University Guild Records

Collection

Identifier: M220

Staff Only

Abstract

The University Guild began as an organization to help fund the roof of the University of Denver Chapel in 1912. It gradually became less of a fund-raising organization and more of a voice for support of community arts and culture. The records of the group include minutes, organization histories and memorabilia related to the group's activities.

Dates

1912-1982

Creator

University Park Guild (Denver, Colo.) (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

The Constitution of the University Chapel Guild was adopted October 10, 1912, and gave as its object the completing and furnishing of the University Chapel, which was standing roofless on the campus. In November of the same year a second objective was added: to promote the social life of the Park. The first pledge of $1,000 to tile the chapel roof was paid before January 1, 1914.

The next project was a pledge of $2,500 for the Endowment Fund. That goal was met by January, 1920. Then they began raising money for a pipe organ and delivered $3,000 by 1930. University Park was divided into districts for the fund-raising endeavor, and some years the districts were required to put on a special entertainment to aid the social life as well as gathering funds. The Guild held food sales, rummage sales, fashion shows. Entertainments and magazine subscription sales also augmented the funds.

The use of funds for the Chapel had changed to other causes, and in 1930 the group changed its name to University Guild. Dues were $1.00 and meetings were held on the second Thursday of the month, usually with a guest speaker. The Guild was a supporter of the YWCA on DU's campus. Among the presidents were Mrs. R. H. Biggs, Mrs. Henry A. Buchtel, Miss Ann McKeen Shuler and Mrs. W. B Iliff.

A Chorus was first mentioned in the 1925 minutes and became a feature of the December meetings. The efforts of Mrs. Edward Milligan, University Park was the first neighborhood in Denver to hire a landscape architect, and they chose S. R. DeBoer. By 1962, the Guild's fiftieth anniversary, it was no longer a fund raising organization, but a supporter of cultural life in the community.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 half record box)

Additional Description

Scope and Contents

The University Guild records contain minutes of the meetings of the organization beginning in 1912, and continuing until 1980. Treasury reports are sometimes included with the minutes and sometimes are a separate report. Rosters and printed programs for the meetings are also found in the records. Historical information about the organization is included, as are the records of a sub-group, University Guild Chorus. Finally, there is a series on donations made by the Guild together with tributes to members and memorial tributes.

Arrangement

The records are divided into 5 series.; 1. Chapel Guild Records and Correspondence.; 2. University Guild Records.; 3. Histories and Memorabilia.; 4. Chorus.; 5. Tributes, donations and memorials.;