Citizens for a Better City, 1959-2012

Access and use

Location of collection:
Mary Riley Styles Public Library
Mary Riley Styles Public Library
120 North Virginia Avenue
Falls Church, VA 22046
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Peter Sullivan
Phone: (703) 248-5030

Summary

Extent:
11 boxes
Language:
Materials in this collection are in English .

Background

Scope and content:

Edward B. Strait, a Falls Church resident, collected and held the files of the CBC. These files were donated to the Mary Riley Styles Public Library in 2013 per his instructions. These were added to the files already held by the library.

The collection of the CBC is arranged into eight series created by the archivist. It covers the time period 1959 to 2012.

  • Series 1: By-Laws and History
  • Series 2: Annual Meetings
  • Series 3: Executive Committee
  • Series 4: Elections. Each election contains files for the nominating convention and the campaigns of CBC candidates. Campaign materials are also included here. Most election also have a file of newspaper clippings. This series was arranged chronologically.
  • Series 5: Subject files
  • Series 6: Falls Church
  • Series 7: Publications
  • Series 8: Newspaper Clippings
  • Series 9: Audiovisual materials and Photographs
  • Series 10: Edward B. Strait

Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 are arranged chronologically. The files in Series 5 and 6 are in alphabetical order.

Biographical / historical:

The Citizens for a Better Council, later renamed Citizens for a Better City, was formed in 1959. A group of citizens was concerned that the City Council was ignoring a referendum that was passed to expand the high school. They ran three candidates for City Council, and all three were elected. In the following election years, the CBC would hold a convention to nominate candidates to run for City Council on a non-partisan basis. The CBC no longer holds nominating conventions, but is still active in the community.

Acquisition information:
In 1979 the CBC transferred its file to the Mary Riley Styles Public Library. The original transfer included campaign materials from 1959 to 1976. The resolution also allowed for additional materials to be incorporated into the collection. Additional files were donated by Edward B. Strait. There are no restrictions to access the files.
Arrangement:

The files were reorganized into series by the archivist. The CBC had arranged the files by year for the Executive Committee, the convention records and the campaign materials. Previous to the donation, the Falls Church History Room had some files of the CBC which were incorporated into the Edward Strait donation. Files retained the names given by the CBC. Most files are in chronological order except as noted above. Newspaper clippings pertaining to a particular election are included in Series 4 and were placed in separate folders; other newspaper clippings were placed in Series 8.