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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Quadrangle Club Records 1893-1968

© 2006 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Quadrangle Club. Records

Dates:

1893-1968

Size:

6.0 linear ft. (17 boxes)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

The Quadrangle Club was organized in 1893 for the association of members of the faculties of the University of Chicago and other persons interested in literature, science, or art. The first meeting was held in the Hotel Barry, later known as the Hotel Del Prado. The Club was incorporated in 1895 and proceeded to build a three-story clubhouse on the corner of 58th Street and University Avenue, which opened in 1896. Membership grew with the University and a new building, designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw, was constructed in 1922 at the corner of 57th and University. The Club continues to be a convenient meeting place for faculty and visitors to the University. The Club has sponsored banquets, dances, lectures, musical programs, and the annual "Revels," which began in 1904 as a Christmas pageant, evolving by the 19050s into a full-scale song-and-dance revue which poked fun at University life. Contains minutes, reports, guest registers, building specifications, programs and notices of special events, and programs and scripts of the annual "Revels."

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Quadrangle Club. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Historical Note

The Quadrangle Club was organized in the winter of 1893-1894 "for the association of members of the faculties of the University of Chicago and other persons interested in literature, science, or art." Harry Pratt Judson served as the first president, and meetings were held in the Hotel Barry, later known as Hotel Del Prado. The Club was incorporated in 1895 and proceeded to build a three-story clubhouse on the corner of 58th Street and Lexington (University) Avenue, which opened in June 1896. Fires destroyed much of the building in 1897 but it was completely remodeled in 1898 and a new wing added. Facilities included dining rooms, billiard room, library, card rooms, a ladies' room, and sleeping quarters for members.

Membership grew with the University, and a new building was constructed in 1922 at the corner of 57th and University. Designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw, its domestic English style was intended to complement the gray stone University buildings across the street. Club rooms were expanded to accommodate larger numbers, and the new location also afforded clay tennis courts, locker rooms, and showers. Although the Club was not officially a part of campus, the University recognized the important services it provided, and assisted by donating the land and paying the bills for lighting and heating. The old building, now known as Ingleside Hall (956-60 E. 58th St.), was moved to its present location to make way for the Oriental Institute.

The Quadrangle Club continues to be a convenient meeting place for faculty, visitors to the University, and other members of the community. It provides a social setting where much of the official and semi-official business of the University is conducted. Lunchtime conversations are legendary, particularly at the "round table." The Club has also sponsored banquets, dances, lectures, musical programs, and the annual "Revels," which began in 1904 as a Christmas pageant, evolving by the 1950s into a full-scale song-and-dance revue which poked fun at University life.

Scope Note

The Quadrangle Club records comprise 6 linear feet of materials which include minutes, reports, guest registers, building specifications, programs and notices of special events, and programs and scripts of the annual "Revels." The records were presented to the Library by the Quadrangle Club in 1983.

The collection is divided into three series, Minutes, Miscellaneous Records, and Revels.

Series I. Minutes

The first series contains minutes of board of directors and annual membership meetings. The minutes are complete from 1895 to 1946, with some additional files for 1957-1959, 1961-1962, and 1968.

Series II. Miscellaneous Records

This series incorporates a wide variety of materials which document aspects of the Quadrangle Club's history and activities. Among the items listed here are copies of the constitution and by-laws, rules and regulations, annual reports, and lists of members and officers; guest registers; reports and specifications for the building constructed in 1922, including correspondence with the architect, Howard Van Doren Shaw; and programs and notices of special events such as dinners, lectures, dances, and concerts. Most of these files are incomplete; see "Other Archival Sources" for locations of additional records found in other collections.

Series III. Revels

Records of the annual "Revels" cover the years 1904-1966. Documentation varies from year to year, but is most complete for the shows during the 1950s. Folders usually include programs, and may also contain scripts, musical scores, publicity, and other materials concerning production arrangements.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html

Additional information about the Quadrangle Club can be found in the Board of Trustees' minutes; minutes of the Trustees' Committee on Buildings and Grounds and Special Committees; records of the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Buildings and Grounds; the Presidents' Papers; and the Archival Photographic Files. Papers of faculty members often contain relevant materials; of particular note are the papers of Harry Kalven, Jr., E. H. Moore, William F. Ogburn, Louis Wirth, and James Lea Cate.

Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Series I: Minutes

Box 1    Folder 1

1895-1897

Box 1    Folder 2

1897-1903

Box 1    Folder 3

1904-1911

Box 2   Folder 1

1911-1920

Box 3   Folder 1

1920-1931

Box 4   Folder 1

1931-1933

Box 4   Folder 2

1934-1936

Box 4   Folder 3

1937-June 1938

Box 4   Folder 4

August-December 1938

Box 4   Folder 5

January-April 7, 1939

Box 4   Folder 6

April 21-May 1939

Box 4   Folder 7

June-September 1939

Box 4   Folder 8

October-December 1939

Box 5   Folder 1

January-April 1940

Box 5   Folder 2

May-December 1940

Box 5   Folder 3

1941

Box 5   Folder 4

January-June 1942

Box 5   Folder 5

July-December 1942

Box 5   Folder 6

January-May 1943

Box 5   Folder 7

June-December 1943

Box 5   Folder 8

January-June 1944

Box 6   Folder 1

July-December 1944

Box 6   Folder 2

January-June 1945

Box 6   Folder 3

July-December 1945

Box 6   Folder 4

January-May 1946

Box 6   Folder 5

July-December 1946

Box 6   Folder 6

1957-1958

Box 6   Folder 7

1959, 1961-1962

Box 6   Folder 8

1968

Series II: Miscellaneous Records

Box 6   Folder 9

Articles of incorporation, constitution, by-laws, and amendments, 1917-1948

Box 6   Folder 10

Rules, regulations, and information

Box 6   Folder 11

Past presidents and officers, 1893-1955

Box 6   Folder 12

Annual reports, 1904-1954

Box 6   Folder 13

Reports to members, 1945-1949

Box 7   Folder 1

Guest register, 1899-1905

Box 7   Folder 2

Guest register, 1923-1938

Box 7   Folder 3

Guest register, 1937-1955

Box 7   Folder 4

Address lists of members, 1926, 1930

Box 7   Folder 5

Insurance policies, 1910-1921

Box 7   Folder 6

Second mortgage bonds, 1911

Box 7   Folder 7

New building, agreements with University of Chicago, 1915-1920

Box 7   Folder 8

New building, correspondence with Howard Van Doren Shaw, architect, 1918-1923

Box 7   Folder 9

New building, building specifications, 1919

Box 8   Folder 1

New building, kitchen equipment and refrigeration specifications, 1922

Box 8   Folder 2

New building, comparative budgets, old and new clubs, 1919-1920

Box 8   Folder 3

New building, Tennis Committee report, 1922

Box 8   Folder 4

Club equipment, 1921

Box 8   Folder 5

Kitchen equipment and alterations, 1927-1950

Box 8   Folder 6

Floor plans and alterations, 1932-1950

Box 8   Folder 7

Monthly calendar of events, 1902-1941

Box 8   Folder 8

Monthly calendar of events, 1946-1950

Box 8   Folder 9

Musical programs, 1897-1946

Box 8   Folder 10

Miscellaneous notices and programs, 1899-1958

Box 8   Folder 11

Miscellaneous notices and programs, 1928-1932

Box 8   Folder 12

Miscellaneous notices and programs, 1933-1937

Box 8   Folder 13

Fiftieth anniversary dinner, 1945

Box 8   Folder 14

News clippings, 1898-1947

Box 8   Folder 15

Miscellaneous records

Box 8   Folder 16

Miscellaneous correspondence

Series III: Revels

Box 9   Folder 1

1904-1929, programs

Box 9   Folder 2

1930, program and script

Box 9   Folder 3

1931-1933, programs

Box 9   Folder 4

1934, program and financial statement

Box 9   Folder 5

1935, program and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 6

1936, program and financial report

Box 9   Folder 7

1937, program and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 8

1938, program and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 9

1939, script and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 10

1940, program, script, and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 11

1941, program, script, and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 12

1948, program

Box 9   Folder 13

1948, script

Box 9   Folder 14

1948, miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 15

1948, news clippings

Box 9   Folder 16

1949, program and miscellaneous

Box 9   Folder 17

1949, news clippings

Box 9   Folder 18

1950, program

Box 9   Folder 19

1950, script and musical score

Box 9   Folder 20

1950, script drafts

Box 9   Folder 21

1950, production arrangements, ticket sales

Box 9   Folder 22

1950, news clippings

Box 10   Folder 1

1951, program

Box 10   Folder 2

1951, script and musical score

Box 10   Folder 3

1951, production arrangements

Box 10   Folder 4

1951, news clippings

Box 10   Folder 5

1952, program, correspondence concerning advertising

Box 10   Folder 6

1952, script and musical score

Box 10   Folder 7

1952, production and rehearsal arrangements

Box 10   Folder 8

1952, news clippings

Box 10   Folder 9

1953, program

Box 10   Folder 10

1953, script

Box 10   Folder 11

1953, production arrangements, correspondence

Box 10   Folder 12

1953, ticket sales

Box 10   Folder 13

1954, program

Box 10   Folder 14

1954, script

Box 10   Folder 15

1954, production and rehearsal arrangements, correspondence

Box 10   Folder 16

1954, ticket sales

Box 10   Folder 17

1955, budget and miscellaneous script

Box 10   Folder 18

1956, script

Box 11   Folder 1

1957, program

Box 11   Folder 2

1957, script

Box 11   Folder 3

1957, news clippings

Box 11   Folder 4

1958, program, script and musical score

Box 11   Folder 5

1959-1967, programs and miscellaneous

Box 11   Folder 6

"How to Put on the Revels,"1960

Box 11   Folder 7

Undated and miscellaneous

Box 12   Folder 1

Complaint Letters

Box 12   Folder 2

Calendars, etc.

Box 12   Folder 3

Constitution and By-Laws

Box 12   Folder 4

Constitution and By-Laws, Amendments, Report of Special Committee

Box 12   Folder 5

Constitution and By-Laws, Amendments, Proposals

Box 12   Folder 6

Constitution and By-Laws, Amendments, Letters in Regard to

Box 12   Folder 7

Ballads

Box 12   Folder 8

Meetings, reports

Box 13   Folder 1

Kitchen Equipment

Box 13   Folder 1

Mimographe Operating Instructions

Box 13   Folder 1

Examples of Club Printed Material, 1955; match book, intro to club

Box 13   Folder 1

Ferrold R. Zisook Ltd. CPA Report for 30 Sep 1984

Box 14   Folder 1

"The Little Red School on the Midway," 1948

Box 14   Folder 2

"You're in the Styx Professor," 1949 (See Box 17, Oversize for photographs

Box 14   Folder 3

"Much Revue About Nothing," 1950

Box 14   Folder 4

Announcements-Division of the Fiscal Sciences, 1952

Box 14   Folder 5

"The Sky' no Limit," 1958

Box 14   Folder 6

"The South Side Story, "1960

Box 14   Folder 7

"Empty Saddles in the Back Corral," 1961

Box 14   Folder 8

"Lunaversity," 1964

Box 14   Folder 9

"The Passionate Interface," 1980

Box 14   Folder 10

"Sins of Commission," 1982

Box 14   Folder 11

"Taking Stock," 1981

Box 15   Folder 1

Quad Club Revels, Programs (See Box 17 for oversize)

Box 15   Folder 2

Quad Club Revels, Programs

Box 15   Folder 3

Reunion, 1989

Box 15   Folder 4

Clippings and Photographs

Box 15   Folder 5

Scripts, Lyrics and Musical Scores

Box 15   Folder 6

Scripts, Lyrics and Musical Scores

  • Unfoldered: Two videotapes

Series IV: Oversize

Box 16

Two Scrapbooks

Box 17   Folder 1

You're in the Styx Professor, 1949, Photographs

Box 17   Folder 2

Christmas Revels

  • Volume1: Quad Club Records, Scrapbook, 1893-1968