Mrs. Santa, 1958-1999, undated
Historical Note
The Mrs. Santa campaign is a holiday season charity campaign begun in 1956 by Bettye Moss at the City Desk of the AFRO American Newspapers. Since 1963 Mrs. Santa has been organized by Afro Charities.
Traditionally, the campaign would collect food and cash donations from individuals, businesses, social clubs, churches, and families in the community via appeals published in the paper, and would then distribute food and toys to those in need. The AFRO solicited letters from those in need and would publish their appeals anonymously in the paper. Supporters could contribute to the Mrs. Santa Fund or choose to adopt a family from among the published appeals. In its early years, food baskets were organized and distributed with the help of the National Guard. The AFRO also organized holiday parties for children hosted by Mrs. Santa, first at the Regent Theater and later at the Met theater, with screenings, performances, and gifts for children. Other charity events sponsored by the campaign over the years included a festival of music (1960s), a fashion show (1967-1968), a basketball tournament, and a softball marathon (1990s). In 1964 a benefit party was held at the Playboy Club.
Many women played the roles of Mrs. Santa and Mrs. Santa's helpers over the years. In the collection, they are often simply identified in captions as Mrs. Santa, though individuals are occasionally named, including Mary Hemphill, Pamela Widgeon, Marie Murphy Phillips Cooke, Sheila M. Phillips, Rachel M. Phillips, and Ida Peters. A cartoon in the collection indicates John H. Murphy Sr. started Mrs. Santa in 1922, but multiple articles and columns give 1956 as the first year of the official Mrs. Santa program.
Scope and Contents
Records of the Mrs. Santa campaign in the morgue files include photographs of food drives and distribution, staff sorting clothing donations, parties held for children at local theaters, fundraising parties for donors, performers at charity events, and many photographs of individuals and community groups donating money to Mrs. Santa. Clippings document coverage and promotion of the campaign, as well as anonymized letters from families in need, lists of named donors, and accounts of funds raised and distributed. For files documenting the program's administration, see the AFRO Business Records collection.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
Dates
- Creation: 1958-1999
- Creation: undated
Arrangement
Series is arranged chronologically by year. Most undated material is filed with its estimated year.
Additional business records related to the Mrs. Santa fund are found in the AFRO Business Records collection.
Processing Information
The AFRO Subjects series of the AFRO Morgue files has been processed in tandem with the morgue processing project that began in 2023. Material in this series brings together files formerly scattered across the morgue. In creating this arrangement, in some cases material once filed under an inidividual's name may be filed under a more general subject heading related to the AFRO program.
Processing of the AFRO Subjects series of the AFRO Morgue files is ongoing. As each subject is completed, metadata is added to the finding aid.
Sources consulted for the historical notes are cited at the subseries level.
Bibliography
Original Location
HL0501, HAL 028; ME0101; ML0806, MAR 143; ML1802, MAR 323; TN0101, TUB 001; TN0106, TUB 002; TN0204, TUB 026; TN1307, TUB 244
Repository Details
Part of the AFRO American Newspapers Archives Repository