E Clampus Vitus Records, 1935-1970

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Summary

Creators:
E Clampus Vitus (Fraternal order)
Abstract:
The revival of E Clampus Vitus was begun by Carl I. Wheat and others around 1931 as a parody of mining fraternities of the nineteenth century. E Clampus Vitus events were organized around historical anniversaries or in a place of historical significance. The collection consists of correspondence, membership rosters, and artifacts related to events and activites of the California chapters of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus.
Extent:
2 boxes (1 linear ft.) and 1 oversize box
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], E Clampus Vitus Records (Collection 1796). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence, membership rosters, and artifacts related to events and activites of the California chapters of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus.

Biographical / historical:

Revival of E Clampus Vitus was begun by Carl I. Wheat and others around 1931 as a parody of mining fraternities of the nineteenth century; E Clampus Vitus almost always organized its events around historical anniversaries or in a place of historical information; a history of the organization can be found in the book, Credo Quia Absurdum (Placerville, California: Onager Press, 1949).

The history of the Ancient & Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is given in the book Credo quia absurdum (Placerville, California, 1949). The present social organization is a revival of mining fraternities of the nineteenth century, parodies of the then-popular mysterious fraternal orders. The present organization delights in the mock-serious aspects of the originals.

E Clampus Vitus almost always organizes its events around historical anniversaries or in a place of historical importance, so that keepsakes and announcements offer historical information, as well as providing records of the club's activities. Often the keepsakes are printed by noted California printers, such as Lawton Kennedy.

Prominent Californians were involved with the revival of the organization in the early nineteen-thirties, so that the history and papers of the organization are important in a study of California. Carl I. Wheat was one of the first to start the revival, around 1931. The present collection is made up of items donated by Lindley Bynum, Andrew Horn and Ward Ritchie; and of items from the W.W. Robinson collection.

note: Because of the completeness of materials collected by W.W. Robinson held in the Department of Special Collections, items taken from that collection have been stamped with his name. Other items not pertaining to the individuals above have been distributed throughout this collection without indicating the donor.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Lindley Bynum. Gift of Andrew Horn. Gift of Ward Ritchie, 1957. Gift of Estate of W.W. Robinson.
Processing information:

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Materials with notes to or by W.W. Robinson, Lindley Bynum, Andrew Horn, and Ward Ritchie (Box 1)
  2. Statewide (Box 1)
  3. Platrix (Los Angeles) chapter (Box 1)
  4. Other chapters (Box 2)
  5. Events (Box 2)
  6. General publications and newsletters (Box 2)
  7. Oversize documents and keepsakes (Box 3)

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], E Clampus Vitus Records (Collection 1796). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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