• Brief Description of Collection

• Provenance

• Historical Sketch of the Program

• Scope and Contents

• Series Description and Container List

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Name: All-America Cities Award Program Records Collection.

Title: Records, 1948-date [bulk 1952-date].

Extant: 40 cartons, 5 boxes, 4 scrapbooks (52.50 linear feet)

Historical Note: The All-America Cities Award Program was originally started in 1949 as a joint project between the National Municipal League and he Minneapolis Tribune. The award, which was co-sponsored by the National Municipal League and Look Magazine from 1952 through 1970 (and more recently by the National Civic League and the Allstate Insurance Co.), is intended to honor those cities which have utilized citizen teamwork to undertake community improvements. Eleven cities are chosen for this award annually by a jury of distinguished civic, business, labor, and professional leaders. This project still remains popular today with cities all over the country competing for the title of All American City.

PROVENANCE

All-America Cities Award Program.
Records, 1949 - date [bulk 1952-date].
Collection Number MSS-053.

The National Civic League, concurrent with its move from New York City to Denver, Colorado, donated the records of the National Municipal League on 14 May 1989 to Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections. The All-America Cities Award Program records were part of this gift. On 1 August 1991, Auraria Library received a grant [No. 91-117] from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives to appraise, arrange, and describe the more than 250 linear feet of records. On 10 August 1991, during the course of the grant project, over 200 linear feet of additional material was donated by the National Civic League.

Additions to the collection are expected as the National Civic League transfers files as part of its records management program. As new material is acquired, updated descriptions will be electronically added to the Archives and Special Collections database. Revised descriptive guides will be published as needed.

Property rights are held by Auraria Library Archives and Special Collections. It is the researcher's obligation to satisfy copyright regulations when using original research materials found in this collection. Archives and Special Collections will copy unrestricted portions of this collection after a researcher has read and signed a Request for Duplication form. The Department will inform a researcher about known copyrighted material, the owner or owners of the copyrights when known, and the researcher's obligations with regard to such material.

Citation Format:

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRAM

History of the All-America City Award

How to improve America’s cities has been a problem that various citizens, politicians, and business people have struggled with. The initial response to the problem of city improvement came in 1894. In this year the National Municipal League, later renamed the National Civic League, was founded. This organization was dedicated to citizen involvement within their communities, and it promoted the collaboration of citizens, business, and government in solving the problems in communities and resolving public issues. While the National Civic League was successful there was still much to be done.

In 1949, a program was begun under the authority of the National Civic League. The brainchild for this new program was a reporter with the Minneapolis Tribune, Jean James. James had been assigned to the Civic League’s 1949 National Conference on Government in St. Paul. It was here that James introduced the idea of an All-America City Award. Jean James believed that recognition of civic involvement would be an excellent way to both encourage new community volunteers and award the current volunteers.

The idea of an All-America City Award was a fairly simple one. Each year cities would request a formal application from the program. These applications would then be filled out, sent back to the program, and reviewed by a team of judges. From all the applications up to twenty-two finalists would be selected. Each of the finalists would then send a representative to the yearly National Conference on Government. At the conference, the finalists would show a display that focuses on the activities that they believe make them an All-America City. Then the finalists would make a formal presentation to a jury (the jury would be made up of national presidents of various civic, labor, and business organizations) of twelve. The jury would then decide on up to eleven winners of the All-America City Award. The All-America City Award program was born, and its future was bright. Currently, there are over 500 requests for formal applications with approximately 1/3 being submitted.

The only real problem for the All-America City Award program was financing. Initially, the National Civic League took sole-sponsorship until Look magazine began co-sponsoring the award in 1952. This relationship lasted until 1970 when Look ceased publication, and was forced to end sponsorship. For the next fourteen years, the program relied on contributions from the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Kettering Foundation, the Ford Foundation, PepsiCo, Aetna, and General Electric. Then in 1984, a new co-sponsor was found, USA Today. This relationship, however, would not be as prolonged as the one shared with Look magazine. By 1986, USA Today decided to end its sponsorship, and the National Civic League was left with sole-sponsorship yet again. Three years later, though, this would change one more time. In 1989, the current co-sponsor, Allstate, took over, and things were back on track.

The All-America City Award program currently boasts over 400 winners from nearly every state in the Union. The award has given the winners national recognition, a sense of community and teamwork, and, most importantly, an added incentive to improve their cities.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Scope & Contents: Includes administrative documents, reports, memoranda, correspondence, financial records, scrapbooks, photographs, sound recordings, and artifacts. Official entry forms for over 2,500 applicants for the All-America City Awards Program are included.

Arrangement: Organized into the following series: 1. Administrative records; 2. Correspondence; 3. Budget and Financial records; 4. Publicity and News Releases; 5. Screening Committee records; 6. Selection Jury records; 7. Ballots; 8. Finalist Entries; 9. Finalist Presentations; 10. Conference Materials; 11. Post-Conference Evaluations; 12. Scrapbooks; 13. Non-Print; 14. Memorabilia; 15. Application Files; 16 Photographs; and 17 Publications.

Provenance: Donated 14 May 1989 and 10 August 1991 by the National Civic League, Denver, Colorado.

Finding Aid: Printed descriptive guide available in repository; electronic version available on floppy disks through the repository and on the campus information network through Internet

Access Points:

Document Types:

SERIES DESCRIPTION AND CONTAINER LIST

Series #1: General Administrative Files