Minutes, 1960-2004

Minutes, literary productions, correspondence, printed materials, photographs, financial records, and scrapbooks (1907-2017) document the history of the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club. The records are arranged in three series.

The first series, Minutes and History, contains a history of the club produced by the club's founder Jeannette Cox (1934), as well as four bound volumes of the club's minute books (1916-1984). The minutes detail authors read and discussed by the club, dues from members, and donations given to various organizations throughout Charleston. The second series, General Materials, is a chronological arrangement of letters sent and received by the club from members, other individuals (including copies of letters from W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod Bethune), and organizations, and includes programs, member manuals, brief member profiles, and clippings regarding the club.

The third series, AMN 1031-01, is an accrual to the collection and is arranged in six subseries. The first subseries, Minutes and Administrative Notes, contains two bound volumes of the club’s minutes books and typed minutes from the club’s activities in the 21st century. The second subseries, General Materials, includes thank-you cards and letters sent to the club regarding donations, activities, and potential membership; guest books signed by guests of events held by the Club; hand books containing the calendar and schedule for various program years; a collection of club materials prepared by club Historian, Emily Moore, in preparation for and celebration of the group’s centennial anniversary; the first issue of the Phillis Wheatley Gazette; Avery Normal Institute and Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club memorabilia. The third subseries, Photographs, contains two deconstructed photo albums with the photos remaining in their original order. The first album includes photographs from the 90th anniversary celebration, and the second photo album contains reproductions of photographs of Jeannette K. Cox and her family. There are also miscellaneous photographs of individual club members and group photos of members at events in a separate folder. There is also a USB drive which contains mostly duplicative of photographs and materials found within this subseries and within the scrapbooks in subseries 3.4. The only unique digital files on the USB are a portrait photograph of Anna Kelly, a portrait photograph of Florence Clyde, and a photo of Geneva Singleton. The fourth subseries, Scrapbooks, contains three scrapbooks that document the members and activities of the club through profiles, photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and programs. The fifth subseries, Audio-Visual Materials, includes a recording of a group oral history with Madlyn Johnson, DeLaris Risher, Cynthia McCottry-Smith, and Marie Simpson discussing their involvement with the club as well as a taped segment of TV WMMP called the Eye Glass Project. The sixth subseries, Oversize Materials, includes a framed copy of the South Carolina House Resolution honoring the club and pink candlesticks used by the club during events.