Chatham Book Club Records, 1937-1985

(Manuscript Collection #409)

Title:	Chatham Book Club Records
Creator:	Chatham Book Club
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Abstract:	Records of Greenville, NC book club (1937-1977), including minutes, correspondence, newsletter clippings, construction and by-laws, and two scrapbooks.
Extent:	0.6 Cubic feet.

Accessions Information

April 29, 1980, (unprocessed), 118 items; Records of Greenville, N. C. book club (1937-1977), including minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, constitution and by-laws, and two scrapbooks. Donor: Officers, Chatham Book Club.

March 12, 1987, (unprocessed addition 1), 1 box, 25 items, 196 pages, 0.25 cubic feet; Minutes (1977-1983) of Greenville, North Carolina women's book club. See preliminary inventory. Loaned. Donor: Officers, Chatham Book Club.

June 26, 1987, (unprocessed addition 2), 1 box, 1 vol., 33 pages, ca. 0.35 cubic feet; Scrapbook (1969-1985) of Greenville, North Carolina women's book club, including clippings, correspondence, Easter Seals bonds, ephemera, pamphlets, photographic prints, yearbooks, etc. See preliminary inventory. Donor: Officers, Chatham Book Club.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Chatham Book Club Records (#409), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Officers, Chatham Book Club
• Loaned by Officers, Chatham Book Club

Processing Information

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

• Preliminary inventory by Jonathan Dembo, 5/18/2010

The Chatham Book Club was born on 16 April 1937 in Greenville, North Carolina. The founders - 13 young Greenville matrons -- met in the home of their sponsor, Mrs. J. B. Kittrell. Their stated aim was to promote the "Civil, social and intellectual improvement" of the members. The Chatham Book Club joined a number of already existing books clubs including the End of the Century Book Club and the Sans Souci Book Club.

The founders then elected Mrs. N. S. Beard as their first president. In addition, they elected a vice president, treasurer, secretary and librarian. In later years, the same person usually served as secretary and librarian. They also selected a Program Committee, Book Committee, and Emergency Committees. They also arranged a list of hostesses -- members who volunteered to have meetings in their homes and to provide refreshments. The Club met between once and three times per month usually from early October to late May.

They selected the Chatham Book Club name to honor William Pitt the elder, the first Earl of Chatham (15 November 1708 - 11 May 1778), the British Whig statesman who achieved his greatest fame leading Britain during the French and Indian War, 1755-1766. He later served as prime minister of from 30 July 1766 to 14 October 1768. Pitt County, North Carolina, like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is named for him. Chatham's second son, William Pitt the younger (28 May 1759 - 23 January 1806) also became a political leader of note becoming the youngest prime minister in British history and leading the nation during the Napoleonic Wars, 19 December 1783 - 14 March 1801and 10 May 1804 - 23 January 1806.

The members also selected a club motto: "While We Live Let Us Live to Some Purpose."

The 13 original members were Mrs. C. L. Adams, Mrs. N. S. Beard, Mrs. F. A. Bendall, Mrs. H. G. Clayton, Mrs. J. C. Lanier, Mrs. E. Lee Moore, Mrs. R. S. Neal, Mrs. E. D. Robinson, Mrs. A. C. Ruffin, Mrs. R. W. Stark, Mrs. W. S. Tyson, and Mrs. W. D. Tucker. Source: #409.3.a.

The collection consists of minutes of club meetings, including lists of members, officers, committee members & hostesses, books read, officers reports, elections & accounts of discussions.

In addition, the collection contains three scrapbooks, 1937-1985, containing club correspondence, constitutions & by-laws, photographic prints, yearbooks, clippings, information about the Greenville Arts Festivals, the End of the Century Book Club, the Woman's Club of Greenville, Sheppard Memorial Library, and other Greenville literary, arts, & social organizations. The compiler glued or stapled these items into the scrapbooks. The repository has filed additional loose correspondence and other documents separately.

Among the notable items in the scrapbooks are:

Scrapbook #409.3

• Annual Book Club Day Program (8 April 1947) Pamphlet. 1 item. 18 p.
• Annual Book Club Day Program (13 April 1948) Pamphlet. 1 item. 12 p.
• Woman's Club Day Program (2 May 1950) Pamphlet. 1 item. 24 p.
• Book Club Day Program (6 May 1952) Pamphlet. 1 item. 4 p.

Scrapbook #409.4

• History of Greenville 1771-1974, by Wyatt L. Brown (1968) Mimeographed typescript, 1 item. 4 p.

Scrapbook #409.6

• Dr. Robert Lee Humber Biographical Sketch (24 Oct. 1966) Typescript. 1 item. 4 p.
• Martha Elizabeth Utterback, 1901-1966 (1966) Photocopy typescript. 1 item. 5 p. Dr. Utterback was a professor of English at East Carolina College.
• Clarice McGhee Tucker, 1902-1965 in Memoriam (1965) Typescript. 1 item. 1 p.
• Lila Bendall Tribute by Mildred S. Upchurch (6 Feb. 1983) Holograph. 1 item. 1 p.

List of Officers:

YEAR	PRESIDENT	VICE-PRES	SECRETARY	TREASURER / LIBRARIAN
1937-38	Mrs. N. S. Beard	Mrs. H. G. Clayton	Mrs. W. D. Tucker	Mrs. F. A. Bendall / Mrs. J. C. Lanier
1938-39	Mrs. R. I. Neal	Mrs. L. H. Bowling	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. Carl Adams
1939-40	Mrs. J. C. Lanier	Mrs. W. S. Tyson	Mrs. Lee Hannah	Mrs. R. W. Stark
1940-41	Mrs. Rufus Stark	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. L. E. Babcock	Mrs. E. D. Robertson
1941-42	Mrs. L. H. Bowling	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. R. S. Beal	Mrs. J. C. Lanier
1942-43	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell	Mrs. E.R. Conway	Mrs. W. P. Moore
1943-44	Mrs. E. E. Forbes	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. H. G. Clayton
1944-45	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. C. L. Adams	Mrs. C. E. Blair	Mrs. W. D. Tucker
1945-46	Mrs. C. L. Adams	Mrs. C. A. Bowen	Mrs. R. W. Stark	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell
1946-47	Mrs. S. H. Williams	Mrs. W. D. Tucker	Mrs. E. R. Conway	Mrs. Bryant Brown
1947-48	Mrs. E. C. Blair	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. L. H. Bowling
1948-49	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. J. Bryan Brown	Mrs. C. L. Adams	Mrs. R. W. Stark
1949-50	Mrs. Bryan Brown	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. N. S. Beard	Mrs. J. C. Lanier
1950-51	Mrs. Carl Adams	Mrs. J. C. Lanier	Mrs. C. A. Bowen	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell
1951-52	Mrs. L. W. Topping	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. J. Bryan Brown	Mrs. W. D. Tucker
1952-53	Mrs. L. H. Bowling	Mrs. N. S. Beard	Mrs. C. E. Blair	Mrs. E. R. Conway
1953-54	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. T. M. Watson	Mrs. L. W. Topping	Mrs. J. K. Long
1954-55	Mrs. C. A. Bowen	Mrs. C. E. Blair	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell
1955-56	Mrs. Carl Adams	Mrs. N. S. Beard	Mrs. J. Bryan Brown	Mrs. T. M. Watson
1956-57	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. N. S. Beard	Mrs. J. C. Lanier
1957-58	Mrs. E. C. Blair	Mrs. L. W. Topping	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. C. a. Bowen
1958-59	Mrs. L. H. Bowling	Mrs. W. D. Tucker	Mrs. C. A. Bowen	Mrs. E. R. Conway
1959-60	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. J. Bryan Brown	Mrs. T. M. Watson
1960-61	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. W. D. Tucker	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. L. H. Bowling
1961-62	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. P. K. Andresen	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. C. E. Blair
1962-63	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. R. H. Evans	Mrs. E. Lee Moore
1963-64	Dr. Elizabeth Utterback	Mrs. C. A. Bowen	Mrs. P. K. Andresen	Mrs. L. T. Shotwell
1964-65	Mrs. R. H. Evans	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. E. B. Fisher	Mrs. C. C. Studdert
1965-66	Mrs. P. K. Andresen	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. A. M. Mumford	Mrs. E. R. Conway
1966-67	Mrs. A. M. Mumford	Mrs. E. B. Fisher	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. R. H. Evans
1967-68	Mrs. R. W. Stark	Mrs. C. C. Studdert	Mrs. R. L. Powell	Mrs. J. A. Taylor
1969-70	Mrs. Robert L. Powell	Mrs. Arthur S. Alford	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. P. K. Andresen
1970-71	Mrs. A. S. Alford	Mrs. P. K. Andresen	Mrs. Joe Paulk	Mrs. E. Lee Moore'
1971-72	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. R. H. Evans	Mrs. R. W. Stark	Mrs. C.W. Snell
1972-73	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. A. M. Mumford	Mrs. C. C. Studdert
1973-74	Mrs. A. H. White	Mrs. A. M. Mumford	Mrs. F. A. Bendall	Mrs. W. P. Moore
1974-75	Mrs. C. W. Snell	Mrs. P. K. Andresen	Mrs. R. W. Stark	Mrs. James Graham
1975-76	Mrs. R. L. Powell	Mrs. P. B. Upchurch	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. E. Lee Moore
1976-77	Mrs. R. H. Evans	Mrs. Carl Adams	Mrs. A. S. Johnson	Mrs. W. P. Moore
1977-78	Mrs. W. P. Moore	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. A. S. Johnson	Mrs. C. A. Bowen
1978-79	Mrs. James Graham	Mrs. Carl Adams	Mrs. H. A. White	Mrs. Carter Studdert
1979-80	Mrs. A. S. Johnson	Mrs. R. L. Powell	Mrs. H. G. Dawkins	Mrs. R. W. Stark
1980-81	Mrs. A. M. Mumford	Mrs. C. W. Snell	Mrs. R. H. Evans	Mrs. R. L. Powell
1981-82	Mrs. E. T. Vinson	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. H. A. White	Mrs. C. W. Snell
1982-83	Mrs. H. g. Dawkins	Mrs. H. A. White	Mrs. C. W. Snell	Mrs. A. M. Mumford
1983-84	Mrs. A. C. Ruffin	Mrs. R. L. Powell	Mrs. A. S. Johnson	Mrs. Carter Studdert
1984-85	Mrs. R. L. Powell	Mrs. C. W. Snell	Mrs. E. T. Vinson	Mrs. James Graham

The Chatham Book Club Records, 1937-1985, undated, comprise the records of a Greenville, North Carolina women's club. The collections consists of 6 manuscript boxes amounting to 135 items and 3 scrapbooks, containing 1,706 pages and including approximately 2.20 cubic feet of manuscript materials. The collection includes correspondence, clippings, constitutions and by-laws, financial records, club histories, biographical sketches of members, photographic prints, printed materials, & scrapbooks relating to the members, activities, and organization of the Chatham Book Club. The club officers donated the collection to the repository in three separate loans between 29 April 1980 and 26 June 1987. The repository has maintained the collection in its original order, arranged in series by date of the loan.

Series I includes the minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, constitution and by-laws, and two scrapbooks & other records 1937-1977 (Gift of 28 April 1980)

Series II includes the minutes 1977-1983 (Gift of 12 March 1987)

Series III includes three scrapbooks, 1969-1985 (Gift of 26 June 1987)

Below is material taken from a preliminary inventory and represents content from the collection that is unprocessed.

Jump to a section?

• Series 1 RECORDS, 1937-1977 (GIFT OF 28 April 1980)
• Series 2 MINUTES, 1977-1983 (GIFT OF 12 March 1987)
• Series 3 SCRAPBOOK, 1969-1985 (GIFT OF 26 June 1987)