The Kingstowne Music Club, a civic organization dedicated to fostering the appreciation and enjoyment of music, was founded in 1939 in Kingston, Rhode Island. These records show its activities through 1966. The Club had no official relationship with the University of Rhode Island, although many of its members did. Almost from its inception, the Kingstowne Music Club belonged to the National Federation of Music Clubs and the Rhode Island State Federation of Music Clubs. Activities of the Club consisted of a yearly series of musical events, at which members and guests would perform. These were often held in members' homes and documented in the local newspaper, but sometimes took place in larger public halls in the area. The repertoire was most often classical but included other genres such as traditional folk songs. The Club also sponsored scholarships to the University of Rhode Island Summer Music Camp for high school students.
Open for research.
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Kingstowne Music Club Records, 1939-1966, Mss. Gr. 140, University of Rhode Island Library.
The records of the Kingstowne Music Club consist largely of performance programs, minutes, and reports of the organization's activities from 1939 to 1966. Some of this material is missing for a few years in the 1940s. Reports from the organizational meetings at which the Club was founded are present, as are the original Constitution, drafted in 1939, and the revised Constitution, dated 1952. The Club kept thorough membership lists, updated yearly, with names, addresses, and telephone numbers. From the programs, it is possible to see exactly what music was performed, by whom, and where. Clippings from the local newspaper show reporting of the events. Material from the National Federation of Music Clubs and the Rhode Island State Federation of Music Clubs documents the Club's affiliation with those organizations. There are thank-you letters from high school students to whom the Club awarded scholarships to the University of Rhode Island Summer Music Camp in 1959. The records also contain six half-tone negatives of publicity photographs of guest musicians.
There is no indication here that the organization disbanded after 1966, but the records simply stop at that year.
The collection is organized in two series:
These records were donated to Special Collections at an undetermined date, as part of the papers of Arnold Clair (MSG #135), who was an active member of the Kingstowne Music Club (along with his wife, Jane Clair) beginning in the late 1940s.
The records of the Kingstowne Music Club extend from 1939 to 1966. There is no indication that the Club was to be disbanded after 1966, but the records stop that year. The material is generally in good condition. Performance programs show music performed at the Club's yearly series of musical events, and minutes and reports show the business activity of the Club. Membership lists are detailed and thorough. A cash book shows dues paid. This material documents a strong interest and participation in efforts to enrich community life through music in Kingston, Rhode Island during the period. Some performance programs from the 1940s are missing.
This series contains the half-tone negatives of the Kinsgtowne Music Club.