TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1903-1910
Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1903-1924, bulk 1924
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Inventory of the Little Room Records, 1898-1931
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2003. ©2001. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
|
| Creator | Little Room (Chicago, Ill.) |
| Title | Little Room Records |
| Dates | 1898-1931 |
| Extent | 1.3 linear feet (2 boxes and 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Business records of the Little Room, an early twentieth century Chicago social club composed of artists, writers, musicians, etc., including correspondence, memorabilia and membership material. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Little Room |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 41 11 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Little Room Records, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Nellie E. Walker, 1950..
Processed by
Amy Nyholm, 1950; Virginia H. Smith, 2001.
Acknowledgements
This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Access
The Little Room Records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Little Room Records are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of The Little Room
Early twentieth century Chicago social organization of painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, architects and other workers in the arts.
During the first years of the 20th century there existed in Chicago a weekly meeting of men and women from the arts who called their social gathering The Little Room. The name was taken from the title of a short story written by Madeleine Yale Wynne that appeared in Harper's Monthly in the 1890's, about a mysterious room where a visitor with the right frame of mind would find companionship and happiness. It was a popular story and shortly after its publication the title was appropriated by a group of writers, artists and musicians who wished to get together regularly to enjoy refreshment and good talk. They met one of the studios in Chicago's Fine Arts Building, situated on Michigan Avenue, and continued to do so into the 1930's.
Fostered by novelists Hamlin Garland and Henry B. Fuller, The Little Room had a usual attendance of as many as thirty or forty members and suitable guests who came together for tea and conversation on Friday afternoons or for an occasional evening of light music, drama or some kind of clever presentation. Among the members - some for many years - were George Ade, Hobart Chatfield-Taylor, Henry B. Fuller, Alice Gerstenberg, James T. Hatfield, Franklin Harvey Head, John T. McCutcheon, Anna Morgan, Allen Bartlit Pond, Henry Kitchell Webster and Edith Wyatt.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Scattered records regarding the formation and operation of club from the late 1890's to 1931. Includes correspondence, most of which, both incoming and outgoing, is brief and relates mainly to membership matters. Also, accounts and bills, address cards, an autograph book, executive committee meeting records (1902-1909), membership lists (ca. 1900-1922), and secretarial forms and notices. There is a group of miscellaneous material which includes memorials to several members, a poem, a play, play programs, two photographs of Henry B. Fuller, and a proposal for a men's club to be called The Attic Club. An oversize box holds two photographs, a clipping and a cartoon of the members as they appeared in George Ade's play, Captain Fry's Birthday Party.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
Papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1903-1910. Box(es) 1
- Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1903-1924, . Box(es) 1
- Series 3: Activities and Miscellaneous, ca. 1900-1929. Box(es) 1-3
- Series 4: Business Records, 1898-1931. Box(es) 2
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Ade, George, 1866-1944
- Ade, George, 1866-1944. Cap Fry's Birthday Party
- Attic Club (Chicago, Ill.)
- Carter, William H (William Harding), 1851-1925
- Chatfield-Taylor, H.C. (Hobart Chatfield), 1865-1925
- Fuller, Henry Blake, 1857-1929 - Portraits
- Gerstenberg, Alice
- Hatfield, James Taft, 1862-1945
- Head, Franklin H. (Franklin Harvey), 1832-1914
- Little Room (Chicago, Ill.) - Archives
- McCutcheon, John T. (John Tinney), 1870-1949
- Morgan, Anna, 1851-1936
- Pond, Allen Bartlit, 1858-1929
- Walker, Nellie V. (Nellie Verne), b. 1874
- Wyatt, Edith, 1873-1958
- Wynne, Madeline Yale, 1847-1918
Subjects
- Chicago (Ill.) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
- Chicago (Ill.) -- Social life and customs
- Clubs - Illinois -- Chicago -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Photographs -- 1901-1950
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Container List
Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence, 1903-1910 |
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| Outgoing correspondence consists of letters from Allen Bartlit Pond, Secretary of The Little Room, to members and/or prospective members. | |||||||||||
| Arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Dec. 17, 1903 - Oct. 9, 1905 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Mar. 28, 1906 - Dec. 13, 1906 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Jan. 4, 1907 - Nov. 17, 1908 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Oct. 23, 1909 - Sept. 19, 1910 | |||||||||
Series 2: Incoming Correspondence, 1903-1924, bulk 1924 |
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| The incoming correspondence is from members and prospective members primarily regarding activities, club dues and related matters. Correspondents include George Ade, H.C. Chatfield Taylor, Henry Blake Fuller, Alice Gerstenberg, James T. Hatfield, Franklin H. Head, John T. McCutcheon, Anna Morgan, Allen Bartlit Pond and Edith Wyatt. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Aldis - Burton | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Carlton - Dwyer | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Fellows - Grant | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Hard - Head | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Henrotin - Morgan | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Oldberg - Stock | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Tallmadge - Zeisler | |||||||||
Series 3: Activities and Miscellaneous, ca. 1900-1929 |
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| Includes memorials to members General William G. Harding Carter, Allen Bartlett Pond and Madeline Yale Wynne, a poem, a play, play programs, two photographs of Henry B. Fuller and a proposal for a men's club to be called The Attic Club. See also Oversize Box. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by type of material. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | The Attic Club Proposal, 1907 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Memorial to Madeline Yale Wynne, [192-] | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Memorial to General William H. Carter, 1908-1923 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Memorial to Allen Bartlit Pond, 1929 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Periodical extract: Sat. Evening Herald, 1901 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Photographs of Henry B. Fuller, [190-] | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Play: "Cap Fry's Birthday Party," 1904 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Poem: "The Little Room," [190-] | |||||||||
| 1 | 20-21 | Programs for Theatricals, 1902-1906 | |||||||||
| 3 | Oversize: Two photographs, clipping and cartoon of the members of The Little Room in costume for a production of George Ade's play, Captain Fry's Birthday Party, Aug. 1904 | ||||||||||
Series 4: Business Records, 1898-1931 |
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| Documents relating to the organization and mechanics of running the club, material mostly retained by Allen Bartlett Pond and Nellie V. Walker, who served as Secretaries for the Little Room. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically by type of material. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | Account Book, 1910-1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Accounts and Bills, 1904-1928 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Addresses sent in by members, Oct.-Nov., 1909 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Autograph Book, 1898-1931 | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | Executive Committee Meeting Records, 1902-1909 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Executive Committee Officers, 1906-1907 | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | Meeting Notices, 1905-1924 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29-38 | Membership Lists, 1900-1922 (scattered) | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | Membership Recommendations, 1904-1913 | |||||||||
| 2 | 40-41 | Secretarial Notices, 1904-1910 | |||||||||