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Guide to the Eunomic Club Collection
MS182
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Table of contents
Title: Eunomic Club collection
Dates: 1933-1994
Collection number: MS182
Creator:
Eunomic Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
Collection Size:
1.5 linear ft.
(1 box)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: The Eunomic 13 Club, an African American men’s social organization, was created on September 15, 1933. The Eunomic Club Collection
include photographs, administrative documents, ephemera, newspaper and magazine clippings, and letters from between 1933-1994.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the Eunomic Club Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Eunomic Club records, MS 182, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Collection was donated by Harry F. Miller to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland at Oakland on October 23, 2014.
Processed by Gabriella Taylor, August 5, 2015.
Biography / Administrative History
The Eunomic 13 Club, an African American men’s social organization, was created on September 15, 1933. Its original 13 members
were Earl Adams, Edward Alley, Jr., Harold Braan, Albert Browning, William Carpenter, Cornelius Chandler, David Derrick, Richard
Ellis, Paul Green, Jr., Theodore Miller, Carlos McLean, Henry Steward and Eleyette Worth. Because most of the charter members
resided in San Francisco, it was decided that the club would be based there. The club’s mission, as stated in its original
constitution, was “to promote friendliness among our members, improve our social condition and above all to provide clean
and wholesome recreation.” The name “Eunomic,” stemmed from the Greek word “Eunomy,” meaning “well organized and togetherness.”
Membership was open to any male over the age of 21. In 1940, the club expanded to include two new members, and was renamed
“The Eunomic Club.” Along with the original 13 members, the club would go on to include Walter Thomas, Bernard Baquie, Robert
Flippin, Herman Pope, Shirley Lewis, Theodore Bomar, Raymond Herring, Percy Menzies, Wesley “Duke” Ellington, Kline Wilson,
Cleat Oliver, Emmit Abels, John “Billy” Sunday, Murville Abels, Thad Johnson, Joseph Godfrey, Wayne Gaskins and James Franklin.
Over the course of its 61 years the Eunomic Club hosted a variety of outings, including picnics, barbecues, trips to national
parks, and many different parties and galas. Most of these outings were in the Bay Area. The club would continue to host these
events up until 1994, when the organization was dissolved.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Eunomic Club Collection include photographs, administrative documents, ephemera, newspaper and magazine clippings, and
letters from between 1933-1994. The records are organized into four series: administrative records, club ephemera, photographs,
and correspondence. The administrative records series includes a summary of the club’s history with a timeline taken from
meeting minutes, the club’s constitution and by-laws, and a resolution. The Eunomic Club ephemera series includes the club’s
membership cards, event invitations, programs, raffle tickets and newspaper and magazine clippings from those events. The
photographs series includes three subseries: outings, official events, and assorted. The correspondence series includes various
letters thanking the Eunomic Club and its individual members for their social events and civic activities, as well as letters
recognizing individual members. It also includes a correspondence from Ronald C. Fields. The Eunomic Club spanned through
much of the 20th Century and was men’s club dedicated to the social enrichment and celebration of a select group of African
American men and, to a lesser extent, the African American community in the Bay Area.
Series 1: Administrative records Series 2: Club ephemera Series 3: Photographs Series 4: Correspondence
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Eunomic Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
African American men--California.
African American men--California--Social conditions.
African American men--Intellectual life--20th century.
African American men--Societies, etc.
Middle class African Americans--California--Oakland--Social conditions.