Skip to main content

Doberman Pinscher Club of America collection

 Collection
Identifier: AKD-3-7

Scope and Contents Note

The Doberman Pinscher Club of America collection spans from 1887 to present and is a comprehensive record of the Doberman Pinscher breed in America and the club's activities.

The collection is arranged into ten series. Club Administration and Governance includes club meeting minutes, secretary's files, officer and committee files, and membership lists, directories, and club yearbooks. The Chapter Clubs series includes records related to the management of chapter clubs, Chapter Club Executive Committee meeting minutes, and records of specific chapter clubs, which occasionally include newsletters.

Dog Shows include National Specialty show planning records, catalogs, premium lists, awards, video, and realia/ephemera such as souvenirs, pins, and awards from the club's National Specialty conventions. Most annual National Specialty shows are memorialized with numerous photographs, mostly win shots, and scrapbooks created by club members. Also included are some photographs and video from chapter club specialty shows and a few international Doberman Pinscher show catalogs.

Aptitude Tests records begin in 1976. These are evaluation results from Register of Merit and Working Aptitude tests. Some video of testing is also present. The Publications series includes books, periodicals, and newsletters on Doberman Pinschers, as well as a variety of brochures published by the DPCA including breed standards. Popular breed periodicals are included, such as the Club's main publication,

Dates

  • 1887-2016

Creator

Language of Materials

The bulk of this collection is in English. There are also some periodicals, books, and pedigrees in German.

Access Restrictions

Two document boxes comprising governance files and National Specialty records are restricted and inaccessible due to the presence of inactive mold. Please see the archivist for details. The rest of the This collection is open to research without restrictions.

Publishing and Use Restrictions

Many of the materials, particularly photographs, may still be under copyright and require permission of the AKC and/or the creator before publishing. Please direct all inquiries regarding publication of materials, digital copies, and permissions to the Archivist.

Club and Breed History

Club History: The Doberman Pinscher Club of America (DPCA) was founded in 1921 by George H. Earle III (who later became a U.S. Minister and Governor of Pennsylvania). The DPCA has members in every state, fifty three chapter clubs, and over 2,000 members today. It is the only national club for the Doberman Pinscher breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. Since 1925, the club has hosted an annual National Convention that includes the club's National Specialty show and annual meeting.

Breed History: Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann (1834-1894) of Apolda, Germany is said to have created the breed around 1890 by combining several breeds of dogs. The breed was first registered with the American Kennel Club in 1908. Dobermans' loyal temperaments make them ideal protectors, and they are often used as police and military dogs. Doberman Pinschers that have won the Westiminster Kennel Club show include Ch. Ferry v Raufelsen of Giralda (owner/breeder Mrs. M Hartley Dodge) in 1939, Ch. Rancho Dobe's Storm (grandson of Ch. Ferry v Raufelsen of Giralda) in 1952 and 1953 (owner Len Carey breeder Brint/Vivian Edwards), and Ch. Royal Tudor Wild as the Wind UDTX ROM (owner Arthur/Sue Korp Beth Wilhite breeder Beth Wilhite and Judy Bingham) in 1989.

Physical Description

141.52 Linear Feet (170 boxes) : in 64 document boxes, 6 legal-sized boxes, 7 cartons, 56 flat photo/folder boxes, 2 photo album boxes, 5 DVD/CD boxes, 1 slide box, 33 oversize boxes of varying sizes.

Additional Description

Abstract

The Doberman Pinscher Club of America collection spans from 1887 to present and is a comprehensive record of the Doberman Pinscher breed in America and the club's activities.

The collection is arranged into ten series. Club Administration and Governance includes club meeting minutes, secretary's files, officer and committee files, and membership lists, directories, and club yearbooks. The Chapter Clubs series includes records related to the management of chapter clubs, Chapter Club Executive Committee meeting minutes, and records of specific chapter clubs, which occasionally include newsletters.

Dog Shows include National Specialty show planning records, catalogs, premium lists, awards, video, and realia/ephemera such as souvenirs, pins, and awards from the club's National Specialty conventions. Most annual National Specialty shows are memorialized with numerous photographs, mostly win shots, and scrapbooks created by club members. Also included are some photographs and video from chapter club specialty shows and a few international Doberman Pinscher show catalogs.

Aptitude Tests records begin in 1976. These are evaluation results from Register of Merit and Working Aptitude tests. Some video of testing is also present. The Publications series includes books, periodicals, and newsletters on Doberman Pinschers, as well as a variety of brochures published by the DPCA including breed standards. Popular breed periodicals are included, such as the Club's main publication,

Arrangement

This collection is divided into ten series based on content, form, and the DPCA's original arrangements:
  1. 1. Club Administration
  2. 2. Chapter Clubs
  3. 3. Dog shows
  4. 4. Aptitude tests
  5. 5. Publications
  6. 6. Scrapbooks, videos, and photographs
  7. 7. Special collections
  8. 8. Educational videos and records
  9. 9. Realia
  10. 10. Pedigrees

Provenance

The bulk of the collection was donated by representatives of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America to the American Kennel Club Library & Archives. The DPCA's Archives Committee chair from 2007 to present, Karin Fox, subsequently sent further materials to the AKC Archives on various dates.

Related Materials

'Lucky' War Dog collection (AFC/2001/001/04520), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Accessed Aug. 15, 2017 at memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.04520/

For more on dogs that served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, see Record Group 127, Records of the United States Marine Corps, War Dog Service Books series, in the U.S. National Archives in College Park, MD, National Archives Identifier 5989339, at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5989339. The National Archives also publised a related article in Prologue Magazine, Winter 2011, vol. 43, no. 4,

Separated Materials

Some published books and periodicals in the collection were added to the AKC Library general stacks in the Doberman Pinscher section and other appropriate sections, if not already held by the library.

In the Chapter Club series, correspondence and forms regarding the ordering of medallions for show awards, event applications/approval forms, and forms from the AKC to Chapter Clubs administratively closing a recently held show and enclosing an application for the next show were removed from these files during processing, as they were voluminous and did not contain historically significant information.

Deaccessions

  • Realia, trophies/awards, pins, medallions
  • Books and periodicals, show catalogs, premium lists
  • Medallion orders and form correspondence, individual ballots of directors unless containing relevant annotations,

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Creator

Source

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Doberman Pinscher Club of America collection
Status
Completed
Author
Katie Bednark. Initial processing of some administrative material performed by Craig Savino.
Date
2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the American Kennel Club Library & Archives Repository

http://www.akc.org/about/archive/
Contact:
101 Park Avenue
5th floor
New York New York 10178 United States
2126968216

Staff Interface | Visit ArchivesSpace.org | v3.2.0 | Send Feedback or Report a Problem