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Town and Country Arts Club Records

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-TownandCountry

Scope and Content of the Collection

Material kept by various presidents, officers, committee chairmen, and members of the organization.

Content consists of annual reports, minutes and attendance, membership lists and brochures, reading and lecture lists and scripts, histories of the club, correspondence, photographs and miscellaneous items.

Dates

  • Creation: 1944-2007

Creator

Language

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The Town and Country Arts Club Records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Town and Country Arts Club Records are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

History of the Town and Country Arts Club

North Shore Chicago women's club.

Begun in 1932 as the Art Study Class, then changed to the North Shore Arts Club in 1934, and finally to the Town and Country Arts Club in 1935, the current club members meet to discuss and/or listen to lectures on some aspect of the arts. In 1936 the club first decided to award prizes to artists and organizations in order to promote its mission statement: "to study the great world arts that have gone before, to assist in their preservation for future generations, and to encourage the arts of the present day."

Though serious and intellectual in intent and practice, through the years the club has enjoyed a range of social activities as well. With a membership limited to 50, the members meet at one another's homes, form friendships, entertain (with husbands included), and even travel together. However, the aim to study and learn about some aspect of the arts and to support arts-related individuals and institutions in the area remains the continuing purpose of the Town and Country Arts Club.

Extent

1.7 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Abstract

Records of the Town and Country Arts Club of Chicago, previously known as the Art Study Class and the North Shore Arts Club. Conceived in 1932 and continuing to the present, the group meets “to study the great world arts that have gone before, to assist in their preservation for future generations, and to encourage the arts of the present day.” Records include president’s books, minutes, reports, membership rosters and attendance records, directories, presentations, photographs, histories, and other material.

Arrangement

The records have been left primarily in their original order and condition. Much of material was kept in the chronologically arranged "President's Book", a title apparently used when records were gathered together in one large notebook or possibly scrapbook, and which would include archival and printed material, photographs, attendance and committee reports, etc. Because of the variety of items included in a president's book, dating assigned to it refers to dates within it and not the date it was assembled – which is usually unknown.

However, the collection also contains separate records kept and titled by content and activity such as annual reports, attendance records, membership lists, minutes of meetings, program and lecture lists, and other committee business. These records have been arranged by type of material.

Collection Stack Location

1 34 5

Provenance

Gift, Naomi K. McEneely on behalf of the Town and Country Arts Club, 2010.

Processed by

Virginia Hay Smith, 2012.

Title
Inventory of the Town and Country Arts Club Records, 1944-2007
Status
Completed
Author
Virginia Hay Smith
Date
©2013.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512