 1995 after membership declined to sixteen. The organization took part in local community service, such as the contribution of tools to the Plainfield High School’s vocational programs, sponsorship of summer Girl Scout “camperships” as well as a nursing scholarship at Muhlenberg Hospital, distribution of toys and food baskets to needy families, donation of four aluminum canoes to the Boy Scouts Camp, planting of 50 evergreens at Police Headquarters and the development of a Youth Baseball League. They also organized the Scotch Plains Key Club, the Wardlaw Key Club and a Key Club in Aukland, New Zealand.

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Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, Michigan, on January 21, 1915. The Plainfield Kiwanis Club [1924-1995] was founded in 1924 and was an active branch of Kiwanis International until it was disbanded in September 1995 after membership declined to sixteen. The organization took part in local community service in addition to organizing the Scotch Plains Key Club, the Wardlaw Key Club and a Key Club in Aukland, New Zealand. This collection includes annual reports, membership lists, newsletters (Blotters), meeting minutes, and event programs.

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The "Kiwanis Club of Plainfield" collection is arranged into one series:

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

The "Kiwanis Club of Plainfield" collection is available for research.

Access is restricted to materials prepared by the Local History department staff. All materials must be viewed in the Plainfield Room and may not be removed to another area of the library without permission of the Library Director or designee. Materials must be handled carefully and kept in order. Materials must not be leaned upon, altered, folded, ripped, or traced upon. Marks may not be added or erased from materials. Materials must be returned directly to Local History department staff and inspected before the researcher leaves the Plainfield Room.

Restrictions on Use

One photocopy may be made (by Plainfield Public Library staff) of each document for the purpose of research; official Local History departmental reproduction fees may apply. Permission to publish must be obtained by the Plainfield Public Library Board of Trustees as delegated to the Library Director. Permission to publish does not constitute a copyright clearance. The researcher is responsible for further copyright restrictions. The Plainfield Public Library is not responsible for the misuse of copyrighted material.

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This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Organizations:

Places:

Subjects:

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This collection consists of paper documents, which do not require any additional technology for access.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Identification of item; Date (if noted); "Kiwanis Club of Plainfield" collection, Box and Folder Number; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey.

Acquisition Information

Unknown.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Anna Henderson in April 2008. The finding aid was written by Anna Henderson in April 2008. Finding aid content follows the guidelines suggested by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.

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