COLLECTION GUIDES

1886-2017; bulk: 1969-2013

Guide to the Collection

Restrictions on Access

The bulk of the Algonquin Club of Boston records is stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.

The member files in this collection (Series III) are closed to researchers until 72 years from the date of their creation. Requests to access member files will be reviewed by library staff. For more information, please contact the MHS library.

This collection includes digital material that can only be accessed onsite at the MHS library.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of records of the Algonquin Club of Boston, a social club founded in 1886, including meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, member files, building plans, and printed material.

Historical Sketch

The Algonquin Club of Boston was a social club founded in 1886 (incorporated 9 March) by Oliver Ames, Edward A. Taft, William B. Wood, and Thomas E. Proctor "for the purpose of maintaining a club house and reading room in the city of Boston." The club originally occupied a building at 164 Marlboro Street until 1888, when it moved to 217 Commonwealth Avenue, a building designed specifically for the club by noted architects McKim, Mead & White. The club was incorporated under the name "New Algonquin Club" on 11 October 1898 and finally the "Algonquin Club of Boston" on 2 January 1908.

The officers of the Algonquin Club consisted of a president, vice-presidents (the number of these varied), a secretary or clerk, and a treasurer. The Executive Committee, the governing body of the club, was comprised of these officers plus a number of directors serving terms of various lengths. The organization also had a number of standing and special committees, including the Admissions Committee, Entertainment Committee, Finance Committee, House Committee, Marketing Committee, Membership Committee, and others.

While originally restricted to men, the club began admitting women to full membership in the 1980s. Prospective members were nominated by existing members, vetted by the Admissions Committee, and voted on by the Executive Committee. Membership not only included access to the club's facilities, but also reciprocal relationships with other social clubs around the world.

In 1999, the Algonquin Club entered into an agreement with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to manage the club. This agreement was the subject of a lawsuit in 2000, The Algonquin Club of Boston v. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, when the club sued the company for "grossly negligent and fraudulent" practices and the company countersued. The case was settled in 2001.

In 2018, the Algonquin Club building at 217 Commonwealth Avenue was sold to Hexagon Properties, a real estate company, for renovation and modernization. The renovated building, now known as the 'Quin House, opened in 2021 and functions as a members-only clubhouse with restaurants, fitness facilities, and event spaces.

Presidents of the Algonquin Club

1886-1893
John Forrester Andrew
1893-1898
Francis Peabody, Jr.
1898-1918
Charles Henry Taylor
1918-1923
Francis Wright Fabyan
1923-1925
Louis Arthur Coolidge
1925-1937
Jacob Frederick Brown
1937-1940
Henry J. Nichols
1940-1943
Leland Powers
1943-1945
Charles E. Spencer, Jr.
1945-1947
Frank J. Wall
1947-1948
Raymond B. Cox
1948-1950
Maxwell E. Bessell
1950-1954
Glenwood J. Sherrard
1954-1956
Maurice W. Dennison
1956-1958
Edward A. Larner
1958-1960
H. Frederick Hagemann, Jr.
1960-1963
Edward P. Brown
1963-1965
William F. Keesler
1965-1967
Lawrence M. Cazayoux
1967-1969
Thomas L. Morison
1969-1971
Julius F. Haller
1971-1975
Rudolph C. Bulterman
1975-1981
Carlton W. Spencer
1981-1982
David T. Scott
1982-1983
Rudolph C. Bulterman
1983-1985
Edward A. Larner, Jr.
1985-1988
Paul G. Smith
1988-1990
Thomas P. McCann
1990-1991
Lawrence Thornton Shields
1991-1993
James M. Paulson
1993-1995
Richard C. Ockerbloom
1995-1996
James M. Howell
1996-1998
Katherine T. McAvoy
1998-2000
Leonard Kopelman
2000-2001
Kenneth I. Guscott
2001-2002
David M. FitzGerald
2002-2004
Maggie Trichon
2004-2006
William D. Adams
2006-2009
Bryan P. Coyne
2009-2011
Richard R. Kelly
2011-2012
William D. Adams
2012-2014
David H. Barlow
2014-2017
John L. Hickey, Jr.
2017-2018
Terence Keane

Sources

The Algonquin Club of Boston: Certificate of Incorporation, By-Laws, House Rules, List of Officers and Members 1920. Boston: Algonquin Club, 1920.

"217 Commonwealth." Back Bay Houses, https://backbayhouses.org/217-commonwealth/. Accessed 10 November 2020.

Collection Description

This collection consists of records of the Algonquin Club of Boston, including meeting minutes and correspondence of the Executive Committee, the governing body of the club; annual meeting minutes; records of the Admissions Committee, Entertainment Committee, Finance Committee, House Committee, Marketing Committee, Membership Committee, and other standing and special committees; member files, consisting of correspondence and other records of approximately 3,000 individual members; and printed material, such as yearbooks, newsletters, programs, menus, bulletins, and newspaper clippings. The collection contains plans of and papers related to the club's building at 217 Commonwealth Ave. designed by architects McKim, Mead & White; records of members nominated and elected; and papers documenting finances and operations, various events held at the club, and the club's decision to admit women to full membership in 1984.

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Algonquin Club of Boston, November 2018, April 2019, November 2022. Additions through Vita Paladino, January 2019, Summer 2019. Additions, February 2024.

Restrictions on Access

The bulk of the Algonquin Club of Boston records is stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.

The member files in this collection (Series III) are closed to researchers until 72 years from the date of their creation. Requests to access member files will be reviewed by library staff. For more information, please contact the MHS library.

This collection includes digital material that can only be accessed onsite at the MHS library.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Administrative records, 1886-2013

The bulk of this series consists of records of the Executive Committee, the governing body of the Algonquin Club of Boston, including meeting minutes and correspondence. The series also contains early record books of the club and minutes of annual meetings.

Close I. Administrative records, 1886-2013

II. Committee records, 1918-2011

Arranged alphabetically.

This series consists of records of several of the standing committees of the Algonquin Club of Boston. Not all of the club's committees are represented in this series, and the records of each are not comprehensive. Committees for which the collection includes only a small amount of material are represented in subseries H.

For Executive Committee records, including scattered minutes of the House and other committee meetings, see Series I.C.

Close II. Committee records, 1918-2011

IV. Printed material, 1886-2017

This series consists of printed material produced by and about the Algonquin Club of Boston, including yearbooks, newsletters, programs, menus, newspaper clippings, and other items.

For printed notices in the form of letters from the president or Executive Committee to all club members, see Series I.C.

Close IV. Printed material, 1886-2017

Select Index of Members

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Below is a list of members of the Algonquin Club of Boston whose files are included in Series III. This is not a complete list of members. (The club originally referred to married women by their husbands' first names, and this information has been retained in parentheses below.)

NOTE: Member files are closed to researchers until 72 years from the date of their creation. Requests to access member files will be reviewed by library staff. For more information, please contact the MHS library.

Preferred Citation

Algonquin Club of Boston records, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Organizations:

McKim, Mead & White.

Subjects:

Boston (Mass.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customs.
Clubs--Massachusetts--Boston.
Historic buildings--Massachusetts--Boston.
Men--Societies and clubs.
Menus.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Algonquin Club of Boston photographs. Artifacts have been removed to the MHS Artifacts Collection. Printed material has been removed and cataloged separately.

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