Forms part of the YWCA of the U.S.A. Records--Record Group 6. Program.

NOTE: For the most part, the Microfilmed Records and the Original Format Records do not duplicate each other and both should be consulted. This description covers materials in both formats. See the Contents List for a folder-level inventory of the Original Format Records. See the Microfilmed Records Reel Lists for a detailed inventory of the microfilm.

Training and Personnel records consist of minutes; reports; correspondence; conference, programs and projects files; publications; studies; and subject files on recruitment and retention, the Leadership Development Center, and scholarships. The extensive records of Training include minutes and reports, course catalogs, flyers and handouts, packets, manuals, and kits used for general training in "Association principles and methods" and for training on specific topics.

Because training was one of the core functions of the National Association, training publications and materials appear throughout the records. Training materials related to specific subjects or constituencies were usually generated by staff of that unit and are filed with other related materials (e.g., training for teen leaders with Teen Age and Younger girls; financial development training with financial, etc.).

The records described in this Series deal with the overall coordination of training, and the subjects that were the responsibility of the Personnel and Training staff, such as Association history, "principles and methods," and effective administrative techniques, particularly those related to personnel matters including techniques for training others to work effectively in committees and groups.

The records contain many studies and discussions about employment standards and opportunities within the YWCA, both in the departmental records and in the records of the two organizations of professional YWCA workers, the NAEO/NAPW and the NAYE.

The many versions of "handouts" about the Association provide insight into the way the Association "interpreted" its purpose to its own staff and members and how that changed over time.

As is true elsewhere in the records, very few 1971-88 records have survived.

Microfilmed Records, 1906-70 only

[see Microfilmed Records Reel List]

With the exception of the Minutes and Reports, which are available both on the microfilm and in original format, there does not appear to be a great deal of overlap between the two formats, and both should be consulted.

Records relating to Training and Personnel can be found on the microfilm under:

• Minutes and Reports
  • Leadership Services Division
  • Membership Resources Committee
  • National Volunteer Leadership Committee
  • Personnel and Training Committee
  • Personnel Policies and Services Committee
  • Personnel Services Committee
  • Personnel Bureau Committee
  • Scholarship and Loan Committee
  • Scholarship Fund Committee-Florence Sims Memorial
  • Scholarship Department
  • Training
  • Vocational Council
  • Volunteers Committee
  • Volunteer Leadership and Training Committee
  • Volunteer Workers Bureau
• Subject Files
  • Group Work
  • Leadership
  • Leadership Services
  • Membership Resources
  • National Board, National Employed Personnel
  • Personnel Policies and Services
  • Personnel and Training
  • Speakers
  • Vocational Guidance

Original Format Records, 1907-99, 13 linear feet

[see Original Format Records folder list]

The Original Format Records contain a number of items that were donated to the National Board Archives after microfilming was completed. These include some student notes and papers from the National Training School.

There are also many training records, particularly handouts, manuals, and kits, which post-date the microfilm, particularly given the Association's commitment to re-emphasize leadership training in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Original Format Records are arranged in four sections as follows:

Department and Committees consists of general historical information, committee records, correspondence, files on conferences and consultations, a small amount of information about the Leadership Development Center, programs and projects files, staff newsletters, staff recruitment and retention materials, reports, files on scholarships, and a couple of studies.

Training consists of general historical information; a chronological file of records related to various training programs from the Secretaries' Training Institute of 1906-08 to Leadership Development Institutes in the late 1990s. Included are substantial materials about the National Training School. The last two sections under Training consist of publications, handouts, kits, manuals, etc., prepared for specific training sessions, and general publications, resource materials, manuals, etc., on a variety of subjects including parliamentary procedure, group work, performance evaluation, personnel administration, salaries and benefits, and many others.

Volunteers consists of general historical information, committee and department records, files on the Career Volunteer Development Project (an attempt to tackle the problem for the Association of the shrinking volunteer work force in the early 1980s), and training publications, manuals, and packets for volunteers and their supervisors.

Miscellaneous consists of records of the National Association of Employed Officers (NAEO)/National Association of Professional Workers (NAPW) and the National Association of YWCA Executives (NAYE).