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Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary Records

 Collection
Identifier: 1995-11

Collection Scope

SERIES I: Administrative (1954-2005) contains the official records and related papers of the officers, boards, and committees of the Cranbrook Gardens Auxiliary, the Cranbrook House Auxiliary, and--after 1975--the combined Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary. Included in this series are board, committee, and annual meeting minutes and related documents; financial reports and statements; directories; membership forms and information; official calendars; guidelines and policies; press releases; and summary records of volunteer hours. In addition, what little documentary evidence remains regarding the pre-auxiliary attempts to organize volunteer attention to the Cranbrook House gardens is contained in this series.

SERIES II: Correspondence (1951-1998) contains both internal and external correspondence.

SERIES III: Topical (1950-2006) includes significant material related to the activities and interests of the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary’s membership, as well as a small amount of material pre-dating the Auxiliary, but nonetheless concerned with Cranbrook House and gardens, that was transferred to the Archives along with the Auxiliary collection. This series contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, calendars, sketches, and other material documenting significant people, events, and objects related to the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary.

SERIES IV: Printed Material (1951-1995) contains items printed by or for the Auxiliary, including informational brochures, printed guides to both Cranbrook House and its gardens, a cookbook, postcards, and the Auxiliary newsletter.

SERIES V: Photographs (1982-1986) contains pictures of the launching of the restored Lake Como boat Nellie on Kingswood Lake on 11 July 1986, as well as pictures of a few people affiliated with the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary.

Dates

  • 1950 - 2002

Creator

Access

Access to the collection is unrestricted.

Use

Permission to use collection materials must be requested in writing.

History

The early history of an organized attempt to conduct public tours through the gardens of Cranbrook House involved the Cranbrook/Kingswood Schools Alumni Garden Project. Begun in the spring of 1951, this project appears to have involved little or no actual gardening, the gardens at that time being cared for by employees of the Cranbrook Foundation. Members of the alumni associations of the schools collected a $ 0.50 fee from the general public, the money going toward a scholarship fund for the schools. In 1960 this project was still underway, although by that time the Cranbrook School alumni had been replaced by alumni from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

In September, 1970, Henry Scripps Booth, youngest son of the Cranbrook founders, undertook to organize a series of meetings of representatives from Detroit area garden clubs and plant societies. These meetings, held occasionally until February, 1971, sought to move forward Henry Booth’s idea of organizing an auxiliary for the purpose of helping to preserve and improve the gardens surrounding Cranbrook House.

The inaugural meeting of the Cranbrook Gardens Auxiliary took place at 1:30 P.M. on Thursday the 4th of March, 1971, at Cranbrook House. The success of this organization led to the creation of the Cranbrook House Auxiliary. The inaugural meeting of the House Auxiliary’s Board of Directors took place on January 30th, 1975. The principle focus of this new group’s activities was organizing the use of Cranbrook House for receptions and providing information about the house to the public through tour guides and brochures.

During 1975 and 1976, despite strong lobbying from the Cranbrook administration for the combination of these two similar auxiliary groups, members of both auxiliaries were indifferent to merger proposals. Sometime between January and May of 1977 the two organizations combined in name only to form the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary, retaining separate House and Gardens sections, each with its own board and finances. On September 6, 1978, the Gardens Section attempted to re-establish completely separate auxiliaries. The motion failed to garner the required support and the Auxiliary structure as determined in the January 1977 annual meeting remained in force.

The Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary continues in the present to provide valuable services to the broader Cranbrook community.

Extent

5 Linear Feet (12 MS)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Henry Scripps Booth, youngest son of the Cranbrook founders, developed the idea of organizing an auxiliary for the purpose of helping to preserve and improve the gardens surrounding Cranbrook House. The inaugural meeting of the Cranbrook Gardens Auxiliary took place the 4th of March, 1971, at Cranbrook House. The success of this organization led to the creation of the Cranbrook House Auxiliary in 1975 to organize the use of Cranbrook House for receptions and provide information about the house to the public through tour guides and brochures. Sometime between January and May of 1977 the two organizations combined in name only to form the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary, retaining separate House and Gardens sections, each with its own board and finances. This collection contains the official records and related papers of the officers, boards, and committees of the Cranbrook Gardens Auxiliary, the Cranbrook House Auxiliary, and--after 1975--the combined Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary. The little documentary evidence regarding the pre-auxiliary attempts to organize volunteer attention to the Cranbrook House gardens is contained in this collection.

Arrangement

The Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary Records are divided into five series: Administrative (boxes 1-4), Correspondence (box 4), Topical (boxes 5-9), Printed Material (boxes 9-1), and Photographs.

Series I: Administration is organized alphabetically according to form of material and then chronologically within the alphabetical arrangement.

Series II: Correspondence is arranged chronologically.

SERIES III: Topical is primarily arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically within the folders.

SERIES IV: Printed Material is arranged alphabetically according to form of material and then chronologically within the alphabetical files.

Acquisition

Transferred to the Archives by Jane Uphoff, secretary to the Auxiliary, in 1986.

Related Materials

Henry Scripps and Carolyn Farr Booth Papers (1982-05)

Transfers

Photographs removed to Photograph Special Files (1982-1986; 1 envelope)

Processing History

Processed by William Landis, April, 1995.

Title
Guide to the Cranbrook House and Gardens Auxiliary Records
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid written by William Landis.
Date
April 1995
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Edition statement
Resource record created by Laura MacNewman.

Repository Details

Part of the Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research Repository

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