Co-op Club (Georgia Institute of Technology) Visual Materials
Collection
Identifier: VAUA440
This collection contains two scrapbooks with photos from events hosted by the Co-op Club: the "Miss Perfect Lips" Dance, blood drives, casino nights, ski trips, and initiation ceremonies, as well as one single picture of the 1996-1997 Co-op Club taken for the 1997 edition of the Blueprint.
(one flat oversized box and one half-size document box)
None.
Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.
1.9 Linear Feet
This collection contains two scrapbooks and one single image. The first scrapbook chronicles the "Miss Perfect Lips" Dance held by the Co-op Club from 1957 to 1962, excluding the 1961 dance. Photos and newspaper clippings about the finalists for each year's dance are included in this scrapbook. Because the adhesive in this scrapbook was disintegrating causing the clippings and photographs to come loose, the scrapbook was dismantled. The scrapbook was photocopied prior to dismantling.
The second scrapbook chronicles the events and activities of the Co-op Club from 1983 to 1993, including group yearbook pictures from 1984 to 1988, and pictures of all of the new members each year. Other photos and descriptions in the scrapbook include those of the biannual blood drives, casino nights, and initiation ceremonies, as well as the annual Co-op Club ski trip to the mountains of North Carolina. This scrapbook was photocopied for preservation purposes.
Finally, Series 3 contains a single photo of the 1996-1997 Co-op Club, to be used in the 1997 edition of the Blueprint (the yearbook of the Georgia Institute of Technology).
The Georgia School (now Institute) of Technology was founded in 1885, and its doors first opened in 1889. In 1906, the University of Cincinnati began a new program for their students known as the Co-operative Program. This program combined practical work experience with classroom experience, providing credit toward a degree for successful completion of a term in a work environment. The program was a success, and a few other universities and colleges adopted it as well. In 1912, Georgia Tech adopted co-operative education. Tech's program, unlike those at other schools, was optional for students. Because Tech was on the quarter system, each co-op student would alternate work and class quarters. Half of the co-op students would have their work quarters in the spring and fall, and the other half would work during the winter and summer quarters.
Because many co-op students did not live on or near campus during their work quarters, they found it hard to become active in clubs or organizations in school that coincided with the normal school schedule. Therefore, in 1915, the Co-op Club was formed, and split into two sections: Section I for students who had their work quarters in summer and winter, and Section II for those who worked fall and spring.
Throughout its history, the club served the interests of many co-op students, and in the 1950s and 1960s, it held a dance called the "Miss Perfect Lips" Dance. At the end of the night, the group would crown "Miss Perfect Lips," the woman at the party with the nicest lips. Beginning in the 1980s, the Co-op Club collaborated with the Georgia Tech Bookstore to host the annual Monte Carlo Night, which was later renamed to Casino Night, a free casino-style party open to all Tech students. Also beginning in the 1980s, the Co-op Club's largest service event was the quarterly blood drive, which consistently collected hundreds of pints of blood for the Red Cross. The Co-op Club also administered the James G. Wohlford Scholarship, a $250 award for an outstanding senior in the Co-op program.
In 2000, Georgia Tech transitioned from the quarter system to the semester system, combining both sections of the Co-op Club into one. Membership dwindled, and the club probably disbanded in 2004. Administration of the Wohlford Scholarship was transferred to the Briarean Society, the honor society for co-op students.
This collection is arranged into three series:
A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.
Accession no. 2000.54.
Manuscript materials in this collection have been processed separately as UA440.
(one flat oversized box and one half-size document box)
Lindsay Resnick and Mandi D. Johnson processed this collection in June 2012.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository