Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club Records

Collection

Identifier: Mss 140

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club records consist of its constitutions and by-laws, Executive Board and general meeting minutes, minutes of the Research Group and Voice Group, annual program booklets, annual reports, roll calls, correspondence, scholarship programs, state convention correspondence, club evaluation reports, music sheets, and newspaper clippings. Also included are newsletters, lists of elected officers, and scrapbooks detailing the complete history of the club's events.

All material is arranged in chronological order. There are nine versions of the constitution dating from 1925 to 1974. Meeting minutes range from 1917 to 1981, with the emphasis on the Executive Board and General Meetings. The research Group minutes are from 1943 to 1973 and the Voice Group minutes from 1949 to 1960. The annual program booklets are from 1919 to 1984, there are however the years 1900 to 1953 in a scrapbook. The annual reports are mostly by the officers and date from 1920 to 1984. There are also correspondence files, newspaper clippings, and brochures of the many programs sponsored by the club. The scrapbooks offer a unique musical and cultural history of Fargo-Moorhead, containing newspaper clippings, sponsored programs featuring many well-known artists, as well as obituaries, wedding announcements, and photographs.

The collection also contains the records of the Junior Music Club, which was founded by the main club. Its history, constitutions and by-laws, minutes, and scrapbooks, as well as annual reports, are filed separately in the collection.

Dates

1897-1984

Creator

Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club. (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute holds the copyrights.

History

On November 17, 1894 a club was organized in the city of Fargo for the study of music. The Fargo Musical Club, as it was first known, elected E.A. Smith as president, Miss Frances Phillips as vice-president, and Mrs. W. J. Clapp as secretary and treasurer. It met at the Fargo College and performed numerous programs and recitals to help develop cultural life in Fargo.

As Fargo grew and developed, the women searched for broader activities and education. Out of the Fargo Musical Club came the formation of the Fine Arts Club of Fargo in September 1911 which affiliated with the North Dakota Federation of Women's Clubs. In September of 1919 the Music Section of the Fine Arts Club withdrew and established itself as the Fargo Amateur Music Club. It held its first meeting at the home of its first president, Mrs. John Alexander Jardine. On October 13, 1919 it adopted its constitution and changed the name to the Fargo Music Club. The North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs was formed in Grand Forks in 1919 to create and support a finer musical atmosphere throughout the state. The Fargo Music Club became an affiliate the same year. In May of 1978, the Fargo Music Club became the FargoMoorhead Area Music Club.

The club first met in the homes of its members, but some years later met in the Baptist Church parlors, and later the guild room of the First Methodist Church. The club year runs from September through May of each year and has many special events on the club calendar, including the president's luncheon (which marks the opening of the club year each fall), Christmas guest day, observance of National Music Week, and the May frolic. Club memberships include active, associate, sustaining and honorary.

The club has always maintained a high interest in civic and community events. Members have furnished many programs for charity and presented entertainment at sanitariums, hospitals and homes. The Agnes Jardine Student Fund was begun in 1947 to help performing students and promote musical education. The fund was named for the first president of the North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs. She also served as president of the National Federation of Music Clubs from 1933 to 1937. The local club also sponsors two young people's groups, the Junior Fargo Music Club and the Staff and Note Club, whose periodic meetings encourage musical performance and appreciation.

Extent

4 Linear Feet (4 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Organized in November 1894 to promote the study of music in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

Provenance

Donated by Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club, 1984 (Acc. 2099, 2106).

Separation Record

The following items were removed from the Fargo-Moorhead Area Music Club records and have been sent to the sections indicated.

Institute Book Collection

Nora's Yesteryears by Nora O. Gunderson, 1976.

Institute Photograph Collection (processed at Photo 2152)

28 items - various photographs of Fargo-Moorhead Area members at the 1976 state convention in Fargo, and a group photograph of club members, 1944 (members with 25 years in club, photo taken for Fargo Forum for 50th Anniversary).