Octagon Club Records, ca. 1942-1948 – MS111
Provenance: Gift of Valerie Cunningham in 2012. Given in memory of Clarence W. Cunningham.
Citation: Octagon Club Records, MS111, Portsmouth Athenauem
Size: 1 Half Hollinger Box
Access: No restrictions
Scope and Content:
Records of the Octagon Club, an African-American club of freemasons, active in Portsmouth, NH, from 1942 to c1956. Includes the proposed constitution, correspondence, letters of support for Clayton Sinclair who worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, some receipts and financial records. Also includes a list titled, ’The Colored Population of Portsmouth, NH, 1949.’ A newsletter from the Prince Hall Lodge in New York discusses the merits of integrating black and white members of freemasonry.
Related Materials:
S1324 in Flat Box 8
Folder List
Box 1
Box 1 F1: Founding and Proposed Constitution, 1942-1943
F2: Correspondence, 1942-1966
F3: Mt. Zion Lodge, Roxbury, 1925-1956 (bulk 1943)
F4: Letters of Support for Clayton Sinclair, 1943-1944
F5: Club Programs, 1943-1955
F6: Receipts, 1943-1956
F7: Financial Reports, 1944-1949
F8: Report of the Auditing Committee, 1945
F9: William Ballard’s Application, 1946
F10: Women’s Civic Club, 1947
F11: Prince Hall Lodge Newsletters, 1948-1951
F12: Colored Population of Portsmouth, NH, 1949
F13: Cards and ephemera, n.d.
F14: Miscellaneous