Chicago Sunday Evening Club Records
Scope and Contents
Administrative records comprise a large portion of this collection. Minutes from the Board of Trustees meetings extend from 1936 to 1982, and Audits from 1910 to 1991. By-laws, lists of Officers and Trustees, Committee Reports, long-range planning, annual reports, and financial reports, 1987-88, further augment this section. Also present are administrative and personal correspondence from 1904 to 1980, mainly for the years 1960-1980.
A small collection of photographs represents various presidents and trustees of the Sunday Evening Club as well as slices of life--men and women attending evening meetings at Orchestra Hall.
A substantial section of publications features programs from 1908 to 1981, which includes information on audience size, speaker, and the amount the evening's offering. Included are ad cards from 1908 to 1945, which publicized upcoming speakers. A few published sermons and remarks come from the 1973-74 season and newsletters stretch from 1988 to 1992. Programming schedules advertise television broadcasts from 1970 through 1988 and pamphlets further offer description and viewer response to the televised service.
Manuscripts and correspondence about Steven Vitrano's book An Hour of Good News along with a paper written by President Dave Hardin, called "The History of the CSEC," supply details about the club's beginnings and history. This series contains speaker lists, correspondence, and typescripts for the program segments entitled "Living Philosophies" and the "Statement of Faith." A list of principal speakers, a list from 1979-80, as well as address transcriptions from 1951 to 1956 may be found. An alphabetical file furthermore provides correspondence, typescripts, transcriptions, and photographs which pertain to the principal speakers of the Sunday evening programs, 1960-1980. The series also includes presider information sheets and scripts (1984-88) for the television productions. Additionally housed in this collection are reports, memorandums, and correspondence with WTTW which range from 1953 to 1975. A WTTW time schedule and a National Religious Broadcasters Award are also located here.
Among the secondary material may be found news-clippings, articles, and advertisements may be found. Further items of interest include a logo die, and samples of Chicago Sunday Evening Club stationery.
This collection contains a Bible, which served as the pulpit Bible while using Orchestra Hall, as well as a bound dissertation and book written by Steven Vitrano. Vitrano's dissertation, titled "The Chicago Sunday Evening Club: A Study in Contemporary Preaching," led to a book which was published by the Sunday Evening Club in 1974, entitled An Hour of Good News.
Dates
- Created: 1908-2013
- Other: Majority of material found in 1938-1993
- Other: Date acquired: 1992
Creator
- Chicago Sunday Evening Club. (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no specific restrictions on this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Duplication may be restricted if copying could cause damage to items.
Extent
26.00 boxes
13 linear feet other_unmapped
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement Note
The collection is arranged by series with folder level control.
Source of Acquisition
The Sunday Evening Club deposited its records with Wheaton College in 1992.
Method of Acquisition
Gift
Other Descriptive Information
The Wheaton College collection of Chicago Sunday Evening Club materials, measuring over 9 linear feet complements a collection housed at the Chicago Historical Society (1908-1975, primarily speaker files from 1940-1960). While largely comprising corporate records, the collection also includes publications, speaker's addresses, broadcasting information, correspondence, and a small amount of secondary information.
- Administrative Records.
- Annual Reports.
- Audiotapes.
- Businesspeople -- Religious life -- United States.
- Christianity -- Illinois -- Chicago.
- Clippings files.
- Correspondence.
- Financial records.
- Interviews.
- Minutes (Administrative records)
- Photographs.
- Sermons, English.
- Sermons.
- Speeches (documents)
- Wheaton College (Ill.) -- Alumni.
Creator
- Chicago Sunday Evening Club. (Organization)
- Title
- Chicago Sunday Evening Club Records
- Author
- Special Collections, Buswell Library Staff
- Date
- 05/06/2008
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository