Hunnewell Club photographs - Hunnewell Club Minstrel Troupe -
Hunnewell Club photographs - Hunnewell Club Minstrel Troupe -
Item Information
Title:
Hunnewell Club photographs - Hunnewell Club Minstrel Troupe -
Description:
Collection consists of thirteen photographs on pasteboard backing, book excerpt of brief history of the club, printout of online record of club from Jackson Homestead Manuscript and Photograph Collection, original caricature of club members Harry Learnard, George Harris, Charles Bowen, E. S. Foster and Fred Paul by artist, Frank Collier. - Located at 84 Eldredge Street, Newton, Mass - Text on verso: Auditorium (Stanley Hall) facing stage, 3rd floor, Hunnewell Club opening nite April 1898. Anterooms at left and right of stage. Stairway entrance at right to second floor. Stairway at left to Eldredge Street, first floor entrance. - View on stage of 19 men, 17 of which are in black face and 2 dressed as women. -
Hunnewell Club (formerly Hunnewell Hill Club of 1895) was established by Freelan O. Stanley in 1897 as a social and reading place in a 3-story building at 84 Eldredge Street at the corner of Church Street and is still standing today. Members were only admitted from the Newton Corner area, and men living farther than 4 miles from the clubhouse and all women were allowed only restricted use. Activities of the club included pool, billiards, bowling, cards, concerts, theatricals, receptions, and parties. Later the club let community organizations use its space for meetings, a dancing school, a kindergarten, and a temporary church sanctuary. The property was sold to the Pomroy Foundation in 1967, but the club kept ownership of the bowling alleys. This collection includes photographs of the interior and exterior of the clubhouse, the actors on opening night of a play performed in April, 1898, a caricature of 5 club members, and text of 2 brief histories of the club.
