Records of the Twentieth Century Club, ca. 1899-ca. 1928.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: The documentary sources of the collection consist of minute book records, yearbooks, handwritten narratives, correspondence, photographs, and various receipts and financial statements. The thirteen illustrated yearbooks are published booklets, spanning 1909-1911; 1914-1918; 1919-1923; 1924-1926; 1927-1928, with detailed information about the literary programs, officers, and membership. Several pages of handwritten notes provide further information about the founding and history of the Club.

The minute books span 1899-1900; 1901-1902; 1905-1906; 1907-1912. They are written in semi-prose narrative, containing detailed information about the literary studies and cultural activities of the organization, the yearbook committees, and the roll call and financial reports. A sample narrative relates the organization's club picnic at the Hermitage home of Andrew Jackson, on June 5, 1908, when they traveled to their destination from Nashville via a slow team of horses.

Three photographs of Mrs. M. C. Armstrong, Miss Jennie Frensley, and Miss Medora V. Plase, circa 1920s.

A booklet: Charter, Constitution By-Laws, Library Rules of the City Teachers' Association, Nashville, Tennessee (1915).

Includes a typed letter, signed: S. H. Hood, Chairman of the Mountain Settlement Work, to "Dear Madam President, 1912 March 4.

Includes an essay by Mrs. Reeves entitled "Witches, Ghosts, and the Supernatural in Macbeth." (12 pages).

Cite as: Records of the Twentieth Century Club, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Source of acquistion unknown;,Acc. RT-100.

The Twentieth Century Club, of Nashville, Tennessee, was originally conceived in the Fall of 1896 as a literary club, "avowed for the purpose of combining study and good fellowship as their name 'Over the Teacups,' indicated. Early officers of the organization: Mrs. W. H. Webb, Mistress; Mrs. W. W. Northern, Dictator; Mrs. E. H. Thrailkill, Counsellor; Miss Marie Spence, Scribe. The Club followed many lines of intellectual study, including social ideas, great reformers, Shakespeare, Browning, with an emphasis on American history and literature. In 1898-1899, the group studied French History and Literature, following a program prepared by the University of Chicago. Also associated with the group during a season of dramatic readings was Professor A. M. Harris of Vanderbilt University, who lead their studies in Shakespeare and Dramatic Art. Circa the early 1900s, the Club joined the Federation, with a view to "join hands with sister clubs in adding its quota to the furthering of civic and philanthropic enterprises." In 1907, Mr. J. M. Webb presented a talk about Robert Browning's "The Ring and the Book," followed by musical performances at the home of the hostess. The chosen line of study for 1908-1909 was the "Development of the English Novel."

In English

Finding aid available in the repository;,container list.

Unknown provenance.

No further accruals are expected.