Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Descriptive Summary
Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Records of the Old Glebe Civic Association,
1976-2011
RG 187
2 boxes.
English
Old Glebe Civiic Association
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Records of the Old Glebe Civic Association, Collection # RG 187, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
Acquisition Information
Gift of Ruth Gordon in July of 2011.
Historical Information
The Old Glebe Civic Association (OGCA) is a volunteer organization whose mission is to give Old Glebe neighborhood residents a voice in local, County, and State affairs by serving as a conduit of communication. It was formed in 1974 in reaction to a proposed operation of a commercial tennis camp in Glebe Park. Under its early leadership by Mary Kay Parker and Audrey Ward, the OGCA's focus was to counter commercial development along Old Glebe Road in order to preserve the quiet, wooded neighborhood with its single-family residential character. After successfully fighting commercialization, the OGCA became dormant in the late 1970s. Whendi Farris began serving as the Old Glebe area liaison to Arlington County in 1986 to resume communication between the neighborhood and County government. The OGCA was revived by Kathy Fong beginning in 1999, with a formal announcement of its return in their January 2001 newsletter. The OGCA promotes community events such as block parties and activities at the Madison Community Center and seeks input from neighborhood residents on issues ranging from traffic calming initiaitves to real estate development and from beautification projects to public safety concerns. The OGCA maintains an active website at www.oldglebe.org.
Scope and Content
RG 187 contains materials from both active periods of the OGCA and currently measures .83 linear feet. The earliest materials cover the years 1976 to 1979 and are primarily financial materials including bank statements, receipts, and expense reports.
The later materials cover the years 2001 to 2011, with the bulk of the material being from the mid-2000s. There are financial materials for this time period along with membership lists and applications, information about proposed neighborhood projects, OGCA newsletters, meeting minutes and agendas, the 2003 Conservation Plan, and email communications of the executive committee and the block captains. The membership materials contain addresses and telephone numbers for the OGCA members and potential members.
Arrangement
This collection has four series as determined by the archivist. Material within this collection was arranged by the OGCA. Within folders, the OGCA either arranged material reverse chronologically or chronologically. This original order has been generally maintained, with the archivist moving individual documents only to keep items in the chronological arrangement predominant in each folder. Original folder titles have been maintained wherever possible, appearing on the folders in quotes (""). Titles or portions of titles without quotations and dates have been added by the archivist.
Series 1 contains the financial records of the OGCA and maintains the original labeling. The folder arrangement is also that of the original OGCA except for Series 1, File 2, which was moved by the archivist to position all bank statements together. The OGCA Treasurer pin found loose in the donated box of material was grouped into Series 1 by the archivist and is represented by File 5. The pin itself has been moved to appropriate housing and File 5 contains a separation sheet to mark its placement within this series. An asterisk (*) at the end of the folder title denotes this separation.
Series 2 holds all material relating to OGCA membership. In the original OGCA arrangement, the membership lists and the membership applications folders were separated by the newsletters and projects folder. To keep similar subject matter together, however, the archivist has moved the membership applications into this series. The archivist also created a separate folder within this series for property ownership listings that were in with the membership lists but were not reflected in the original folder title.
Series 3 contains the material pertaining to projects and some of the OGCA's newsletters. These items were in no clear chronological or subject-based order within the original folder and were arranged into the current chronological order by the archivist.
Series 4 contains the material of the OGCA leadership, including both the top-level executive committee and the mid-level block captains. The correspondence of the executive committee that forms File 3 in this series was arranged according to its subject type by the archivist but was originally interspersed within the minutes and agendas folder and the newsletters and projects folder.
Index Terms
Subjects:
civic associations
Arlington (Va.)
Arlington County (Va.)
Old Glebe (Arlington, Va.)
Contents List
Financial Material
"Bank Statements"
May 1976-December 1999
1
"Bank Statements, Registers, and Receipts"
July 1976-May 2004, December
1
"Financial Statements"
March 2001-March 2007
1
"Expenses and Balance Sheets"
May 1976-July 2006
1
Artifacts*
1
Membership
"Membership Lists"
January 2005-November 2006
1
Property Ownership Listings
January 2005
1
"Membership Lists"
January-November 2011
1
"Membership Lists"
1976-1979, May 2001-November 2003
1
Membership Applications
2002-2006, n.d.
2
Membership Applications
2005-2007, n.d.
2
Projects and Newsletters
"Newsletters and Projects"
November 1976-October 1979, 1983, 2000-February 2003
2
"Newsletters and Projects"
March 2003-2005, April 2006, May 2008-Fall 2008, March 2011, n.d.
2
Leadership Materials
"Block Captains
2002-2005, 2007, n.d.
2
"Minutes and Agendas"
January 2001-March 2011 (not inclusive)
2
Executive Committee Materials
May 2001-August 2006 (not inclusive)
2