Halcyon Literary Club records, 1910-2011
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Summary
- Creator:
- Halcyon Literary Club
- Abstract:
- Durham, N.C., club organized "to promote interest in literary study and to further social enjoyment." Limited to thirty female members. Collection includes club history research, program booklets for the length of the club's operation, various correspondence from club members, meeting minutes, and historical versions of the constitution and other administrative materials.
- Extent:
- 4.0 Linear Feet
5.02 Gigabytes
3000 Items - Language:
- Material in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.00492
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection has been arranged into four series: Club History, Halcyon Members, Programs, and Club Administration. The Club History Series contains research and recollections by Halcyon members about the group's founding and early members. A large portion of this series is the Centennial Memory Notebook, created in 2011 in honor of the Halcyon Club's 100th anniversary. The series also includes handwritten and typed histories by club members from the 1930s through the 1990s. The Halcyon Members Series includes membership and officer lists, news coverage, membership nomination letters, resignation letters, and other correspondence between members relating to Halcyon member business. The majority of the Programs Series consists of the Halcyon Literary Club program booklets, created each year with the annual theme, schedule, and lists of participating and hosting members. Some years include multiple copies of the program booklets, sometimes including members' personalized notes. Other materials in the series include written book reviews, essays, and poems from different prgrams throughout the Club's history. Finally, the Club Administration Series includes meeting minutes, copies of the constitution, financial records, and receipts from various charitable donations made by Halcyon. This series also includes notes from families across the world thanking the Halcyon Club for contributing Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (C.A.R.E.) packages during the post-World War II period. Thematic summaries of the meeting minutes have been collected by Halcyon members and are included in the Club History Series.
- Biographical / historical:
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The Halcyon Literary Club was formed among 12 women in Durham in 1910 "to promote interest in literary study and to further social enjoyment." Club histories reveal that early meetings were held once a month, with a luncheon followed by a book club. An annual theme was selected by the Club's program committee. Topics ranged, based on the interests of the Club's members, and included several countries or regions, art, music, as well as different genres of literature, including North Carolina authors, humorists, drama, and novels. Several mid-century programs discussed the changing roles of women in society. Membership grew but was capped at 30 members, excluding daughters or daughters-in-law.
Along with monthly meetings, the Club has maintained an active outreach program, beginning by contributing generously to charities in Europe following World War II. Recent efforts have focused locally on the Durham County Public Library, various symphonies, and local arts councils.
- Acquisition information:
- The Halcyon Literary Club Records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1975, 2012, and 2016.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Chloe Rockow, Meghan Lyon, April 2012
Addition 2016-0228 processed by Katrina Martin, September 2016 and Laurin Penland, May 2020
Encoded by Meghan Lyon, April 2012
Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2012-0050, 2016-0228
Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
Collection contains electronic records that must be requested and accessed in our reading room. Contact Research Services with questions.
- Terms of access:
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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Halcyon Literary Club Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.