Z 2197.000 Woman's Literary Progressive Club (Natchez, Miss.) Minute Book

Z 2197.000 S
WOMANS LITERARY PROGRESSIVE CLUB (NATCHEZ, MISS.) MINUTE BOOK

The Womans Literary Progressive Club was founded in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi, in 1890. Officers for 1896 were Rosalie Quitman Duncan, president; Clara Walworth, vice-president; E. Hibernia Trabue, secretary; Alice Quitman Lovell, treasurer; and Mrs. Robert Bruce Monteith, critic. Club meetings were typically held on a semimonthly basis at different members homes, with presentations of musical selections and/or papers. The topic of each paper was chosen to conform to a "programme" or central theme for the year. They covered aspects of architecture, art, history, literature, and music. Some later "programmes" were "A Study of the Great Comedies and Their Writers," "A Study of France from Charlemagne to Napoleon," and "A Study of Historical, Political, and Literary Topics." The club included members of the Duncan, Lovell, Minor, Monteith, Surget, and Walworth families of Natchez. Membership averaged between twenty and twenty-six from 1896 to 1912. The club continued to be an active organization until at least 1912.

This collection consists of a minute book of the Womans Literary Progressive Club of Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi, which dates from 1896 to 1898. The secretaries of the club, Eva C. Lovell, Laura Elward Monteith, Anna N. Wilson, and Mrs. E. Hibernia Trabue, each provide very detailed descriptions of the meetings. The minutes often contain titles and summaries of the papers presented at each meeting. The secretaries often remarked on the décor of some of the private homes, such as Arlington and Monmouth, in which the meetings took place and included impressions of some members and descriptions of informal luncheons that took place afterward. The volume also contains a list of club officers in the front and 1896-1898 membership rolls in the back.

1. Minute Book. 1896-1898. 2 folders.

   Box 1, folders 1-2