Thursday Morning Music Club Records
Scope and Contents
This collection documents the activities Wilmington's Thursday Morning Music Club from its origin in 1892 to 2014, including the club's affiliation with the North Carolina and National Federations of Music Clubs. Represented in the records are minutes, bylaws, banking records, reports, correspondence, member directories, programs, and yearbooks. Of historical significance are the minutes of the club's first meetings documenting its founding members, meeting locations and songs practiced. This collection also contains an extensive collection of choral and piano sheet music used for practice and performance.
Dates
- Creation: 1892-2014
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Copyright Statement
Copyright retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Historical Note
The Thursday Morning Music Club can trace its beginnings back to February 20, 1892, when a group met at the home of Mrs. Catherine de Rosset Meares to form a musical club. Present as this historical meeting were: Colonel Alfred Moore Waddell and his wife, Ellen Savage Waddell, Mr. Horace Mann Emerson, Mrs. John Henry Watters, Ms Gabrielle de Grundy de Rosset, Ms Elizabeth Savage Waddell, and Ms Annie Jones Hart. By the eighth club meeting, April 19, 1892, the group had decided to call itself the Reinecke Club. They met off and on through 1907. For a public concert held in the parlors of the Elk’s Club in 1904, the club name was changed to the Wilmington Piano Club. The main purpose of the club was to practice and perform music.
From the remnants of the Reinecke Club, the North Carolina Sorosis of Wilmington formed a music department and joined the National Federation of Music Clubs in 1909. The group continued to be active and joined the newly formed North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs in 1917.
In 1922, informal meetings were held at the home of Miss Julia Post with Carrie Fenley, Agnes Chasten and Melba Pearsall attending. The four friends planned to meet regularly to perform for each other and study classical music. From this core group the Thursday Morning Club was born. In 1924, the Sorosis Music Department and the Thursday Morning Music Club cohosted the 8th Convention of the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs in Wilmington. The Thursday Morning Music Club also hosted North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs Conventions in 1934, 1941, 1952, and 1970. The official date of organization and federation for the Thursday Morning Music Club is given as October 1924 with 25 charter members. Mrs. J. G. Murphy was elected as the first president of the club. It joined the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs under its own name in 1925.
Through the years, the Thursday Morning Club has promoted the formation of various club choruses and chamber music groups, including the Madrigals, the Wilmington Male Chorus, the Edwards Ensemble, and the Norden String Quartet. It has fostered the organization of junior and juvenile music clubs, federation of new clubs in the eastern district of the state, enrollment of associate members, sponsored concerts by well-known artists, expanded the music holdings of the public library and numerous other musical endeavors. The club also provided scholarships for many community members.
Extent
25 Containers (Contains 23 document boxes, 1 oversize box, and 1 photo box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement Note
The Thursday Morning Music Club Collection is arranged into four series:
Series I. The Thursday Morning Club
Series II. The Thursday Morning Music Club, North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs
Series III. The Thursday Morning Music Club, National Federation of Music Clubs.
Series IV. Sheet Music.
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated by Mrs. William B. Rodman, IV, niece of Mrs. Fannie de Rosset on June 21, 1989.
Accruals and Additions
Addition of 1 box and four scrapbooks donated on May 20, 2014.
Processing Information
Collection originally processed by Lana Donaldson Taylor. Series 4 of collection reprocessed by Rebecca Baugnon and Maya Rodgers in October, 2013. Addition processed by Maya Rodgers in April, 2015.
Subject
- National Federation of Music Clubs (Organization)
- North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs (Organization)
- Thursday Morning Music Club (Wilmington, N.C.) (Organization)
- Title
- Thursday Morning Music Club Records
- Status
- Partially Processed
- Author
- Special Collections Staff
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository