Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Thursday Night Club
- Abstract:
- This Collection contains the records of the Thursday Night Club, first established at the Syracuse University College of Medicine in 1899.
- Extent:
- 3.75 linear feet
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
The Thursday Night Club Records, Archives and Special Collections in the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University
Background
- Scope and Content:
This collection contains the records of the Thursday Night Club, founded in 1899. There are five series: Correspondence, Meeting Minutes, Photographs, Printed Materials and Subject Files
Correspondence: contains club correspondence from 1959 to 1991.
Meeting Minutes: contains membership lists, and constitutions and bylaws as well as most minutes of club meetings from 1899-2018. Meeting are not always held in certain months of the year and the meeting schedules provided in this series can clarify what meetings are missing versus what meeting were not held. The following minutes are lacking in this collection: no. 745 November 1967 (no. 745), date uncertain, but between June and September, 1975 (no. 805), April 1975 (no. 812), October 2000-June 2001 (no. 1035-1043). There are meeting invitations but no minutes for the December, 2013 and April, 2014 meetings. Meeting minutes from 2014-2018 are entirely born digital, and beginning in 2011 some minutes have digital versions in addition to print copies. The born digital records are incomplete at this time.
Photographs: photographs of club members from c. 1900-1950 and an album covering 1899-1939 are included in this series. A centennial scrapbook containing photographs, programs and meeting minutes from 1999 is also included. Some born digital images from a meeting held at the Everson Museum in 2019 are included, along with the occassional group photograph from a more recent meeting.
Printed Materials: is where you will find two copies of the combined histories written by Dr. George B. Broad in 1939 and 1949, and the history written by Dr. William J. Williams in 2009. The works were bound together in 2011.
Subject Files: contains materials on the death of member William L. Wallace, founder of Crouse-Irving Hospital, in 1939, constitution and by-law information, reports on club membership, obituaries for club members, and 50th anniversary information.
- Biographical / Historical:
The Thursday Night Club was established in 1899. On October 12, 1899, a group of fifteen doctors were invited to the home of Dr. Robert H. Pierson in Fayette Park. Present were: Eugene W. Belknap, George B. Broad, Frederick H. Flaherty, Thomas H. Halstead, William G. Hinsdale, Albert S. Hotaling, Hersey G. Locke, Frank W. Marlow, William H. May, Porter R. McMaster, Robert H. Pierson, George M. Price, Edward S. VanDuyn, William L. Wallace, and Edward J. Wynkoop. Dr. Hersey Locke, recently come to Syracuse, explained that the club was modeled after the Chakara Club out of New York City, which included some of the most prominent physicians in New England who had taken up an interest in the history of medicine and sought to keep one another informed of developments within their specialties. Intended to be a social organization for physicians, the Thursday Night Club often discussed medicine and science, but also art, literature, music and culture in general.
The Thursday Night Club continues to operate today, with membership on an invitation only basis. The constitution and by-laws in use are the second drafts of these documents, which were approved in 1902. A history of the group was authored by Dr. George B. Broad in 1939 and updated in 1949 for the fiftieth anniversary. Dr. William J. Williams wrote the history of the club from 1949 to 2009. The two histories were combined and bound together in 2011.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the Thursday Night Club in 1960.
- Arrangement:
The Thursday Night Club Records are arranged alphabetically within each series.
- Accruals:
Additional donations have been made over the years to keep the records current. Meeting minutes from 2011 to 2016 were received in 2020.
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Meeting minutes of the Thursday Night Club are restricted. Only members of the Thursday Night Club may view these documents, per instructions from Dr. Richard H. Lyons in 1960.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Written permission must be obtained from SUNY Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
The Thursday Night Club Records, Archives and Special Collections in the Health Sciences Library, SUNY Upstate Medical University
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
-
history@upstate.edu