Series 2.2 includes minutes of the board of directors, executive committee, and annual membership meeting. Folders are arranged chronologically and contain appended supporting documents (budgets, reports, lists of contributors and members, compendia of publications, etc.). ASHA program activities and finances are discussed in considerable detail in the minutes and the appended documents often afford the best summary analyses of the ASHA program in the collection. Indexes to minutes and documents for the 1916 to 1922 period may be found in box 5, folder 4. In some cases, the minutes of the standing committees on prostitution and venereal disease are also included. The entire set of minutes, except for the appended documents, is available on microfilm as SW Film 22.

A limited amount of board correspondence, 1951 to 1953, is also included in the subseries. In addition, the subseries includes records for a number of ASHA committees: nominations, 1957 to 1961; program review, 1949 to1967; national defense activities, 1948 to 1950; and the general advisory board, 1951 to 1953.

Two kinds of annual reports are available. Program reports, 1914 to 1975, are narrative resumes of program activities during a given year. The reports are listed in chronological order by year. They are in the form of pamphlets, articles, or special issues of the Journal of Social Hygiene or Social Health News, or typescripts of reports presented at annual meetings. Most are broken down into program areas, e.g., legal and protective measures, public health measures, or public information and education. The reports generally include statistical tabulations, although not in a systematic format. In 1928, ASHA issued a detailed report regarding programs and services rendered that includes a geographical break-down of service areas.

Membership corporation reports, 1914 to 1943, were required by New York State. They include summaries of real and financial property and of income and expenditures as well as lists of new members added during the year.

Materials relating to development of annual budgets, usually in the form of proposed budgets as presented to the board of directors. Supplementary estimates, memoranda, and other working papers are occasionally included. See also the minutes of board and executive committee meetings (SUBSERIES 2.2) and the membership corporation reports (SUBSERIES 2.3).

Individual fund-raising solicitations and acknowledgments, 1932-1962; form letters, 1932-1943; appeals to special contributors, 1946-1951; and enlistment of sponsors all played an important role in ASHA's direct fund-raising efforts. Individual campaigns in New York City, 1946-1962, and in Chicago reflect the absence of local community chest campaigns to meet ASHA's funding needs in these cities.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. established the Bureau of Social Hygiene in 1913 to support efforts against prostitution, vice, narcotics, and police corruption. In 1919, he offered to support ASHA's program with two dollars for every dollar it raised from other sources. The files contain annual applications for continued support that often include summaries of the year's efforts. They also include related correspondence with Raymond B. Fosdick who, in addition to his position with the Bureau, was chairman of the ASHA finance committee.

Foundation materials include a chronological file of correspondence with miscellaneous foundations, 1933-1968 (bulk, 1946-1962), followed by an alphabetical sequence of foundations that were particularly interested in ASHA programs. These include such major contributors as the American Legion Foundation, 1956-1958; the Davison Fund, 1934-1941; the Babcock Foundation, 1936-1946; the Ford Foundation, 1955-1968; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, 1953-1967; the Taconic Foundation, 1959-1961; and the United States Steel Foundation, 1959-1968. See SUBSERIES 6.3 for records regarding the Bagley Foundation's support of ASHA's family life education program.

Contained here are ASHA field representatives' reports and correspondence with local community chest officials that reflect efforts to include ASHA in local campaigns. Occasionally, the reports contain references to local social hygiene conditions. The bulk of the subseries is arranged alphabetically by state and, with the exception of major cities, chronologically therein. Box 31, Folders 3 through11 at the beginning of the subseries pertain to general community chest-related issues.

ASHA's relations with the National Budget Committee (NBC) are also documented in the subseries. Jointly sponsored by Community Chests and Councils of America and the National Social Welfare Assembly, NBC reviewed and coordinated the budgets of member organizations while its subsidiary, the National Quota Committee (NQC), set standards for local campaigns and distributed the resulting funds among the member organizations. Records include the general materials concerning NBC's relations with its member agencies, followed by records relating specifically to ASHA-NBC/NQC cooperation. Both are arranged chronologically.

The subseries documents ASHA's financial relationship with the National War Fund (NWF), 1946; the United Service Organizations (USO), 1948 to 1950; and the United Defense Fund (UDF), 1950 to 1955. The materials reflect fund-raising cooperation, budgets for ASHA services to the military, and descriptions of ASHA national defense projects. Also included are several folders, arranged chronologically, reflecting ASHA involvement with United Community Defense Services (UCDS), 1951 to 1952. UCDS provided services for civilians in defense-impacted areas. ASHA applied to these groups directly for funding, as well as cooperating in jointly-provided services.

Series 4.1 contains: lists of ASHA office staff, 1922-1959; biographical data on ASHA personnel, 1943-1951; applications for ASHA positions, 1950-1953; records regarding training, salary, and retirement matters, 1922-1948; and office procedure memoranda, 1924-1960.

Series 4.2 consists of files on individual members of the ASHA office staff arranged alphabetically by name. The files contain primarily memoranda and other internal communications between staff members that reflect the individual's particular area of responsibility. As a result, some of the staff correspondence files supplement records in other series. For example, correspondence files for Edgar Cummings, Mabel G. Lesher, Samuel Robbins, Esther Sweeney, and Ellis White relate closely to the education division records in SERIES 6. Individuals with significant program responsibilities are listed below, together with their particular position or area of activity. See also SUBSERIES 11.5 for articles authored by staff members.

ASHA field representatives included both regional representatives and undercover investigators. For the former group, both itineraries and correspondence have been preserved. For the latter group, only itineraries remain. Regional representatives pursued ASHA program objectives through contacts with the military, private and governmental agencies, and the general public. Their files reflect personnel matters, travel arrangements, and correspondence with regional contacts. The records also include commentary on local conditions, which are discussed in further detail in representatives' field reports (SUBSERIES 7.3). Undercover investigators visited pharmacies, "men's specialists," herbal shops and other suspected providers of "quack" treatments. Often, they complained of fake symptoms in order to collect information on any treatments that were offered and to determine who was prescribing illegally. They also tried to determine the extent and nature of commercialized prostitution as well as the attitudes and efforts of law enforcement officials. Some of their findings are recorded in the ASHA surveys (SUBSERIES 7.2). The representatives' respective geographic assignments are listed in parentheses after their names.

Series 4.4 contains records from Donald Clough, executive director of ASHA circa 1974 to 1986. The records are divided into two subseries, Subject Files and Board Member Files. Much of the material in the subject files relates to ASHA administration and policies, including personnel policy, finances, copyright, and contracts. A smaller portion of the subject files documents the Joint Labor Management Program in Drug Abuse, a pilot project that was conducted by ASHA and the AFL-CIO Department of Community Services in order to study employee drug abuse and develop treatment programs (See also SUBSERIES 6.4). The subseries also contains a few ASHA information and reference sheets. The board member files contain correspondence, pledge forms, CV's, and, occasionally, newspaper clippings from ASHA board members. Most of the material documents fund raising or board nominations and other board business. Some files contain more substantive correspondence about ASHA's projects and priorities.

Series 5.1 includes a sizeable compilation of form letters, dating from 1925 to 1952. Also included are: roster books, 1940 to 1962; outgoing telegrams, 1952 to 1954; and a confidential "telegraphic" code book, 1950. Membership certificates, directory listings, and clippings, dating from 1932 to 1956, conclude the series.

Most of the public correspondence is routine, comprising general requests for information, orders for specific ASHA publications, subscriptions to the Journal of Social Hygiene, and ASHA membership applications. More individualized items, such as requests for advice on a specific personal problem, discussion of local prostitution and venereal disease conditions, or substantive discussion of an ASHA project, are interspersed throughout the correspondence. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by state. Thereunder, most of the records are arranged chronologically. Larger cities are separated from the remainder of their respective states. Because of the bulk and the routine nature of the correspondence, only the following states were selected for retention: Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Alaska, the province of Quebec, and New York City.

Box 64, folder 9 through box 65, folder 27 contain correspondence with military officials, especially with chaplains and medical officers. Most of the correspondence relates to the distribution of ASHA materials among enlisted men. There is also discussion of prostitution and venereal disease conditions in communities near military bases and of ASHA's "character guidance program."

"Confidential letters," so designated by ASHA and apparently culled from general correspondence files, concern specific personal problems relating to sexual matters. Copies of these letters, with personal identifiers deleted, may be found in box 65, folder 29.

Series 5.3 contains a limited number of clippings from newspapers and magazines featuring major coverage of ASHA and its programs. Additional clippings that relate to specific projects and concerns are interspersed throughout the collection.

Series 5.4 contains materials pertaining to ASHA's efforts to use radio, television and film in its public education efforts, particularly by making available prepared materials for use in connection with local social hygiene activities. The series emphasizes radio, but also contains a few folders pertaining to television and film.

Series 5.4 contains radio program scripts dating from 1927 to1957. The scripts are divided into three categories; plays, speeches, and roundtable discussions. Each category is arranged chronologically. Scripts prepared by ASHA or featuring ASHA personnel are supplemented by many from other sources, notably state and city health departments. Many of the scripts were prepared and distributed in connection with Social Hygiene Day (see SUBSERIES 5.6). Among the individual authors and speakers represented are Walter Clarke, Newell Edson, Max Exner, Valeria Parker, and William F. Snow. A complete list of titles and authors is contained in folder box 67, folder 5.

The records also include correspondence and papers on a variety of broadcast-related matters. There are three folders devoted to the 1934 incident in which U.S. Surgeon General Thomas Parran refused to appear on a CBS radio program when he was not allowed to use the word "syphilis" on the air.

ASHA worked to distance itself from any person or organization in the field of social hygiene whose methods, motives, or information did not appear to be legitimate. Series 5.5 contains correspondence with and about individuals and organizations from which ASHA preferred to maintain a discreet distance. Most of the cases concern lecture tours or other forms of health education and involve requests for permission to use and distribute ASHA literature and films.

Beginning in 1937, ASHA sponsored an annual social hygiene day to draw attention to its program. Each year, it selected a theme and developed a series of materials aimed at encouraging local individuals and groups to sponsor events and publicity efforts. In addition, the national office released publicity materials to the national news media and arranged a Social Hygiene Day luncheon, usually in connection with the association's annual meeting. The records are arranged chronologically and reflect preparations for each year's observance. For most years, there is a folder devoted to the "program and publicity aids kit" that was distributed to assist local groups in their preparations. There are also copies of other promotional mailings, planning materials, and newspaper clippings. Records are most voluminous for the 1950 Social Hygiene Day, including extensive correspondence that suggests the nature and extent of the constituency ASHA reached through these efforts. Also included are materials related to the 1950 annual conference, an event surrounded by considerable controversy over anthropologist George Peter Murdock's presentation on the subject of premarital sex.

Materials concerning ASHA's William F. Snow Award for outstanding service in the field of social hygiene and the awarding of ASHA honorary life memberships. The records include lists of recipients, biographical sketches, and some correspondence reflecting the selection process. Arrangement is chronological by year of award.

Letters and resolutions from governmental and military leaders, as well as various civic and law enforcement organizations, commending ASHA for its programs.

The records reflect efforts to publicize ASHA's activities through a variety of media and to disseminate information about the prevention and cure of sexually transmitted diseases. The records also include materials from organizations, conferences, and projects related to VD education and prevention.

Early materials include a number of program statements and a 1920 survey of physicians regarding the objectives of sex education. Another early project involved 50 college presidents and other prominent educators in an effort to improve social hygiene education in the college curriculum. The collection also contains a compendium of ASHA education activities during 1932. Later projects include a series of special-purpose conferences, such as the 1958 Tri-City Conference on Illegitimacy and a 1951 "pre-induction health manual" aimed at late-adolescent boys. The manual was closely related to the 1954 conference on "Education for Personal and Family Living," which, in turn, led directly to the projects sponsored by the Bagley Foundation. (See SUBSERIES 6.2).

In 1953, the Education Division was reorganized. Ellis White became director of the division, and a new educational advisory committee was formed. A grant from the Bagley Foundation made possible the development of five regional projects, often referred to collectively as the "Bagley Project." The project emphasized teacher training as the primary means of incorporating family life education into the public school curriculum. The records include working papers and correspondence of the educational advisory committee, reports and correspondence relating to the Bagley Foundation's support for the project, and records concerning each of the five regional programs. A final report, issued in 1966, (box 89, folder 6) summarizes the project's accomplishments.

Anticipating the termination of Bagley Foundation funding, ASHA organized the National Family Life Foundation in 1960 to solicit funds for continuing the association's family life education programs. The Foundation failed to perform according to expectations and, after an ambitious start, it was dissolved in 1970. Documents include organizational correspondence, directors' minutes, fund-raising materials for the 1960-1961 period, and notice of dissolution dating from 1970.

ASHA's concern with drug abuse surfaced in the early 1960s and, in 1962, it convened the National Committee on Narcotic Addiction. The association's own Narcotic Addiction Program was begun in 1963 under the direction of Charles Winick. It featured a four-pronged strategy for dealing with drug abuse: education, rehabilitation, enforcement, and research. These strategies were the focus of a major project funded by the American Association Against Addiction from 1971 to 1972.

The Pilot Drug Abuse Project operated in four communities (Canton and Toledo, Ohio, and Modesto and Santa Clara County, California). The project resulted in ongoing drug abuse task forces in both the eastern and western regions. As the United Drug Abuse Councils (UDAC), these groups published a five-part manual on drug abuse. Project records include minutes, correspondence, and publications.

Industrial drug abuse was another major focus of ASHA projects. The association co-sponsored a industrial drug abuse project with the AFL-CIO Department of Community Services (See also SUBSERIES 4.4). In addition, the records contain voluminous reference files on drug abuse in industry.

Education Division activities continued in the post-Bagley Foundation era under the directorship of Edgar C. Cummings (1959 to 1961) and Elizabeth S. Force (1962 to 1971). The program often operated as a consultant for various communities and organizations, though with much less coordination than had been achieved with Bagley Foundation funding. ASHA also participated in groups such as the National Council on Family Relations and the Sex Education and Information Council of the United States (SEICUS). The records also include six folders documenting opposition to sex education from 1966 to 1971, as well as publications, reference materials, and newspaper clippings.

These records were generated by the division known variously as the Department of Legal and Protective Measures and the Division of Law Enforcement and Social Protection. It promoted the adoption of appropriate, enforceable laws to correct conditions which encouraged the spread of commercialized prostitution and venereal disease. The records are in the form of an alphabetical subject file containing a variety of existing laws, legal briefs, court decisions, studies, and proposed legislation. There is very little correspondence.

Included in the alphabetical arrangement under "publications," but distinctly different in content from the other subject reference files, is material relating to the compilation of legal digests and supplements. The files include a "Supplement of Laws Dealing With Prostitution and Other Sex Offences" and a "Supplement of VD Laws and Regulations."

Located in Legal Reference Files (legal box 1, folder 12 - legal box 7, folder13)

ASHA conducted numerous surveys of local conditions relating to social hygiene. The 53 reports that have been preserved here represent only a small fraction of the total. Most date from before World War II. The survey reports have been arranged alphabetically by state and, thereunder, by city. The depth of coverage varies significantly.

The records contain four general types of surveys. Comprehensive surveys investigated all aspects of a community that related to social hygiene. These might include venereal disease prevalence rates and patterns, medical treatment and control programs, the extent of vice conditions, law enforcement efforts, the availability of quack and drug store treatments, and educational and recreational programs designed as preventive measures. Surveys in this category include: Los Angeles, 1947; Washington, DC, 1930; Atlanta, 1926; St. Louis, 1923; and Cleveland, 1920. (Working files for the 1947 Los Angeles survey may be found in boxes 102-103.)

Medical and public health surveys were often a part of a broader community health and hospital survey. These tended to concentrate on public health treatment facilities and control programs but sometimes included studies of the extent of venereal disease. Among the medical and public health surveys are: San Francisco, 1931; Washington, DC, 1946; New Orleans, 1931; Kansas City, 1935; New Mexico (statewide), 1934; Harlem, 1927 and 1931; New York City, 1936; and San Antonio, 1939 and 1951. (Working files for the 1946 Washington survey may be found in boxes 103-104.)

Quackery and drug store surveys attempted to ascertain the availability of venereal disease "cures" other than those administered by a licensed physician. "Quacks" included a variety of herbalists, mystics, "men's specialists," and mail order firms. Drug stores were investigated to determine whether pharmacists were offering treatments without a doctor's prescription. Communities investigated include: Birmingham, 1933; Chicago, 1931; Newark, 1933; Cleveland, 1927; and Dallas, 1932.

ASHA is perhaps best known for its vice and law enforcementsurveys. Under-cover investigators studied a community to determine the extent and nature of commercialized prostitution and the attitudes and efforts of law enforcement officials. The full reports of two early surveys (Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, 1939; and Detroit, 1926) and a single, disguised survey report from 1962 are all that have been preserved. Cards containing summaries of prostitution survey findings for the period 1939 to 1971 are available for cities in the Alabama-Kansas portion of the alphabet (stored in card box 105). The disguised 1962 report and a number of statistical tabulations and studies (1948-1963) based on the prostitution surveys may be found in box 104. Additionally, reports filed by field representatives (SUBSERIES 7.3) contain frequent references to survey findings, but copies of the survey reports themselves are not included.

During the original arrangement and description of the ASHA records, Social Welfare History Archives staff reviewed each survey to determine which subjects were included. The following list of topics was developed: VD Incidence, Medical, Vice, Law Enforcement, and Quackery or Drug Stores. Each survey listed below includes a brief note to indicate which of these topics it includes.

Reports on local social hygiene conditions and efforts to improve them originated both from national staff members on program assignments and from regular regional field representatives. Typically, field reports described the purpose of a visit to a particular community, individuals contacted, conditions observed, actions taken, and recommendations for further action. The bulk of the material concerns the 1949 to 1954 period and consists largely of follow-ups to prostitution surveys conducted by regional field representatives. The records are arranged alphabetically by state and chronologically thereunder.

For states in the P-W portion of the alphabet only, the files also include a limited number of reports for the 1924 to 1949 period. These are less systematically structured and authored by various national staff members. The earlier reports tend to present more holistic views of community conditions than later reports, which focused heavily on relations with local law enforcement, community chests, and military officials.

Concern over the possible impact of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway on prostitution, venereal disease rates, and general community life in Great Lakes port cities prompted ASHA to meet and correspond with local officials in cities such as Toledo, Cleveland, Chicago, Sault Saint Marie, and Duluth. Associate Executive Director T. Lefoy Richman headed ASHA's activities, often consulting with the World Health Organization, National Recreation Association, United Seaman's Service, and other interested parties.

Series 8.1 is a compilation of statistics on the prevalence of venereal disease. The figures were derived from many different sources (external to ASHA) and were broken down into various demographic, geographic, and occupational categories. During 1940, in response to skepticism about the seriousness of venereal disease as a health problem, ASHA went to great lengths to substantiate its claims. The section contains correspondence with public health officials and others in various states seeking verification or clarification of previously cited figures. The concluding section of the series contains miscellaneous records relating to the ASHA program for venereal disease control from 1927 to 1968. Several folders document specific research projects, while others contain public relations materials on the prevalence of VD. A final concentration of folders relates to various concerns of the ASHA Venereal Disease Division from 1958 to 1968. Division records are also filed in SERIES 8.4.