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Century Club of Indianapolis collection

 Collection
Identifier: L200

Scope and Contents

This collection includes correspondence, official records, newspaper articles, program listings and notices, membership proposals, and yearbooks from members of the Century Club in Indianapolis, Indiana and elsewhere in the United States ranging from 1889 to 1944, regarding club organization, membership, and the duties and activities of members.

Dates

  • 1889-1944

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Administrative History

The Century Club of Indianapolis was founded in December, 1888 by Alfred Fremont Potts, with 30 charter members, including: William C. Bobbs, Hilton U. Brown, James W. "Billy" Fesler, William Fortune, Allen Hendricks, William L. Taylor, Charles N. Thompson, and Evans Woollen. The club was organized "as a protest against exclusiveness and old fogyism in club life." It grew to around one hundred members, in addition to non-resident and... two honorary members, F. Hopkinson Smith and James Whitcomb Riley. The Century Club became affiliated with the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs in 1892. Members included Louis J. Bailey, Ernest P. Bicknell, Jacob Piatt Dunn, William P. "Pink" Fishback, John L. Griffiths, Meredith "Nick" Nicolson, and George Reisner, among others. The club originally met weekly on Tuesdays, though the meetings grew less frequent over time, and required members to present papers, of their own topic, regularly. Potential members were recommended by current members and then elected or rejected. Dues varied between $4.00 and $8.00 per annum.

There were frequent banquets (some in honor of Indiana writers) and outings and a guest night each month, which nonmember men and women were allowed to attend, upon the invitation of a member. Guest speakers included Anthony Hope Hawkins, author of Prisoner of Zenda.

Sources:

Items in the collection.

Hendricks, Allen. "The First Years of the Century Club; A Paper." Indianapolis, IN: The Century Club, 1937.
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Extent

1.3 Cubic Feet (4 manuscript boxes)

Language of Materials

English

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