This series comprises minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses (MJDH/PMD) created as members carried out the duties assigned by the corporation's charter and by-laws. Minutes date from the first meeting of the board on July 18, 1885 - October 1968. Minutes were handwritten in bound volumes through November 15, 1922, often with notations in the margins. Thereafter they are typewritten on separate loose-leaf pages. Minutes for executive committee meetings 1-53 from June 18, 1926-December 20, 1938 are also included. After 1938, executive committee minutes do not appear. It is not known if the executive committee ceased meeting or ceased publishing its minutes along with the board minutes. In 1954, minutes of the "first meeting" of the executive committee are found, and minutes of this committee occur once or twice more. Minutes usually included the date and place of the meeting, members present, approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, reports by the directing sister, directing pastor, treasurer, and committee chairs. Reports on the health of sisters and their work at stations of service were included, as well as reports on residents of the MJDH and on the Lankenau School for Girls. Financial matters, including upkeep of the properties of the corporation, were discussed. Actions taken and resolutions passed were recorded. New business generally preceded adjournment. Minutes from 1885-1918 are in German. Beginning in 1919, the minutes are in English. The translated "Notes" from 1885-1894 are about matters in the minutes which pertained to the deaconesses; they do not mention other matters. The notes are generally paraphrases rather than direct translations and their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Although the Philadelphia and Baltimore motherhouses merged in 1963, the MJDH/PDM corporation continued in existence and the minutes have been kept together for continuity purposes. It is not clear from the available materials when the MJDH/PMD corporation ceased to exist. The condition of the materials is good, except for the second bound volume from 1894-1910, which is in fair condition with some loose pages.
