Whitman College and Northwest Archives
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 527-5922
archives@whitman.edu
http://www.whitman.edu/archives

Guide to the Inquiry Club Records, 1894-2008


HTM_WCMss51





Finding aid prepared by William Huntington

Finding aid encoded by >William Huntington, 2008 April 30


Overview of the Collection
 
Repository Name:
 

Whitman College and Northwest Archives

345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 527-5922
archives@whitman.edu
http://www.whitman.edu/archives
 
Collection Number:
 

HTM_WCMss51
 
Creator:
 

Inquiry Club
 
Title:
 

Inquiry Club Records
 
Dates:
 

1894-2008 (inclusive)
 
Quantity:
 

3.0 linear feet
7 boxes
 
Languages:
 

Materials are in English 

 
Summary:
 

Record books, speeches given, constitution, by-laws and membership information related to a social club in Walla Walla.
 

Historical Note

On December 26, 1894, a group of business and professional men met and agreed to form the Inquiry Club, which was to serve two purposes. One, to promote the cause of higher education; two, to encourage each other in intellectual pursuits. The group then drafted a consititution and by-laws and agreed to meet weekly at the home of one of the members. Membership was initially limited to twelve and later expanded to fifteen.

There were no prescribed qualifications for membership, but the club was typically composed of clergymen, lawyers, doctors, college professors, public school administrators, public officials, and businessmen.

The original by-laws stated that at each meeting at least one member “shall read a prayer, or deliver an address, not less than ten, nor more than sixty minutes in length, upon a subject chosen by himself.” Dr. Chester C. Maxey, former president of Whitman College, who was a member for 58 years, stated that he presented “no fewer than forty papers” to the club.

Mr. W.H. Upton, a Superior Court judge, was elected the first president and Mr. H.S. Blandford, an attorney, the secretary. Other prominent original members, were Rev. Stephen B.L. Penrose, president of Whitman College from 1894 to 1934, and Whitman College professor Louis F. Anderson, who served on the faculty for over sixty years.

Content Description

The collection contains papers delivered at some meetings, club record books, research materials, and biographical information on club members.

There is also the minute books of an organization for women called the Thursday Inquiry Club that was in existence between 1916 and 1930.

Arrangement

Item.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information 

Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by John M. Reese, September 9, 1974 and 2008; Dr. Ralph Stevens, May 9, 1979; Lawrence P. Murphy, July 10, 2002.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access 

None.

Restrictions on Use 

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. for copyright not held by Whitman College.

Preferred Citation 

Inquiry Club Records, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.

Subjects

Inquiry Club-- Archives.
 
Other Creators :
Inquiry Club
Men - Washington (state) - Societies and Clubs
Clubs - Washington (state) - Walla Walla

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.


 

Meeting Minutes and Constitution, 1894-2008
 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box
4/1

Meeting Minutes-- Secretary C.E. Tuke
  October 1913- April 1914
 
4/2

Record Book: Constitution and Meeting Minutes
  1894-February 22, 1905
 
4/3

Record Book: Constitution and Meeting Minutes
  1906-April 26, 1950
 
4/4

Record Book: Constitution and Meeting Minutes
  Mary 17, 1950-September 11, 1997
 
4/5

Record Book: Constitution and Meeting Minutes
  October 9, 1997-February 14, 2008
 
5

Minutes of the Thursday Inquiry Club
  1916-1930
 
6-7

Transactions of the Club
  1894-1897
 

Information About Meetings
 
Container(s)
Description
 
box/folder
3/12

Speakers and Subjects for 1895-1904
   1895-1904
 
3/13

Summary 1927-28: Meeting date, host, speaker, subject
   October 5, 1927- April 4, 1928
 
3/14

Inquiry Club Meetings
  Undated
 
3/21

List of papers and authors
   October 1896-March 1897
 
3/15

List of Papers and Place of Meetings
   Undated
 
3/16

20th Anniversary Meeting
   1914
 

Membership Records
 
Container(s)
Description
 
box/folder
3/17

Roster of Members
   Undated
 
3/18

Club Forms for Club Member Information
   Undated
 
3/19

Roster of Members
   Undated
 
3/20

List of past and present members (possibly 1905 or later)
   Undated
 
3/22

Judge Upton's Lucky Seven
   Undated
 
3/32

Membership List
   2008
 

Correspondence, 1894-2008
 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
3/23

Draft of sympathy letter from the Inquiry Club to Mrs. Upton
  31-Jan-1906
 
3/24

Letter from Everett J. Smith
  7-Feb-1929
 
3/25

Letter from Allen Reynolds to Dr. Chester Maxey
   Sept. 1929
 
3/26

Note of appreciation from Mrs. Rowland Smith, Frances Smith and Edward Smith
   April 1929
 
3/27

Letter from Ben H. Kizer to Chester C. Maxey
   1931-1932
 
3/28

Letter of resignation from James Gail Sheldon to Inquiry Club
   23-Oct-1950
 
3/29

Note of appreciation from the Lyman family
   Undated
 
3/30

Note of appreciation from Mrs. John W. Langdon
   Undated
 

Papers presented to club
 
Container(s)
Description
Dates
 
box/folder
1/1

"Introduction" by Chester C. Maxey
  Undated
 
1/2

Includes: "Atomic Energy and Heredity", "The Problem of Radiation", "American Education" by John C. Lyman
  Undated
 
1/3

"Mind: A Physical Force (synopsis)" by H.S. Blandford
   9-Jan-1895
 
1/4

"The All- Knowledge: Or the Reason for Progressive Evolution" by H.S. Blandford
   30-Jan-1895
 
1/5

"The Future of Socialism (synopsis)" by W.D. Lyman
   20-Feb-1895
 
1/6

"Alexander Hamilton, The Lawgiver" by W.D. Lyman
   13-March-1895
 
1/7

"The Homeric Question" by L.F. Anderson
   18-March-1895
 
1/8

"The Necessity of Subordinating Reason to Faith" by H.S. Blandford
   2-Oct-1895
 
1/9

"Hawaii" by L.F. Anderson
   27-Nov-1895
 
1/10

"Development of Special Senses from a General Sense" by Benj. H. Brown
   11-Dec-1895
 
1/11

"Some Thoughts on Education" by H.L. Blandford
   22-Jan-1896
 
1/12

"The Hope Dynamics of Nature" by Benj. H. Brown
   4-March-1896
 
1/13

"Our Alchemist" by H.S. Blandford
   1-April-1896
 
1/14

"The Ultimate Object of the Social Organism" by H.S. Blandford
   22-April-1896
 
1/15

"Profit: Weighed on a New Pair of Scales" by Prof. W.A. Bratton
   29-April-1896
 
1/16

"The Evolution of Christian Ethics, Versus Natural Evolution" by H.S. Blandford
   30-Dec-1898
 
1/16a

"A memorial paper to C.B. Upton and Dr. J.E. Bingham" by L.F. Anderson
   7-March-1906
 
1/17

"Some Grounds for Hope in the Immortality of Man" by Rev. Austin Rice
   16-Oct-1908
 
1/18

"How Much is the Consitution in Danger?" by Chester C. Maxey
  1935
 
1/19

"Shall We Amend the Court or the Consitution" by Chester C. Maxey
  1937
 
1/20

"The Third Term Comes Home to Roost" by Chester C. Maxey
  1943
 
1/21

"A Plea for the Politician" by Chester C. Maxey
   1944
 
1/22

"Throttlebottom Makes Good" by Chester C. Maxey
  1946
 
1/23

"The Mystery of the Cycle" by Chester C. Maxey
   1949
 
1/24

"A Review of the Inquiry Club of Walla Walla" by Almos K. Reynolds
  4-Apr-1951
 
1/25

"A resume of the Race Question" by Chester C. Maxey
  1951
 
1/26

"Careers of Henry Villard" by Almos K. Reynolds
  2-April-1952
 
1/27

"The Oldest Profession" by Chester C. Maxey
  3-Dec-1952
 
1/28

"Rabbits or Human Beings?" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   1954
 
1/29

"Right and Wrong" by Chester C. Maxey
   1954-1955
 
1/30

"The Atomic Revolution" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
  Dec. 1955
 
1/31

"The Custer Tragedy" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
  Dec. 1956
 
1/32

"Mormonism: An All-American Phenomenon" by Chester C. Maxey
   2-October-1957
 
1/33

"Smoking and Lung Cancer" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   1957-1958
 
1/34

"Religious Education in the Public Schools" by Chester C. Maxey
   3-Sept-1958
 
2/1

"Medical Quackery" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   October 1958
 
2/2

"The Enduring Western" by Bill Gulick
   1-April-1959
 
2/3

"Pusses and Pooches" by Chester C. Maxey
   2-Sept-1959
 
2/4

"Pandora's Box and the American Economy" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   October 1959
 
2/5

"What About the Jews?" by Chester C. Maxey
   7-Sept-1960
 
2/6

"Dissection of a Genius: Frank Lloyd Wright" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   15-March-1961
 
2/7

"Our Daily Bread: A Little History of Fleshpots, Stewpots, and Crackpots" by Chester C. Maxey
   6-Sept-1961
 
2/8

"The History of Cataracts" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   7-March-1962
 
2/9

"Spices and Modern Civilization" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   3-April-1963
 
2/10

"Something About Humor" by Chester C. Maxey
  7-Oct-1964
 
2/11

"Duf or Duffer?" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
  2-Dec-1964
 
2/12

"Horses in North America" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   1965-1966
 
2/13

"A Young Man Named Garfield" by Chester C. Maxey
  5-Oct-1966
 
2/14

"Understanding Aggression" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   1966-1967
 
2/15

"Natural Superiority of Women" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   3-March-1971
 
2/16

"Some Random Observations" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   6-Dec-1972
 
2/17

"Walla Walla Since 1937" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   April 1974
 
3/1

"A Man Named Stevens" by Bill Gulick
   5-Feb-1975
 
3/2

"My Special Report to the Building Facilities Review Committee of 1970" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   7-May-1975
 
3/3

"The Evolution of Christianity, Part One" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   4-May-1977
 
3/4

"The Evolution of Christianity, Part Two" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   3-June-1978
 
3/5

"Hell's Canyon National Recreation Area" by Bill Gulick
   1-Feb-1978
 
3/6

"On Ben Holladay" by Dr. Ralph Stevens
   2-May-1979
 
3/7

"Dr. Clifford M. Drury" by Bill Gulick
   6-Feb-1985
 
3/8

"Forty-Six Years as a Writer" by Bill Gulick
   5-Feb-1986
 
3/9

"A Brief History of the Inquiry Club 1894-1985" by Chester C. Maxey
   20-Nov-1986
 
3/10

"An Old Ballad Told to a Different Counterpoint" by Craig C. Esary
   6-May-1987
 
3/11

"A Search for Peace" by Dr. Richard D. Simon
   1992