Many organizations write constitutions and by-laws to govern how the organization operates. The Constitution of the River Falls Rifles, a Wisconsin militia company formed in 1861 in response to the start of the Civil War, starts: "For the purpose of perfecting ourselves in the arts of war we the undersigned do hereby agree to organize ourselves, under the provisions of the statutes of Wisconsin, as an uniformed Rifle Company and do adopt the following Constitution & By-Laws." This image is of the By-Laws of the River Falls Rifles.

(River Falls Rifle Company Records, River Falls SC 414, University of Wisconsin-River Falls Area Research Center, River Falls, Wisconsin)

Oath of allegiance, signed by members of the vigilantes of Virginia City, 1863. The collection also includes by-laws of the group, a financial account book, and a "3-7-77" flyer.

(Vigilantes Records, Small Collection 953, Montana Historical Society Research Center, Helena, Montana) 

Churches are a type of organization and, like most organizations, maintain records about their members. In addition to the lists of members that any organization will have, churches usually also have baptism (birth), confirmation, marriage, and funeral (death) records. This is the top portion of a page in a ledger kept by Bishop Whipple, head of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota in the 1800s. It lists clergy members and where they were assigned, including those assigned to Native American missions.

(Episcopal Church. Diocese of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society Library, Saint Paul, Minnesota)

1903 Constitution of the United Mine Workers of America, a national union.

(United Mine Workers of America Records, Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania)