A Guide to the Records of the Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated

Finding aid created by Matt Kruse

University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections

February 2019

Biographical/Historical Note

The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. The membership consists of nearly 15,000 professional women of color in 288 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom. It is one of the nation's oldest and largest volunteer service organizations made up of women who are committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The Links' programming has five facets which include Services to Youth, The Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, and Health and Human Services. The programs are implemented through strategies such as public information and education, economic development, and public policy campaigns.

The Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated developed out of F.O.C.U.S. (Females Organized for the Challenges of Unity and Self Awareness), a civic organization founded in 1978, dedicated to improving the physical, emotional, intellectual, and moral status of African American women. It consisted of women from the local university and Gainesville community. On June 30, 1983, a group of F.O.C.U.S. members and a few other women met to discuss the potential for organizing a Links Interest Group.

The primary program was named College Admissions Requirements Essentials (CARE). It was successfully launched on April 7, 1984 with a grant from the Community Instructional Service. This program was designed to help high school students raise their SAT scores. It was successful, and the grant was renewed for the 1985-1986 academic year. The program was the chapter's Umbrella Project.

The Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated was officially chartered during the weekend of May 17-18, 1985. The inducting officers were Link Carolyn Washington, Southern Area Director, and Link Jacqueline Robinson, National Chapter Establishment Officer. Then National Vice-President, Link Regina Jollivette Frazier, and National Director of International Trends and Services, Link Gwendolyn Welters, were also present.

Today, the Gainesville Chapter of The Links is made up of members of the Gainesville Community who have distinguished themselves as community servants, philanthropists, and change agents for a better Gainesville.

Sources:

"About the Links, Incorporated." The Links, Incorporated, 10 Feb. 2015, www.linksinc.org/about.shtml.

"Chapter History." Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, 04 Feb. 2019, http://gainesvillelinks.weebly.com/chapter-history.html.

Scope and Content

The records of the Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, date from 1983 to 2019 and contain establishing records, minutes, handbooks, reports, publications, and other organizational records.

The "Facet" records are organized based on The Links' five facets which include Services to Youth, the Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, and Health and Human Services.

The files are arranged alphabetically by record type and then chronologically.

Other records on the Gainesville Chapter including files on fundraisers, history, membership, national publications, southern area publications, and financial records reside with the Chapter Archives.

Access or Use Restrictions

Access

The collection is open for research.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Records of the Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Acquisition Information

Donated in 2016 by Sylvia Parker, Historian for The Gainesville Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. Ongoing donations expected.

Selected Subjects and Access Terms

African Americans.
Civic improvement
Florida -- Gainesville.
The Links, Inc. Gainesville Chapter.
Women social reformers.
Women.

For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.

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