Quota Club of Greensboro Collection

NOTE:  The numbers cited in parentheses, e.g., 1:5, refer the researcher to the Series#:Folder# in which that name/topic will be found.

INTRODUCTION

This collection consists primarily of scrapbooks documenting the operations and activities of the Quota Club of Greensboro, a professional women’s service organization chartered by Quota International in 1949. The five scrapbooks are filled with photographs, newspaper clippings, and programs. Also of note are miscellaneous documents, including the club charter. Researchers interested in the activities of civic groups in Greensboro, particularly women’s clubs, may find this collection of interest.

Arrangement: This collection is organized in two series and arranged within series by document type or subject. The series are: Miscellaneous, 1949, 2014; and Scrapbooks, 1952-1992.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Mary L. Bolling in July 2024 and assigned the accession number 2024.18.1. The donor joined the Quota Club of Greensboro in the mid to late 1980s.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by intern Jordan Fridley in June 2025.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The Quota Club of Greensboro was a professional women’s service club and chapter of Quota International, which was headquartered in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1949, the Greensboro chapter’s objectives centered around promoting high ethical standards, mutual understanding, and good will. The club met once a week and often held additional events or meetings. Membership was limited to a certain number of women from each profession.

The activities of the Greensboro chapter consisted of many service projects. The members made stew in the fall and spring and sold pecans during the holiday season to fund community projects, including scholarships for those pursuing careers in service to the deaf and hard of hearing, hearing screenings over the phone, and partnerships with the Central Carolina School for the Deaf. The club frequently invited people to speak on prevalent societal issues, including Dr. Gerald Truesdale, who discussed the struggles of uninsured Americans (2:5).

The Quota Club of Greensboro may have been active through 2019, when it filed its last tax return as a nonprofit organization. Quota International dissolved in late 2020 (Quota International), citing the disbandment of club chapters and dwindling membership. Operations within the United States were taken over by Quota USA, which sought to “preserve the core values of Quota by sharing ideas, encouraging each other, serving their communities, and enriching the lives of their members” (Quota USA). Quota USA was dissolved on October 31, 2024, also as a result of reduced membership.

Historical Sources: The historical information about the club charter and the club’s early activities was acquired from “Quota Club Sets High Standards” (Greensboro Daily News, June 9, 1949), while the details about the club’s activities and presence in the community were gathered from materials in the collection. Information on Quota International and Quota USA was collected from multiple versions of their respective websites, which were accessed through the Wayback Machine.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection is dominated by five scrapbooks compiled by members of the Quota Club of Greensboro. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and brochures detailing the club’s activities in the community, its internal operations, and its participation within Quota International. The later scrapbooks also include photographs of club meetings and service projects. Of particular note among the miscellaneous documents is the 1949 club charter, which sets forth the intentions and expectations behind the founding of the Greensboro chapter. A program and catalog from the first annual Fine Arts Festival of Guilford County may interest those studying the local arts and music scene (2:6).

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Miscellaneous.  2 folders (3 items).  1949, 2014.

The highlight of this series is the club charter, which outlines the objectives underpinning the establishment of the Greensboro chapter (1:2). These objectives included the “foster[ing] of the ideal of service to country and community, the recognition of the worth of all useful occupations as means of service to the community, and an intelligent advancement of ideals of righteousness, justice, mutual understanding, and good will” (“Quota Club Sets High Standards”). Also of note are a certificate from Quota International acknowledging the 65th anniversary of the Greensboro chapter’s charter and a letter from executive director Barbara Schreiber (1:1).

2. Scrapbooks.  6 folders (8 items).  1952-1992.

This series documents the Quota Club’s community service efforts and internal operations. Earlier scrapbooks consist chiefly of pamphlets, booklets, and newspaper clippings, while later ones are organized by subject and also contain photographs, financial documents, letters, and sections for newspaper clippings featuring club members. This change may indicate a transition from a hobbyist approach to scrapbooking to utilizing the scrapbook as a more official means of documenting club operations. Also contained in the series are loose pamphlets presumably originating from the 1952-1960 scrapbook (2:6).

Photographs and newspaper clippings in the scrapbooks document the club’s service projects. Fundraising through the sale of stew in the fall and spring and pecans during the holiday season facilitated their community projects, including scholarships for those pursuing a career in speech pathology and activities with the Central Carolina School for the Deaf. The 1991-1992 scrapbook contains materials pertaining to end-of-life planning, such as paperwork for medical directives and last will and testaments. These items may have been included as a service to members or as part of the Quota Club’s service to “Golden Age” individuals, which was added as a directive of Quota International in 1956.

The scrapbooks also offer insight into Quota International’s role as a global organization. It supported an international fellowship fund and voted to support the principles of the United Nations in 1947, renewing that dedication regularly. Its efforts to create a presence as a positive force in the international community also included care packages and providing clothes for children in overseas orphanages.

FOLDER LISTING