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College Union. Records, 1935-, 1935

 Series
Identifier: RG6-3-1

Scope and Contents

The College Union administrative records include minutes, correspondence, policies, budget, and reports. The majority of the records were created by the Union Director but there are also records of student committees. There is a main series and a subseries of publications, RG 6/3.1b. There are three other series related to the College Union: RG 6/3.2 Union Board, RG 6/3.3 Artist Series, and RG 6/3.4 Contracts. The Administrative collection contains correspondence, minutes, reports, contracts, and printed materials from the College Union. The files document the activities of the Union in providing entertainment for students as well as supplementing the curriculum through speakers, symposium, and cultural events. In addition to providing information on student and college activities, the files also document the role and influence of Union Director, C. Shaw Smith. Smith as well as the development and growth of College Unions on academic campuses nationwide, and poetry circuits. The correspondence includes records from both the director's office and student organizations of the Union. These files cover both external communications and those directed to the college campus. The minutes are from Union Committees, particularly the Union Board. The reports concern specific activities organized through the union including College Bowl teams, symposium, community Christmas parties and film series; the reconversion of the Grey Library Building into the College Union; and budgets. Box 10 contains information on plans for the Union from the 1980s through the construction of the Knbloch Campus Center. Additional files on Union planning can be found in the records of the Executive Assistant to the president (RG 2/6.1). Policies cover use of facilities and programming procedures. Box 11 has a spreadsheet, ATC Allocations, that provides a list of student organizations, the date first chartered and ATC allocations for the period 1984-85 to 2008-9. The contract files contain correspondence, contracts, and promotional materials such as brochures and photographs of the various entertainers presented through the Union. These vary from local rock or folk groups to nationally known singers and speakers and include Cultural Events and Artist Series programs. They also include circuses and special events, such as film festivals and mid-winters. The printed materials include flyers, calendars, newsletters, and programs. In addition, there are two boxes of materials relating specifically to the Artist Series containing publicity, correspondence, and business files. The T-shirt created as part of Senior Week 2006 is housed in the artifact collection as A-426.

Dates

  • Creation: 1935

Creator

Biographical / Historical

Throughout the first 120 years of the college, students founded organizations and sought forms of entertainment. In the 1850s the literary societies were able to contruct buildings for their meetings and activities. The YMCA building, completed in 1891, and the Alumni Gymnasium constructed in 1916 also provided space for recreation. But it was not until 1952, that the College hired a College Union Director and renovated the Alumni Gymnasium into a student social center. The building, newly renamed the Ovens College Union, contained a cafeteria and dining room, student store, game rooms, and rooms for student organizations. The first director, C. Shaw Smith was a Davidson graduate, class of 1939. He quickly made the Union an active center of student life and was influential in the development of student unions on campus across the nation. The Union was expanded and renovated in 1963. With the selection of a new site for the college library in the 1970s, the Union was moved from Ovens to the Grey Library building in 1974. In 2001, the student union moved from the Grey Library to the Knobloch Campus Center. The Director of the College Union is responsible for generating programs, working with the College Union Board and Davidson Outdoors, and managing facilities (College Union, Union Outpost, Johnson Gym, Erwin Lodge - and some uses of Love Auditorium, Chambers Gallery, Eu and Phi Halls). In addition, the office handles the responsibilities of the Director of Student Activities including advising student organizations on funding and event planning, working with the Activities Tax Council and monitoring use of student organization funds.

Extent

11.00 boxes_oversize (11 boxes + oversize)

Language

English

Arrangement

The College Union administrative records include minutes, correspondence, policies, budget, and reports. The majority of the records were created by the Union Director but there are also records of student committees. There are three other series related to the College Union: RG 6/3.2 Union Board, RG 6/3.3 Artist Series, and RG 6/3.4 Contracts.

Physical Location

B5.3

B5.4

B2.4

A9.2

A9.3

A9.6

Mapstand D-2

D4.5

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from College Union

Repository Details

Part of the College Archives Repository