Local History Collections

(Description ID: 607355)

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums 

Exchange Club of Fremont 

LH-444

Introduction
Agency History
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
The records of the Exchange Club of Fremont, Ohio, were donated to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in 2021.

Agency History
The Exchange Club of Fremont, Ohio was originally one of the National Exchange Club chapters that is structured into 31 districts and 12 regions throughout the United States, where 21,000 members are organized into 700 clubs. The National Exchange Club was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1911 by businessmen who wanted to “exchange” ideas on improving their community. In 1917, it moved its headquarters to Toledo, Ohio. The National Exchange Club is the country’s oldest service organization. By the 1940s, the National Exchange Club organized its activities around seven areas of service: education, agriculture, aviation, citizenship, commerce and industry, federal youth rehabilitation, and geriatrics. Today, the organization focuses on the prevention of child abuse and housing for veterans.

The Exchange Club of Fremont formally organized May 31, 1939 with 68 businessmen present. They represented Fremont and surrounding northwest Ohio communities.  Among them were 27 charter members. The Exchange Club of Fremont focused its efforts on raising funds for youth activities involving education, citizenship, sports and patriotism. These included youth baseball, Junior Achievement, Sandusky County Junior Fair, YMCA, and American Field Service. The organization also supported the Red Cross, Easter Seals for Crippled Children, and aviation classes for future pilots.

Weekly meetings included reports on membership drives and fundraising activities. The club hosted guest speakers (state and local) and presented travelogues. The organization is no longer in existence.

Scope and Content
The records of the Exchange Club of Fremont include the original constitution, by-laws enacted in 1969 and 1973, and charter meeting programs with correspondence from that event. Also, in these records are board meeting minutes, meeting minutes, newsletters, rosters, program booklets, information about events and activities, and several photographs. There is a significant gap of nearly all records throughout the 1970s. The records are arranged chronologically with board minutes first followed by meeting minutes and then newsletters. However, a 1927 roster exists as well as a second roster dated 1937/1938 with notes from the Progressive Club. It is unknown if these rosters and notes represent an unofficial forerunner of the Exchange Club of Fremont.

Inventory
Ac. 6073
1 ½ ft.

1. Constitution, n. d. (2 copies, By-Laws 1969, 1973
2. Charter meeting, 1939
3. Charter meeting correspondence
4. Minutes, roster, news clippings, 1940
5. Minutes, roster, news clippings, 1944, 1945
6. Board meeting minutes, meeting minutes, roster, 1946-1951
7. Board meeting minutes, 1959
8. Board meeting minutes, 1960
9. Board meeting minutes, 1961
10. Board meeting minutes, 1962
11. Board meeting minutes, 1963
12. Board meeting minutes, 1964
13. Board meeting minutes, 1985
14. Board meeting minutes, 1986
15. Board meeting minutes, 1988
16. Board meeting minutes, 1989
17. Board meeting minutes, 1991
18. Board meeting minutes, 1992
19. Board meeting minutes, 1993
20. Board meeting minutes, 1994
21. Meeting minutes, 1954
22. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1958
23. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1959
24. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1960
25. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1961
26. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1962
27. Meeting minutes, newsletter articles, 1963
28. Newsletters, 1982/1983
29. Newsletters, 1983/1984
30. Newsletters, 1984/ 1985
31. Newsletters, 1987/1988
32. Newsletters, 1996/1997
33. Newsletters, 1997/1998
34. Newsletters, 1998/1999
35. Rosters
36. Program Booklets: 1952-1958; 1960; 1962-1963;1966-1976; 1984-1985; 1988-1989
37. Events and activities
38. Photographs
39. Roster, 1927
40. Roster, Notes of Progressive Club, 1937-1938