Boats (2 folders), 1974-1992

Series 5 Audio-Visual consists of BGCB's recorded history through audio-visual material. The series has been divided into four subseries: Architectural Drawings, Media, Photographs, and Scrapbooks.

A. Architectural Drawings (1.5 cubic ft.) is organized alphabetically by building. The bulk of the plans date from the 1960s and early 1990s and were produced by outside architectural firms. Architectural drawings for the Blue Hill Ave. Clubhouse detail stages of development of the George Robert White Youth Development Center. Charlestown Clubhouse plans include the Urban Renewal Area Illustrative Site Plan as well as plans for renovations. Additionally, this series contains floor plans for other area clubhouses and buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods.

B. Media (.5 cubic ft.) consists of 3 16mm films, 3 VHS cassettes, 1 reel-to-reel videotape, 6 reel-to-reel audiotapes, 1 phonograph, and 1 DVD. The media is arranged alphabetically by type and covers topics such as programs, the clubhouses, and Boys' Club Week.

C. Photographs (4 cubic ft.) is composed of contact sheets, 5,000 photographic prints, 700 slides, and 400 negatives. The material dates circa, 1915-2000, with the bulk of the material dating from 1940-1995. Most of the photographs taken, 1923-1985, were produced by Boston studios and are in black and white. The photographs are divided into 4 sections: Contact Sheets, Negatives, Prints, and Slides. The contact sheets, slides, and negatives all document topics similar to the prints. The negatives are arranged chronologically. The prints have been arranged by topic: Administration; Awards and Contests; Buildings; Fund Raisers and Promotions; Members; and Programs and Events. Administration documents individuals who have directed, organized, advised, and staffed the BGCB, including Executive Directors Arthur T. Burger (1935-1960) and William Lynch (1960-1967). Awards and Contests provides information about awards given by the clubhouses for achievement in sports, games, and academics. It also details clubhouse sponsored contests in which members participated. Buildings documents the facilities of the BGCB, specifically Charlestown, Roxbury, and South Boston, as well as buildings within the Boston communities. Photographs concerning promotional campaigns, such as images from window exhibits, billboards, and MBTA stations are represented in Fund Raisers and Promotions. Also documented are BGCB fund raisers, many of which involved celebrities, including Roger Clemens, Senator Ted Kennedy, Jackie Robinson, and Ted Williams. Members contains both group and individual portraits. The images provide a glimpse into the clubhouses and the activities in which the children were involved. The largest group of photographs falls under the category of program and events. Throughout its history, the BGCB provided children with multi-faceted youth development programs. The BGCB established many types of educational programs including tutoring programs, classes, and workshops. Highlights of this section include images from the Bunker Hillbillies and the Tom Pappas Chefs Club. Photographs of events held by the clubs, such as their 100th Anniversary in 1993 and the annual road race in Charlestown are also included here. Slides are divided into: buildings, programs, and promotions. See the subject listings in the folder list below for more detail.

D. Scrapbooks (1 cubic ft.) is divided into four sections: Awards and Events; Boys' Club Week; Clubhouses and Administration; and Newspaper Clippings. The majority of the scrapbooks originate from the 1950s and 1960s. The Awards and Events scrapbooks document individual events through letters, invitations, memos, press releases, brochures, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Scrapbooks for events such as the Art Exhibition, Hot Dog A Go-Go, and Spring and Summer Fantasy chronicle the development of the event through planning stages to the event itself. A highlight from this section includes a scrapbook documenting the Dedication of the Charles Hayden South Boston Boys' Club. The scrapbook includes photographs of and letters from various Bostonian dignitaries such as Boston Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, Governor Leverett T. Saltonstall, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. The Boys' Club Week Scrapbooks depict the annual spring Boys' Club Week celebrated by the BGCB. The scrapbooks largely consist of newspaper clippings of the week's events, but also schedules of planned events, flyers, photographs of activities, and Boys' Club Week proclamations from Massachusetts Governors and the City of Boston. The section, Clubhouses and Administration, documents various managerial activities, such as the Boys' Club of Boston's $850,000 fund-raising campaign in 1927, and scrapbooks created by individual clubhouses. The Newspaper Clippings scrapbooks are arranged by year and consist of newspaper coverage for all the Boston clubhouses. This coverage includes that of clubhouse events, activities, members, Board of Overseer and Board of Director members, award ceremonies, fund-raising efforts, volunteers, and staff.