Minutes of the Contemporary Book Club, Clarksville, TN, 1944-1969

The Hazel E. Goodlett consists of four minute books, including the one minute book of the Amateur Garden Club, 1959-1982, and three minute books of the Contemporary Book Club, 1943-2006. The collection also includes loose materials found within the minute books, including club meeting schedules, officer rosters, thank-you notes, obituaries, leaves of absences/resignation letters, and photographs.

This collection documents the institutional history of the Amateur Garden Club and the Contemporary Book Club. The minute books are a rich source of local women's history from the early 1940's through mid-2000's. Members of the Contemporary Book Club were well-read and conversed on a multitude of topics, including World War II, Watergate, art history, and foreign travel. Several families over the years hosted foreign exchange students from places such as Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden who presented slideshows of their native lands. Club members also showed their own films and photograph slides from trips to Africa, Europe, and Hawaii. The entertainment descriptions reveal culinary trends of the latter half of the twentieth century. Novel recipes, such as molded vegetable salad, hummingbird cake, and ambrosia, appear alongside more traditional offerings of pound cake and cheese straws. Photographs of members gathered at different hostesses' homes illustrate the changing domestic decor and fashion styles from 1954-1977. The literary works read by members also highlight popular literature over the decades.