Margaret Cooper Papers
Scope and Contents
This six box collection consists of the personal papers of Margaret Cooper and documents her professional; civic and community activities; and achievements. The collection consists largely of certificates, plaques, programs, administrative materials, and miscellaneous materials documenting Cooper’s involvement as an active member and leader of several organizations and institutions, including Third Baptist Church, Christian Endeavor, D.C. Federation of Civic Associations, Inc., the East Central Civic Association, the Neighborhood Advisory Committee, the Young Men’s Christian Association, the National Capital Area Boy Scouts of America, Model Cities, and the United Planning Organization. Correspondence, certificates, and letters of recommendation document her work as a staff member at George Washington University Hospital. Newspaper clippings recording her achievements reflect Ms. Cooper’s legacy as a pillar in her community. The collection also includes funeral programs, cards, thank you notes, photographs, political buttons, posters, books, and ephemera.
Dates
- Creation: 1918-1998
Creator
- Cooper, Margaret (Person)
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher’s obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Biographical / Historical
Margaret Cooper was born in Warrington, Virginia on August 8, 1900. She attended Martha Washington Vocational School in Washington, D.C. Cooper was known to the Shaw neighborhood as “Mother Cooper.” She worked as a Registered Nurse at George Washington University Hospital. Cooper was active as a member of the Third Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. at 1546 5th Street NW. She worked as an activist in the Shaw neighborhood on numerous projects with various organizations such as the Shaw Project Area Committee, Junior Christian Endeavor, Boy Scouts of America, War on Rats, Federation of Civic associations, and the United Planning Organization. Cooper also served on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and was one of the first ANC commissioners for the Shaw neighborhood. Cooper lived on Warren Street NW from 1917 until her death on April 6, 2000 at the Hartland Health Center in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Extent
6 Boxes
Arrangement
Series 1: Correspondence
Series 2: Newspaper Clippings
Series 3: Photographs
Series 4: Organizations and Institutions
Series 5: Certificates, Awards, and Recognition
Series 6: Ephemera
Series 7: Local and Federal Government
Series 8: Books
Custodial History
The collection came to the library as a donation, and was accessioned into the Library’s collection in 2000.
Processing Information
The collection was originally processed circa 2015 as part of the District of Columbia Africana Archives Project, a grant initiative of the George Washington University Libraries supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources. The reprocessing procedure included recategorizing the collection into 8 series, which were further organized by organization and, where applicable, document type.
- Title
- Margaret Cooper Papers
- Subtitle
- An inventory of Margaret Cooper Papers at DC Public Library
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by DC Africana Archives Project. The collection was reprocessed in 2019 by Maya Thompson.
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2020-07-24: Added series 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Repository Details
Part of the The People's Archive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library Repository