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Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia Records, 1914-1991. Organization records collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
This collection was given to The Library of Virginia by the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia, 503 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, in July 2000.
The concept for the Travelers' Aid Society grew out of the gold rush to the United States' West in the early 1850's. In 1851, Bryan Mullanhy, former mayor of St. Louis, left more than a third of his million dollar fortune in a trust fund to be administered by the St. Louis City Council for those persons who were "traveling to the West." The National Travelers' Aid Society was an offspring of this initial generous offering. The Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia based and founded in Richmond, Virginia, was organized by the Young Women's Christian Association. In 1909, Helen Beardsley was employed by the Y.W.C.A. as the Travelers' Aid Secretary and in that capacity she served under a committee known as the Travelers' Aid Committee. The principal aim of this committee was to provide protective work for young women. Beardsley eventually expanded the committee's aim to include not only young women but also unwed mothers with children, foreigners, and the physically disabled. As the sole full-time employee, Beardsley's work-load increased so dramatically in the first five years that by 1914-1915 the committee was compelled to organize an independent society named the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia with two full-time workers, Helen Beardsley and Irene Fallis. The organization operated out of Byrd Street Station in downtown Richmond, Virginia.
In 1914 the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia became a member of the National Travelers' Aid Society based in New York. Beardsley and Fallis worked as the only full-time employees until their health deteriorated and they were forced to resign. At that time Miss Earl Recks became executive secretary. Under her supervision case work began and donations from professional men, successful local businesses, the railroad companies, and even the state were solicited. With the securement of sufficient funds, new Travelers' Aid branches were organized in Portsmouth, Norfolk, Petersburg, and Newport News, Virginia.
During World War I, the Travelers' Aid Society took on new responsibility by helping traveling soldiers and their families. They also began to serve those in need without regard to race, creed, color, sex or age. In 1917 the first African-American employee was hired by the organization. After the war and during the Great Depression, Travelers' Aid workers continued to take on heavier and heavier case loads. Through a combination of private and state support, the organization continued to lend assistance to those travelers in need. During World War II, the Travelers' Aid Society operated as a branch of the United Service Organization. In Richmond Travelers' Aid case workers lent aid to traveling soldiers who stopped at the Lounge at Broad Street Station. They provided magazines and books, helped check their luggage and reserve a room, rendered first aid, and provided letter-writing paper and mail facilities, among other services. Public service like that offered during the World Wars and the Great Depression have enabled the organization to remain the oldest, existing, non-sectarian, social welfare movement in the United States.
Records, 1914-1991, of the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia, an organization operating and located in Richmond, Virginia. This collection is organized in six series and includes letters, minutes, an organizational history, annual reports, scrapbooks, plaques, certificates, case studies, a ledger, photographs, promotional material, clippings, training and resource manuals, a phonograph record, and printed material. Also in this collection is material concerning the United Service Organization of which the Travelers' Aid Society was a member.
Organized into the following six series: I. Scrapbooks and clippings II. Annual reports and minutes III. Organizational files IV. Publications V. Certificates and plaques and VI. Photographs.
Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia, Scrapbook, [192-], Accession 40059
Contains scrapbooks and clippings concerning the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia. Specifically, there are scrapbooks, 1934-1937, 1941-1977, 1965, 1979, consisting of newspaper clippings concerning the organization and photographs of transients. One scrapbook, 1965, consists of six photographs, letters, itineraries, press releases, invoices, programs, and Virginia tourist pamphlets concerning the 50th anniversary celebration of the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia. Letters found in this scrapbook principally concern prior planning for the anniversary celebration held in Richmond, Virginia, in conjunction with the annual regional conference for the organization. Also in this series are loose newspaper clippings, 1938-1939, 1962, 1970-1973, concerning the organization and its activities.
Consists of Travelers' Aid Society board of directors' and executive committee meeting minutes, United Service Organization meeting minutes, list of the board members from 1915-1950, lists of contributing members, 1915-1922, annual reports for 1937, 1942-1947, 1949, 1956-1957, 1961-1966, 1969-1979, 1982, 1985, and 1991, monthly general secretary's reports, 1914-1916, and a general secretary's notebook, 1931. There are also United Service Organization annual reports, 1960 and 1962.
Comprises organizational files principally containing correspondence, reports and manuals concerning the operation and function of the Travelers' Aid Society. Includes case studies, teaching and training manuals, case study plays, resource manual, personnel practices and social case work files, a case workers' handbook, a United Service Organization handbook of operations, research studies, policy statements, and reports. Reports span from the 1930's to the 1980's and specifically concern relief practices, statistics recording, the function of the Travelers' Aid Society, inter-city services, travel services, war veterans services, the Richmond homeless population, and the Bainbridge-Blackwell neighborhoods in Richmond. There is also a ledger, 1984-1988, including names of transients aided by Travelers' Aid Society workers. SERIES III also contains organizational correspondence consisting of letters, 1936-1937, sent to and from Mrs. James F. Ryland, an officer of the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia. Also in this series is correspondence, 1940-1943 and 1957-1963, for the United Service Organization (U.S.O.) of which the Travelers' Aid Society was a member. In particular this correspondence concerns travel services provided for soldiers in Richmond, Virginia, on duty during World War II. Other material related to the United Service Organization includes by-laws, reports, and committee lists.
Various publications related to the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia are contained in this series. Includes a history of the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia prepared by Sue B. Ruff in the 1940's, Travelers' Aid Society and United Service Organization promotional pamphlets and newsletters, a copy of "Legal Research Bulletin: Conditions Determining Residence and Settlement for Persons Seeking Relief" printed by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in 1934 and "An Evaluation of the Fingerprinting of Transients by the Richmond Travelers' Aid Society as a Prerequisite to the Giving of Assistance" submitted as a masters thesis to the Richmond School of Social Work (William and Mary College) by George Emmett Rice in 1941.
Contains certificates and plaques given to the Travelers' Aid Society for service to the community. These include a certificate, 1946, from the United States Armed Services in recognition of their service during World War II; certificate of membership from the National Travelers' Aid Association to the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia; and the United Givers Fund Award, a plaque, presented in 1960 to the organization. There are also a small amount of photographs in this series pertaining to the Travelers' Aid Society of Virginia.