The Alumnae Club Margaret L. Waterman Group records are organized into three series: Records, Alumnae Council Collected Materials, and Scrapbooks. The collection includes notebooks of past presidents, meeting minutes, correspondence, planning materials, reports, lecture programs, printed miscellanea, and scrapbooks.
The Margaret Lawlor Waterman Group forms part of the Ann Arbor Alumnae Association and works alongside the University of Michigan Alumni Association to promote the advancement of University of Michigan students and alumni. The Waterman Group formed in 1953 as an off-shoot of the Lucille B. Conger Group of the University of Michigan Alumnae in Ann Arbor.
On May 28, 1953, the new members of the Waterman Group, then called the New Michigan Alumnae Club, held a membership tea and dessert, followed by an election and business meeting. Later in 1953, the group changed its name to the Margaret Lawlor Waterman Group, in honor of Margaret Lawlor Waterman (1924-1926), wife of business professor Merwin H. Waterman, member of the Michigan Alumnae Club of Ann Arbor, former director and vice-president of the University Alumnae Association board of development, member of the board of the Michigan League and the Alumnae Council, and past president of the Sara Browne Smith Group of the Michigan Alumnae.
The Waterman Group was originally conceived of as an "evening group" for young university graduates who might prefer evening meetings rather than the Alumnae Club's daytime gatherings. Membership in the group was open to women graduates of the University, women that attended the university, wives of alumni or faculty, and women who had "a vital interest" in the university. The Waterman Group worked alongside Ann Arbor's other female alumnae groups, like the Lucille B. Conger Group and the Sara Browne Smith Group, to promote interest in the university, to encourage relationships between current students and alumnae, and to raise scholarship money for female students at the university.
Beginning in the 1950s, the Waterman Group raised money for its scholarship fund through sponsorship of an annual puppet show for local children. In 1972, the group inaugurated its Town Hall Lecture Series with guest Kitty Carlisle, to raise funds for its scholarships. The Town Hall series invites four lecturers a year to the Ann Arbor area, where they speak on a range of topics, from politics and current events, to humor, science, the arts, fashion, and culture. Past guests have included Rosamond Bernier, Donald Brooks, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Ken Burns, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Jean-Pierre Hallet, Olivia de Havilland, G. Gordon Liddy, Art Linkletter, George Plimpton, Claire Shipman, Martha Stewart, Helen Thomas, and Pauline Trigère.
Margaret Lawlor Waterman Group Presidents
| Date |
Event |
| 1953-1954 | Louise Findlayson |
| 1954-1955 | Edith Fonde |
| 1954-1956 | Peggy Laird |
| 1956-1957 | Pat Harbaugh |
| 1957-1958 | Jeanette Schneeberger |
| 1958-1959 | Gretchen Hadler |
| 1959-1960 | Pricilla Klavitter |
| 1960-1961 | Kris Clark |
| 1961-1962 | Mary Alice Shulman |
| 1962-1963 | Jean Dickinson |
| 1963-1964 | Jean Cumminsky |
| 1964-1965 | Sarah Lampert |
| 1965-1966 | Linda McKenney |
| 1966-1967 | Betty Jo Kolb |
| 1967-1968 | Sallie Springer |
| 1968-1969 | Patti Lawson |
| 1969-1970 | Barbara Mueller |
| 1970-1971 | Cynthia Postmus |
| 1971-1972 | Virginia Castor |
| 1972-1973 | Marilynn Magoon |
| 1973-1974 | Connie Cress |
| 1974-1975 | Charlotte Portz |
| 1975-1976 | Miney Williams |
| 1976-1977 | Sally Jo Kleinschmidt |
| 1977-1978 | Ann Benner |
| 1978-1979 | Betty Pierce |
| 1979-1980 | Jane Peterson |
| 1980-1981 | Ruth Kerschbaum |
| 1981-1982 | Beverly Bole |
| 1982-1983 | Marilyn Sichler |
| 1983-1984 | Nancy Cassidy |
| 1984-1985 | Betty Graham |
| 1985-1986 | Ginny Hills |
| 1986-1987 | Terri Bartholomew |
| 1987-1988 | Rita Bencuya |
| 1988-1989 | Connie Olson |
| 1989-1990 | Pat Rigot |
| 1990-1991 | Sally Rogers |
| 1991-1992 | Barbara Stephenson |
| 1992-1993 | Joanne Cage |
| 1993-1994 | Charlotte Hanson |
| 1994-1995 | Peg Molin |
| 1995-1996 | Emily Salvette |
| 1996-1997 | Mary Kinley |
| 1997-1998 | Mary Kinley |
| 1998-1999 | Patty Tupper |
| 1999-2000 | Sally Kennedy |
| 2000-2001 | Beverley Burlingame |
| 2001-2002 | Kathryn Trim |
| 2002-2003 | Beth Williams |
| 2003-2004 | Tanya Keller |
| 2004-2005 | Marcy Teppo |
| 2005-2006 | Dona Lawson |
| 2006-2007 | Victoria Buckler |
| 2007-2008 | Joanne Hertler |
| 2008-2009 | Carolyn Shear |
| 2009-2010 | Linda Simmering |
| 2010-2011 | Millie Irwin |
| 2011-2012 | Marla Gousseff |
| 2012-2013 | Barbara Balbach |
| 2013-2014 | Jan Hartmann |
| 2014-2015 | Ingrid Sheldon |
| 2015-2016 | Connie Kinnear |
| 2016-2017 | Carolyn Tyson |
