South Shore Country Club records, 1905-1975
Descriptive Inventory for the Collection at
Chicago History Museum, Research Center
By Hugh DeSantis, 1978; ed. L. Evans, 2010
Please address questions to:
Chicago History Museum, Research Center
1601 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614-6038
Web-site:
http://www.chicagohistory.org/research
© Copyright 2010, Chicago Historical
Society
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Title: South Shore Country Club records
[manuscript], 1905-1975
Main entry: South Shore
Country Club (Chicago, Ill.)
Inclusive dates:
1905-1975
Size: 173 linear ft. (137 boxes, 4 v.)
Restriction: Research
use of this collection is governed by the standard rules and regulations of the
Chicago History Museum Research Center.
Accession number: M1976.0007.
Provenance statement: The
great majority of these records were a gift of the South Shore Country Club
Liquidation Trust (Mr. George M. Craig, Mr. Joseph B. Fitzer, and Mr. Ellsworth
T. Horsley, trustees) in July 1976 (M1976.0007).
Terms governing use: Copyright
may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendents, as stipulated
by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.
Please cite this collection as: South
Shore Country Club records (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed
description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.
This descriptive inventory contains the following sections:
Historical note,
Summary description of the collection,
List of online catalog headings about the
collection,
Arrangement of the collection,
Detailed description of archival series in
the collection,
List of contents of the collection.
Historical note:
The South Shore Country Club (SSCC) was established in the 1906 by the president of the Chicago Athletic Club as a country retreat for its members. The South Shore Country Club's by-laws of 1910 described its purpose as "pleasure, social recreation and the promotion of outdoor sports." Constructed along Lake Michigan between 67th Street and 71st Street and Yates Avenue, and covering approximately 60 acres of lush lakefront real estate, the club was conveniently located only 20 minutes from Chicago's Loop.
In its earliest days the club was strictly Social Register, boasting the names of many of Chicago's most celebrated business and civic leaders, including Honore Palmer, J. Ogden Armour, Samuel Insull, and William C. Thorn, who was an executive at Montgomery Ward and the club's civic exemplar. They viewed it as an "American club" composed of self-made men, professional men, captains of industry, and merchant princes.
The social composition of the early membership was largely native American, Protestant, and Anglo-Saxon. Although there were also a few Jews among the club's original members, their tenure was short-lived. After World War I the club became increasingly Irish and Catholic. This shift reflected the growing assimilation of new ethnic groups into the upper strata of American society and demographic changes in the neighborhood which surrounded the club. Settled in the late nineteenth century by Swedish immigrants, the area from 19th Street to 67th Street began to fill with Irish Americans after the turn of the century.
The SSCC offered five basic memberships: resident, perpetual, non-resident, junior, and army and navy. Resident and perpetual members purchased certificates of membership which could be sold or transferred to new members. According to the by-laws, resident members could not exceed 2000; perpetual and non-resident members were limited to 250 and 200, respectively. There were no ceilings on the admission of junior and armed forces members. The number of armed forces members swelled during the two world wars, when people were stationed in the Chicago area temporarily.
The original clubhouse was constructed in two and one-half months and opened to the membership in September 1906. This structure, as well as some later ones, was designed by Charles Fox, a club member and prominent Chicago architect who designed or collaborated in the design of many Chicago landmark building of that era. The South Shore Country Club's main building was designed in the manner of the Italian Renaissance, with picturesque pillars, and sweeping colonnades and balustrades.
For three or four generations of South-side Chicagoans, the club offered a relaxed and pleasant life style, a kind of second home. Members enjoyed the wide range of recreational activities--more extensive than any other club in the Midwest and perhaps in the country--including swimming along the club's sandy beaches, golf, tennis, riding, skeet and trap shooting, and lawn bowling. They mingled with famous world figures like King Peter of Yugoslavia and President William Howard Taft and Hollywood stars such as Jean Harlow, danced to the music of Paul Whiteman, and quipped with Will Rogers.
By the 1960's the club began to fall on financial hard times from which it did not recover. This decline was in part the result of the changing social character of the nearby neighborhoods and a rising crime rate that pushed wealthy residents to move farther north. Competitive pressure from suburban country clubs, which continued to sprout in the 1950s and 1960s, was another factor. In addition, because of its failure to attract younger members and its exclusionist membership policy, SSCC was unable to offset falling membership numbers. By 1973 resident memberships had dropped to 731 from a high of 2006 in 1956.
Although the club undertook a membership drive in the 1960s, it proved unsuccessful and only prolonged the eventual decision to close the club's doors. That day came in June 1974, when club members voted to sell the grounds to the Chicago Park District for $9,775.000. Later the main building and grounds would be come the South Shore Cultural Center, operated by the Chicago Park District.
Source of information: This collection and:
"Chicago's exclusive Playground: The South Shore Country Club," by Aubrey O. Cookman in Chicago History, Summer 1976 (vol. V, no. 2).
Summary description of the collection:
Membership certificates, index cards, and registers, 1906-1974; audits, committee minutes, some correspondence, scrapbooks, and other files of the South Shore Country Club, one of Chicago's oldest and most exclusive social clubs up to its closing in 1974. Membership application files include information about successful and unsuccessful applicants, including name, address, occupation, financial position, marital status, age, nationality, and ethnic background, comments by references, disposition of the application, membership fees, and annual dues. A scrapbook, 1906, concerns construction of the first central building, at 7059 South South Shore Drive, designed by Charles Fox of Marshall & Fox, and of the club grounds on the shore of Lake Michigan between 67th Street and 71st Street. Marshall & Fox also designed the 1916 club building, an Italianate pavilion that was sold to the Chicago Park District in 1974 when the club closed.
This collection includes all surviving SSCC records except the minutes of its board of governors, which the last representatives of the club intended to donate to Chicago Historical Society eventually.
Description of some
materials related to this collection:
Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include published materials cataloged separately: annual reports, year books, the South Shore Country Club Magazine, and the Green Tree magazine. Also available are original photographs filed in the "Image File, People" under names of presidents of the club and in the "Image File, Topical" under: Organizations--Clubs--Country clubs (Illinois--Chicago) South Shore Country Club topics. Postcards (2) are filed in the Postcards composite collection under: Buildings--Organizations Buildings--South Shore Country Club (Illinois--Chicago). There also is a separate small collection of South Shore Country Club color photographs (1994.0291).
List of online catalog headings about the collection:
Subjects:
Fox, Charles, Chicago architect.
Marshall & Fox (Firm)
South Shore Country Club (Chicago, Ill.)--Archives.
7059 South South Shore Drive (Chicago, Ill.)
Country clubs--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
Outdoor recreation--Michigan, Lake.
Parks--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
Recreation--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
Shorelines--Michigan, Lake.
Shorelines--Illinois--Chicago.
Upper class--Illinois--Chicago--20th century
Chicago (Ill.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
Michigan, Lake
Chicago (Ill.)--Social Life and Customs.
South Shore (Chicago, Ill.)
Form/genre:
Audits.
Case files.
Certificates.
Correspondence.
Membership lists.
Minutes.
Scrapbooks.
United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago.
Arrangement of the
collection:
Series 1. Member application files by application# (Chronological)
Series 2. Certificates of membership & register
Series 3. Membership listings & record books
Series 4. Minutes, reports, miscellaneous correspondence and other records.
Detailed description of archival series in the collection:
Series 1. Member
application files by application# (Chronological)
Arranged chronologically, the membership application files provide the applicant's name, address, occupation, financial position, marital status, age, nationality, and ethnic background. They also disclose the disposition of the application, including comments by references, the membership fee and annual dues.
It is possible to find a person's name in the membership registers in Series 3 and thus learn that person's membership application file number.
Series 2. Certificates
of membership & register:
Five different memberships were offered by the club: resident, perpetual, nonresident, junior, and armed forces. Resident and perpetual members purchased certificates of membership which could be sold or transferred to other individuals accepted into the club. These certificates, which provide the certificate number, the owner's name and transfers of ownership, are chronologically arranged in 40 bound volumes (where they were mounted after each member returned his certificate when relinquishing his membership). The chief value of these certificates (aside from use in exhibitions) is that the reassignment of these certificates over the years indicates the pattern and rate of change in the membership of the club.
A one-volume register of certificates (1906-July 1940) lists the certificate number, the date it was registered, the individual to whom it was assigned, the cancellation date, and the individual to whom it was delivered.
During the first and second world wars especially, men stationed in the Chicago area temporarily because of the war could apply for an armed forces membership.
Series 3. Membership
listings & record books:
Membership listings (incomplete) are arranged alphabetically on index cards, which usually supply the member's name, business and home addresses, date and type of membership, membership certificate number, the individual from whom the certificate was received, the application file number, and billing account number. There are four separate membership lists, which are grouped by 4 time periods: 1906 to World War I, World War I to the late 1930s, and the late 1930s to 1974, final membership.
A chronological register of membership in six volumes (with application file numbers and alphabetical index to names in each volume) are also available from 1905 to 1974. This set of volumes was called the "Member Record."
Please note: By using this register of members, it is possible to trace a particular name to the person's membership application number.
Series 4. Minutes, reports,
miscellaneous correspondence and other records
Another part of the collection includes minutes of the House Committee and the Building and Grounds Committee, mainly for the 1960s; a small set of minutes of the Finance Committee (1935-1947); auditor's reports (1917-1945 incomplete) and annual reports (1938-1973 incomplete); and correspondence regarding the construction and maintenance of club facilities and the sale of the club.
Also present are 2 courtesy cards for the South Shore Country Club and the Woman's Athletic Club (stored: MSS Alpha2 SSCC) that were the gift of Robert S. Conrich (1985.0115) and a manuscript record book of the holdings of the South Shore Country Club library plus miscellaneous enclosed lists, ca. 1918-1926, 1 volume (1986.0815).
List of contents of the collection:
Series 1. Member
application files by application# (Chronological):
Box 1: Member application files by application#: 165-549
Box 2: Member application files by application#: 550-947
Box 3: Member application files by application#: 948-1207
Box 4: Member application files by application#: 1208-1459
Box 5: Member application files by application#: 1460-1736
Box 6: Member application files by application#: 1737-2047
Box 7: Member application files by application#: 2048-2213
Box 8: Member application files by application#: 2214-2352
Box 9: Member application files by application#: 2353-2481
Box 10: Member application files by application#: 2482-2612
Box 11: Member application files by application#: 2613-2742
Box 12: Member application files by application#: 2743-2900
Box 13: Member application files by application#: 2901-3059
Box 14: Member application files by application#: 3060-3197
Box 15: Member application files by application#: 3198-3339
Box 16: Member application files by application#: 3340-3472
Box 17: Member application files by application#: 3473-3588
Box 18: Member application files by application#: 3589-3712
Box 19: Member application files by application#: 3713-3836
Box 20: Member application files by application#: 3837-3950
Box 21: Member application files by application#: 3951-3995
Box 22: Member application files by application#: 4074-4200
Box 23: Member application files by application#: 4201-4350
Box 24: Member application files by application#: 4351-4495
Box 25: Member application files by application#: 4496-4618
Box 26: Member application files by application#: 4619-4748
Box 27: Member application files by application#: 4749-4901
Box 28: Member application files by application#: 4902-5037
Box 29: Member application files by application#: 5038-5175
Box 30: Member application files by application#: 5176-5313
Box 31: Member application files by application#: 5114-5460
Box 32: Member application files by application#: 5461-5599
Box 33: Member application files by application#: 5600-5710
Box 34: Member application files by application#: 5711-5825
Box 35: Member application files by application#: 5826-5942
Box 36: Member application files by application#: 5943-6058
Box 37: Member application files by application#: 6059-6192
Box 38: Member application files by application#: 6193-6326
Box 39: Member application files by application#: 6327-6461
Box 40: Member application files by application#: 6462-6581
Box 41: Member application files by application#: 6582-6694
Box 42: Member application files by application#: 6695-6814
Box 43: Member application files by application#: 6815-6939
Box 44: Member application files by application#: 6940-7081
Box 45: Member application files by application#: 7082-7220
Box 46: Member application files by application#: 7221-7367
Box 47: Member application files by application#: 7368-7503
Box 48: Member application files by application#: 7504-7676
Box 49: Member application files by application#: 7677-7829
Box 50: Member application files by application#: 7830-7957
Box 51: Member application files by application#: 7960-8082
Box 52: Member application files by application#: 8083-8211
Box 53: Member application files by application#: 8212-8355
Box 54: Member application files by application#: 8356-8490
Box 55: Member application files by application#: 8491-8517
Box 56: Member application files by application#: 8518-8759
Box 57: Member application files by application#: 8760-8906
Box 58: Member application files by application#: 8907-9077
Box 59: Member application files by application#: 9078-9260
Box 60: Member application files by application#: 9261-9420
Box 61: Member application files by application#: 9421-9561
Box 62: Member application files by application#: 9562-9714
Box 63: Member application files by application#: 9715-9848
Box 64: Member application files by application#: 9849-9987
Box 65: Member application files by application#: 9988-10136
Box 66: Member application files by application#: 10137-10266
Box 67: Member application files by application#: 10267-10372
Box 68: Member application files by application#: 10373-10523
Box 69: Member application files by application#: 10524-10641
Box 70: Member application files by application#: 10642-10760
Box 71: Member application files by application#: 10761-10897
Box 72: Member application files by application#: 10898-11048
Box 73: Member application files by application#: 11049-11174
Box 74: Member application files by application#: 11174.5-11295
Box 75: Member application files by application#: 11297-11414
Box 76: Member application files by application#: 11415-11529
Box 77: Member application files by application#: 11530-11657
Box 78: Member application files by application#: 11658-11795
Box 79: Member application files by application#: 11796-11924
Box 80: Member application files by application#: 11925-12045
Box 82: Member application files by application#: 12046-12191
Box 83: Member application files by application#: 12192-12310
Box 84: Member application files by application#: 12311-12445
Box 85: Member application files by application#: 12446-12572
Box 86: Member application files by application#: 12573-12703
Box 87: Member application files by application#: 12704-12853
Box 88: Member application files by application#: 12845-12994
Box 89: Member application files by application#: 12995-13428
Box 90: Member application files by application#: 13429-13550
Box 91: Member application files by application#: 13551-13644
Box 92: Member application files by application#: 13645-13737
Box 92: Member application files by application#: 13738-13868
Box 93: Member application files by application#: 13869-14015
Box 94: Member application files by application#: 14016-14151
Box 95: Member application files by application#: 14152-14281
Box 96: Member application files by application#: 14282-14401
Box 97: Member application files by application#: 14402-14509
Box 98: Member application files by application#: 14510-14635
Box 99: Member application files by application#: 14656-14768
Box 100: Member application files by application#: 14769-14908
Box 101: Member application files by application#: 14909-15036
Box 102: Member application files by application#: 15037-15168
Box 103: Member application files by application#: 15169-15279
Box 104: Member application files by application#: 15280-15406
Box 105: Member application files by application#: 15407-15535
Box 106: Member application files by application#: 15536-15662
Box 107: Member application files by application#: 15663-15799
Box 108: Member application files by application#: 15800-15939
Box 109: Member application files by application#: 15940-16060
Box 110: Member application files by application#: 16061-16191
Box 111: Member application files by application#: 16192-16325
Box 112: Member application files by application#: 16326-16503
Box 113: Member application files by application#: 16504-16694
Box 114: Member application files by application#: 16695-16821
Box 115: Member application files by application#: 16822-17049
Box 116: Member application files by application#: 17050-17136
Series 2.
Certificates of membership & register:
REQUEST BY VOLUME TITLE AND #:
Resident members' certificates
by number (1906 August 1-1975 March 6):
Volumes: Member certificate number:
Volume 1 Resident members' certificates #: 1-500
Volume 2 Resident members' certificates #: 501-1000
Volume 3 Resident members' certificates #: 1001-1500
Volume 4 Resident members' certificates #: 1501-2000
Volume 5 Resident members' certificates #: 2001-2500
Volume 6 Resident members' certificates #: 2501-3000
Volume 7 Resident members' certificates #: 3001-3500
Volume 8 Resident members' certificates #: 3501-4000
Volume 9 Resident members' certificates #: 4001-5000
Volume 10 Resident members' certificates #: 5001-5500
Volume 11 Resident members' certificates #: 5501-5750
Volume 12 Resident members' certificates #: 5751-6000
Volume 13 Resident members' certificates #: 6001-6250
Volume 14 Resident members' certificates #: 6251-6500
Volume 15 Resident members' certificates #: 6501-6750
Volume 16 Resident members' certificates #: 6751-7000
Volume 17 Resident members' certificates #: 7001-7250
Volume 18 Resident members' certificates #: 7251-7500
Volume 19 Resident members' certificates #: 7501-7750
Volume 20 Resident members' certificates #: 7751-8000
Volume 21 Resident members' certificates #: 8001-8250
Volume 22 Resident members' certificates #: 8251-8500
Volume 23 Resident members' certificates #: 8501-8750
Volume 24 Resident members' certificates #: 8751-9000
Volume 25 Resident members' certificates #: 9001-9250
Volume 26 Resident members' certificates #: 9251-9500
Volume 27 Resident members' certificates #: 9501-9750
Volume 28 Resident members' certificates #: 9751-10000
Volume 29 Resident members' certificates #: 10001-10250
Volume 30 Resident members' certificates #: 10251-10500
Volume 31 Resident members' certificates #: 10501-10750
Volume 32 Resident members' certificates #: 10751-11000
Volume 33 Resident members' certificates #: 11001-11250
Volume 34 Resident members' certificates #: 11251-11500
Volume 35 Resident members' certificates #: 11501-11750
Volume 36 Resident members' certificates #: 11751-12000 & 11900
Perpetual members'
certificates by number (1906 September 18-1975 June 26):
REQUEST BY VOLUME TITLE AND #:
Volumes: Member certificate number:
Volume 1 Perpetual members' certificates #: 1-250
Volume 2 Perpetual members' certificates #: 251-500
Volume 3 Perpetual members' certificates #: 501-750
Volume 4 Perpetual members' certificates #: 751-100 & 783
Register of members
by certificate number (1906-1940 July):
REQUEST BY VOLUME TITLE:
Volume: Register of members by certificate#: 1 to 7726
Series 3. Membership
listings & record books:
Index cards listing
members:
Group 1: Index cards listing members, alphabetically (from 1906 to World War I)
(1 box)
Group 2: Index cards listing members, alphabetically (from World War I to late 1930s)
(5 boxes)
Group 3: Index cards listing members, alphabetically (from late 1930s to 1974)
(6 drawers on shelf)
Group 4: Index cards listing final membership, alphabetically:
Box 118 "A"-Duffy
Box 119 Duffy-O'Conner
Box 120 O'Conner-Z
Box 120 Resigned Members, "A"-"Z"
Register of members
by application number in volumes called the "Member Record"
(each volume includes an
alphabetical index by name):
Box 121 REQUEST BY BOX #:
Volumes:
v. 1 List of members by application#: 178-2338 (1905 Dec 14-1916 Jan. 7)
v. 2 List of members by application#: 2339-4447 (1916 Jan. 7-1922 Sept. 11)
v. 3 List of members by application#: 4448-6780 (1922 Sept. 11-1932 Jan. 25)
v. 4 List of members by application#: 6781-9132 (1932 Jan. 25-1941 Mar. 4)
v. 5 List of members by application#: 9133-11497 (1941 Mar. 5-1948 June 30)
Box 122 REQUEST BY BOX #:
v. 6 List of members by application#: 11498-17139 (1948 July 1-1974 May 23)
Series 4. Minutes, reports,
miscellaneous correspondence and other records:
Box 116
Annual meetings, etc., 1964-1967
Annual meetings, etc., 1969-1971
Annual meetings, etc., 1972-1974
Audit reports 1917-1919
Audit reports 1928-1933
Audit reports 1934-1936
Audit reports 1937-1939
Audit reports 1940-1944
Audit reports 1945-1948
Audit reports 1949-1952
Audit reports 1953-1956
Audit reports 1957-1960
Box 117
Audit reports 1961-1964
Audit reports 1965-1971
Audit reports 1972-1975
Finance Committee minutes 1965-1947
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1940-1956, & other materials since 1937
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1948-1953
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1954-1956
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1957-1960 & other materials thru 1965
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1968
Buildings & Grounds Committee minutes 1969-1974
House Committee minutes 1961-1963
House Committee minutes 1964-1965
House Committee minutes 1966-1969
House Committee minutes 1970-1971
House Committee minutes 1972-1974
Stable Committee 1963 Feb.-Nov.
Book reviews 1944-1974
Lectures 1938-1966
Travelogues 1961-1974
Publication of SSCC magazine 1932-1943
Membership 1979-1974
Miscellany 1907-1973
Box 118
News clippings
Box 122
Scrapbook of news clippings
Scrapbook of letters, etc. (1906 Mar.-Oct.) on construction of South Shore Country Club
2 Drawers Magazine subscription address file (in old card catalog)
1 Drawer Address file (in old card catalog)
Also present are--
2 courtesy cards for the South Shore Country Club and the Woman's Athletic Club (stored: MSS Alpha2 SSCC) that were the gift of Robert S. Conrich (1985.0115).
Manuscript record book of the holdings of the South Shore Country Club library plus miscellaneous enclosed lists, ca. 1918-1926, 1 volume (1986.0815)