Family Council of North Carolina, Inc. Records, ORG.103

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Family Council of North Carolina, Inc. Records, ORG.103

Abstract

The founding members of the NCFLC saw its role as primarily educational and advisory. Members and officers of the Council included, but were not limited to, family life educators, social workers, physicians, and clergy members. The Council sought to work with local organizations to raise awareness of issues facing North Carolina families-divorce, child rearing, drug abuse, unemployment, and more-and to provide resources to help families better cope with those issues.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Family Council of North Carolina, Inc. Records
Call Number
ORG.103
Creator
North Carolina Family Life Council
Date
1948-1991
Language
English
Repository
State Archives of North Carolina

Collection Overview

This collection has been divided into nine series: annual conference, correspondence, financial records, general records, local and regional councils, membership information, minutes, publications, and miscellaneous.

The collection includes some papers dating from the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the majority of records are dated between 1948 and 1986.

Arrangement Note

Chronological within each series.

Finding Aid prepared by: Catherine J. Morris on 22 January 1979 and revised 22 August 1986.
Revised by: Kathryn Michaelis in December 2010.

Biographical/Historical

The Family Council of North Carolina, Inc., was founded in 1949 as the North Carolina Family Life Council (NCFLC) by a group of eight delegates who had represented North Carolina at the White House Conference on the Family the preceding year. Soon after the 1948 White House Conference, the delegates held a follow-up conference to determine what action could be taken to improve the quality of family life in North Carolina. Another North Carolina conference was held in 1949, and its attendees voted to form the NCFLC.

In 1965, the NCFLC was incorporated, and it was granted tax-exempt status the following year.
The founding members of the NCFLC saw its role as primarily educational and advisory. Members and officers of the Council included, but were not limited to, family life educators, social workers, physicians, and clergy members. The Council sought to work with local organizations to raise awareness of issues facing North Carolina families-divorce, child rearing, drug abuse, unemployment, and more-and to provide resources to help families better cope with those issues.

The NCFLC held an annual conference every year from 1949 to at least 1988, eachfocused on a different theme. The conferences featured workshops and lectures given by experts in various areas of family life. In addition to the annual conference, the NCFLC has sponsored and participated in a variety of family life-oriented programs year-round in various locations and in partnership with community organizations across North Carolina.

At the time of its founding, membership in the NCFLC was restricted by its constitution to members of its parent organization, the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). In 1954, the constitution was revised to allow individuals to be invited to join by the Membership Committee. During the 1960s, the NCFLC intensified its recruitment efforts, and by 1971 there were nine possible categories of membership to the Council, including student membership, couple memberships (annual or lifelong), individual memberships (annual or lifelong), and organizational memberships.

The NCFLC was an affiliate council of both the NCFR and the South Eastern Council on Family Relations (SECFR). As of 1972, the NCFLC had six local affiliate councils in North Carolina, including the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Family Life Council, the Family Life Council of Greater Greensboro, the Family Life Council of Greater High Point, the Choanoke Area Family Life Council, the Family Life Council of Alamance County, and the Watauga County Family Life Council.

The NCFLC officially changed its name to the Family Council of North Carolina, Inc. (FCNC) in 1996. The FCNC is currently active, but appears no longer to be an affiliate council of the NCFR.

Contents of the Collection

1. Annual Conference, 1948-1988

Scope and Content:

This series contains materials relating to the planning and execution of the NCFLC's annual conferences. Included are conference programs; agendas for workshops; promotional materials; information on conference speakers; post-conference evaluation forms; and miscellaneous other materials. The series also includes some conference-related correspondence that was filed with conference materials.

2. Correspondence, 1948-1991

Scope and Content:

This series contains general correspondence relating to NCFLC business. Chief among the topics discussed are committee meetings, NCFLC events, fundraising, recruitment of new members, and other general administrative matters. Most correspondence is between NCFLC officers and members, though there is some correspondence between NCFLC leadership and the NCFR, as well as between the NCFLC leadership and various other organizations.

3. Financial Records, 1950-1987

Scope and Content:

This series contains quarterly and annual reports of the NCFLC Treasurer; printed budgets and budget worksheets; miscellaneous financial records; and materials relating to the incorporation and tax-exempt status of the NCFLC. The materials relating to incorporation and tax status have been divided into federal and state files. The IRS folders primarily contain application materials for tax-exempt status as well as correspondence, among NCFLC officers and between NCFLC leadership and the IRS, relating to the IRS's initial denial of tax-exempt status and the subsequent effort to attain it.

4. General Records, 1949-1988

Scope and Content:

This series is divided into two subseries: Committee Materials and General Administrative Records. Committee materials relate to both standing and ad hoc committees that were formed to oversee the performance of specific Council operations. Individual committee files include memoranda, notes from meetings, and general informational and administrative documents. The General Administrative Records subseries contains Council reports; information on NCFLC policies and procedures; grant applications, submitted to several organizations, and related material; a binder containing an organizational history of the NCFLC, written in 1972; an outline for writing the NCFLC's history; and various drafts of and amendments to the governing constitution and bylaws of the NCFLC.

5. Local and Regional Councils

Scope and Content:

This series contains documents created by and/or relating to various local family life councils in North Carolina; state family life councils elsewhere in the United States; the SECFR; and the NCFR. Included are informational brochures, newsletters, announcements of upcoming events, lists of officers, and miscellaneous other materials.

6. Membership Information, 1951-1987

Scope and Content:

This series chiefly consists of lists of individual and institutional NCFLC members, as well as cumulative membership reports.

7. Minutes, 1948-1988

Scope and Content:

This series contains minutes and agendas, primarily from meetings of the NCFLC's Executive Committee and Board of Directors. A few scattered committees' meeting minutes are also included.

8. Publications, 1951-1986

Scope and Content:

This series is divided into four subseries: The Council Record, NCFR Publications, Other NCFLC/SECFR/NCFR Publications, and Miscellaneous Organizations' Publications. The Council Record is the official newsletter of the NCFLC. NCFR publications in the collection include volumes of the research journals Journal of Marriage and the Family, a research journal concerning marriage and family issues, and The Family Coordinator, which publishes articles on family education and counseling. Other publications included are NCFR and SECFR newsletters; NCFLC position papers; conference proceedings; and brochures, newsletters, and miscellaneous other publications from a variety of organizations with ties to the NCFLC.

9. Miscellaneous

Scope and Content:

This series contains materials that do not fit properly into any other series, including newspaper clippings, photographs, unpublished writings, files on non-NCFLC-affiliated organizations, educational materials, and other materials.

Subject Headings

  • North Carolina Family Life Council
  • Family Council of North Carolina, Inc.
  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Family Life Council
  • Choanoke Area Family Life Council
  • Family Life Council of Alamance County
  • Family Life Council of Greater Greensboro
  • Family Life Council of Greater High Point
  • National Council on Family Relations
  • Southeastern Council on Family Relations
  • Watauga County Family Life Council
  • Family counseling
  • Family life education