Arrangement and Description Outline of the Records of the North Conway Institute

The records are made up of eleven series:

1.0 Administrative Records
2.0 NCI Sponsored Conferences
3.0 NCI Activities and Cooperative Projects
4.0 NCI Publications
5.0 Resource Material
6.0 Correspondence
7.0 History
8.0 David Works Personal Papers
9.0 Fundraising
10.0 Audio and Visual Materials
11.0 Photographs


1.0 Administrative Records

      Legal Records
      Internal Revenue Service Records
      Executive Committee
      Board of Directors
      Annual Reports of the President
      Committees
      Board of Trustees
      Financial Records
      Staff
      Correspondence
      Annual Meeting of Members
      Semi-Annual Meeting of Members
      Luncheons

Description: NCI incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1959 as The North Conway Foundation, INC. In 1963, the name was changed to North Conway Institute. Since the beginning, boards and committees were formed to provide structure and accountability to the work of the organization. Trustees were later appointed to serve as a further support network for NCI. Trustees shared their knowledge and networks while helping facilitate the ongoing work of fundraising. NCI also hosted an Annual Meeting of Members as a way to invite more people to hear about NCI and to feel involved in its work. The executive vice president reported directly to the Board of Directors. His yearly reports are listed chronologically after the Board of Directors files. These reports give a narrative, year by year, view of the work of NCI through the eyes of its founder, David Works. These reports tell stories of people helped, budget cuts and the shifting priorities of NCI through the years.

2.0 NCI Sponsored Conferences
      June Assemblies
      Alaska Conferences
      Fly-Ins

Description: In 1951 David Works helped organize the first statewide alcohol seminar for clergy. This was the first conference of its kind in the United States. The second and third conferences were held in 1952 and 1953 during September. These early seminars were co-sponsored by the Division of Alcoholism of the New Hampshire Department of Health, the New Hampshire Council of Churches and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. The fourth conference in 1955 was the first year the event was held in June and expanded to cover a full week. After 1955 the conferences continued each June until 1984.

While NCI often worked with other groups to sponsor conferences, this series documents the yearly June Assemblies solely sponsored by NCI. These yearly meetings brought together scientists, clergy, business executives, community leaders, alcohol counselors and government officials. The records from these conferences help show how NCI served as a consensus and community builder around the issues of alcoholism. Speeches and position papers from each conference are documented here.

3.0 NCI Activities and Cooperative Projects

Description: This series shows the networks, relationships, partnerships and co-sponsorships that NCI formed and used to accomplish its mission as an interfaith catalyst for education and action on the issue of alcoholism. This series documents the work that NCI did together with other groups in the church, in industry and government and in their community. This was the core work of NCI and so this series was created to mirror that. Some examples of the type of information found in this series include: proposals to serve as consultants to government agencies, conferences that NCI co-sponsored, such as the 28th International Congress on Alcoholism, and a film that NCI helped create about the churches and alcohol.

4.0 NCI Publications
      Resources
      Booklets
      Studies and reports
      Communications
      Press Releases
      Newsletters
      Catalysts
      Foundation News
      NCI Reports
      NCI Bulletin
      Trustee Report
      Brochures about NCI

Description: This series contains most of the booklets, newsletters, reports and other brochures published by NCI. From 1967 to 1999 NCI published the Catalyst newsletter. The Catalysts are a concise record of the work of NCI. The booklets, studies and reports were resources NCI published for public distribution. Topics include such things as reports about alcohol and the American churches, responsible decisions about alcohol and the theological basis for ecumenical action. The communications section contains press releases and brochures about NCI as well as internal newsletters published for board members and trustees.

5.0 Resource Material
      Speeches & Reports
      Publications
      Pamphlets
      Print Media
      Topical Files
      Organizations
      General
      Denominations
      Government
      States
      Business and Industry
      Academic
      Reference
      Names

Resource Files Description: These Resource files were some of the material NCI kept as it worked as a networking organization and as a resource to the public. This section is divided into five subseries: Speeches and Reports, Publications, Topical Files, Organizations and Names.

5.1 Resources: Speeches & Reports

Speeches & Reports Description: NCI collected manuscripts and transcripts of speeches and reports related to alcoholism. Some of these transcripts were retrieved from the speaker and others were requested from state and national government agencies. This grouping of speeches given at academic and religious conferences and government hearings record the dialogue that helped shape the culture's attitudes toward problems concerning alcohol.

5.2: Resources: Publications

Pamphlets Description: More than 800 booklets published from the 1940s to 1989 are arranged here. Many of these are small press publications with limited distribution that form part of the evolving conversation of the attitudes towards and treatment of alcoholism.

Print Media Description: This is a collection of reprints from small and limited distribution journals, magazines and news clippings.

5.3: Resources: Topical Files

Topical Files Description: The files in this series are broad in nature. Topics include such areas as Industry, Native Americans and Women. Most of the files are general reference material, but some files go into more detail and show NCI's work and interest in the topic. The files on Industry contain correspondence and material related to the connection between businesses, alcohol and NCI. Documents showing the growth of Employee Assistance Programs as well as speeches and reports about alcohol's impact on the workplace are also in this section. Other topics worthy of note include the files on Drunken Driving and the files on Native Americans. In the 1950s and 1960s, NCI worked to bring drunken driving to the forefront of society's conscience. Documents from David Work's term on a Massachusetts Governor's Task Force on drinking and driving are housed within the files on DWI. David Works also served on a federal government committee on Native American issues. Files from that committee are contained here along with reference material about Native Americans and alcohol.

5.4 Resources: Organizations
      General Organizations
      Denominations
      Government
      States
      Business and Industry
      Academic
      Reference

Organizations Description: The files found within this series show these groups' action and reaction in response to alcohol and alcoholism. Gathered here is material from businesses, grass roots groups, churches and others. The section on denominations shows the ecumenical style of NCI.

5.5 Resources: Names

Names Description: Some of these files are reference in nature. Other files show the personal relationship between NCI and the person. There are files on politicians, scholars and friends. Most of the files are not in-depth or complete representations of the people and their work. A few people who actively worked with NCI and David Works such as Tom Price, Seldon Bacon and David Hancock have several files each of their writing and correspondence.

6.0 Correspondence
      Outgoing, 1945-1988
      Incoming
      Unsorted

Correspondence Description: This series contains letters written to and from NCI from 1945 to the 1980s.

7.0 History

History Description: This series contains scrapbooks kept by NCI, a written history of the Institute and transcripts of interviews conducted in the 1980s of prominent leaders within NCI.

8.0 David Works Personal Papers

David Works Personal Papers Description: This series contains correspondence, sermons and prayers written by David Works, newspaper clippings about Works, files he kept on personal interests and some non-alcohol related committee records.

9.0 Fundraising
      Contributions
      Solicitations
      Letters
      Mailing Lists
      Corporate Correspondence
      Foundations
      General Corporate Correspondence

Fundraising Description: This series contains the records kept by NCI of their continuing efforts to support their non-profit organization. Solicitation letters to individuals and grant proposals to foundations show the private and corporate support NCI received to accomplish its work.

10.0 Audio and Visual Materials

Audio and Visual Materials Description: This is a small collection of cassettes and reel to reel audio recordings of some speeches given at NCI conferences. The film, "The Churches and Alcohol Problems" is also part of this series.

11.0 Photographs

Photographs Description: This is a small collection of black and white photos taken at NCI conferences and copies of photos used in producing the NCI newsletter, the Catalyst.