Considered the oldest women’s club in Indiana, the Women’s Club of Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana, was organized by Mary Frances Donnohue and Elizabeth Ames in 1874. The club’s goal was “to extend our knowledge by study, to investigate for ourselves leading questions of the day and to attain and enjoy higher intellectual, social and moral culture.”

The collection spans 1879 to 2013 and primarily consists of meeting minutes, program booklets, treasury records, correspondence, club histories, photographs, and newspaper articles, along with other records that document the club’s activities. Also included are research presentations on local topics such as Washington C. DePauw, historic houses of Greencastle and Putnam County, Greencastle photographers (1850–1980), early Greencastle industries, and prominent citizens including Eli Lilly, Dr. O.F. Overstreet, Wilbur Kurtz, and John Clark Ridpath. Of particular interest is the presentation “Preserving Our Heritage: Historic Homes of Greencastle and Putnam County,” which includes both photographs and descriptive narratives of historic houses. This collection is arranged alphabetically then chronologically.