Correspondence. Archives, 1990-1998

The Greyhound Club of America collection documents the activities, functions, decisionmaking, events, and output of the parent club devoted to the ancient sighthound. It chronicles an interesting point in the breed's history for the club, which must define its identity after both the largest non-profit greyhound adoption group, Greyhound Pets of America, and National Greyhound Adoption Program started in the late 1980s. The rescue of racing greyhounds received national attention, inciting larger public interest in greyhounds and subsequently the club, despite its interest in dogs bred specifically for conformation. The bulk of collection appears to have been assembled by Laurel E. Drew during her extended tenures as a club member (since the late 1960s), secretary (a post from which she retired in 1991), and librarian/ archivist. In the latter role, Drew worked with other members to preserve GCA records and other documentation of the breed. Later files between 1997 and 2001 were provided by Rose May Conner.

Club Administration includes annual and board meeting minutes dating back to 1958; copies of the original constitution and by-laws (1912) and articles of incorporation (1990); internal club handouts, memorandum and correspondence dating back to 1965; ingoing and outgoing mail handled by the GCA corresponding secretary, chiefly inquiries on the breed and club membership; committee reports; circulars, ballots, and other materials related to officer elections, rules revisions, and other club votes; membership directories and applications; regional and affiliate clubs, Laurel Drew's files contain miscellaneous correspondence and club handouts -- such as meeting resumes, code of ethics drafts, surveys -- and some personal material related to dogs she owned. The Archives files document historic research on the breed and donations to the GCA archives, which may include items that were ultimately donated to the AKC as part of this collection.

The Dog Shows materials represent only a small and incomprehensive sample of catalogs, premimum lists, programs and handouts, judges ballots, show writeups, correspondence and catalogs, chiefly from the 1980s and 1990s. Most relate to the club's Eastern and Western specialty events.

Publications and Printed Matter includes a selection of clippings and pamphlets pertaining to the breed and/or the club; a run of GCA newsletters dating from 1987 to 2002, some of which are the original proofs or pasteups; and the original galleys for the club's landmark publication Greyhounds in America. Some Publications Commitee correspondence and other documents, such as contracts, associated with the project are present, as well as copies of edited drafts for the book's "Conversations on the Breed" section of essays penned by prominent fanciers. The images used in the book are not represented, only notated, on the galleys.

General respect was paid to the original order of the files as they arrived, with folder labels assigned by Drew and other GCA members generally copied. For these reasons, correspondence, minutes, and other materials may also be scattered amongst various files. Similarly, documents related to Dog Shows and Publications may also be found in the Club Administration materials. Researchers are advised to consult all folders pertaining to time periods of interest.